Spain route to Euro 2024 final: Potential knock-out stage opponents in tough run | OneFootball

Spain are once again in the last 16 of the European Championship, so we’re taking a look at who they might face on their route to the Euro 2024 final.

La Roja sewed up top spot in Group B — the ‘group of death’, no less – with a game to spare and finished perfect. Croatia, Italy and Albania all fell, without scoring a goal against Spain.

Spain will now be looking ahead with a view to maintaining their strong recent record at the European Championship, reaching at least the semi-final in three of the last four editions. That includes their two triumphs in 2008 and 2012.

Spain’s Group B fixtures

3-0 vs Croatia – Spain kicked off their Euro 2024 campaign in style with a 3-0 thrashing of Croatia, with goals from Alvaro Morata, Fabian Ruiz and Dani Carvajal taking apart the 2022 World Cup semi-finalists. Lamine Yamal, aged just 16, became the youngest-ever player to play and assist in the European Championships, while fellow youngster Pedri — a senior citizen by comparison at 21 — also provided an assist and registered 100% returns for pass completion and dribble success.

1-0 vs Italy – This was arguably the most eye-catching clash in the entire group stage and Spain dominated.  They needed an own-goal from Italy centre-back Riccardo Calafiori to win but set up nine shots on target — only three times has a team produced more in a single game at Euro 2024 so far.

1-0 vs Albania – Spain were already guaranteed top spot when they faced Albania in their final game, so rotated slightly. Nevertheless, they managed to secure a 1-0 victory through Ferran Torres’ first-half goal. It made Spain just the second team to win all three of their group stage games at a European Championship without conceding a goal, after Italy did so en route to winning the competition at Euro 2020.

Spain’s route as Group B winners

Last 16: Spain will face one of the best third-placed teams, though we must wait to find out who that is. It will either be Belgium, Slovakia, Romania or Ukraine from Group E, or Turkey, Czech Republic or Georgia from Group F.

Quarter-finals: Should Spain advance, they will face the winner of Germany vs Denmark in what could be a thrilling quarter-final.

Semi-finals: The route gets even tougher for Spain, with Portugal and France among those potentially set for a semi-final date.

Final: Based on bookmakers favourites, England would be the most likely opponent in the final. But the Three Lions haven’t looked good, so Netherlands and Italy could also be potential opponents for Spain.

Spain’s reasons for optimism

Spain have lost just two of their previous 25 matches at the European Championship. They destroyed Croatia with ease and meted out one of the more convincing 1-0 wins you’re likely to see against Italy, their chief rivals in the group. It was all wrapped up in a nice bow with the 1-0 win over Albania. If that’s not enough to inspire you, consider that they’ve also reached the last two Nations League finals, winning the most recent one.

There’s immense quality right across the pitch and arguably the most technical ability of any side at the tournament, so you can be sure Spain will be able to pass you to death if they get in front. There’s also an exciting young generation emerging, led by Barcelona wonderkid Lamine Yamal.

Spain’s potential roadblocks

Missing key chances might be what undoes Spain at this tournament. Alvaro Morata is the only player with more than 19 international goals to his name among the squad, extending his record to 36 goals in 76 caps. However, he is famous for his profligacy in front of goal and missed a league-high 23 big chances in La Liga last season alone. Spain, unfortunately, lack a standout candidate to replace Morata but even if they did, the Atletico Madrid man is the current team captain and wouldn’t be dropped. So, goals must come from elsewhere.

Another obvious issue is that they face a more difficult route to the final. It is not impossible that to win Euro 2024, Spain must beat Germany, Portugal or France and England, Italy or Netherlands. All despite winning their group.

Luis de la Fuente tactical insights

Luis de la Fuente has worked with the U19, U21 and U23 sides, so he might just be the perfect man to lead this emerging group of Spanish talents.

So far we’ve seen a 4-3-3 formation with Rodri pulling the strings just as he does for Manchester City. However, he gets plenty of help in possession from the likes of Fabian Ruiz and Pedri, while there’s a whole host of attacking full-backs available to push forward and cause havoc.

Morata is a more physical option than most previous Spanish centre-forwards, but he’ll be able to create space for some of their deadly goalscoring wingers, such as Nico Williams, Mikel Oyarzabal and Ferran Torres.

Fan and media perspectives

After reaching the semi-finals of Euro 2020, there was huge disappointment in Spain’s failure to make it past the round of 16 at the 2022 World Cup in Qatar. However, two consecutive Nations League finals are more than enough to prove their pedigree. Spain will always carry a degree of expectation at major tournaments, especially with so many exciting young players coming through, so anything less than matching their 2020 effort will not be met kindly.

How Spain qualified for Euro 2024

Spain didn’t have it all their own way during qualifying, losing 2-0 to Scotland early on, but they still topped Group A with 21 points from a possible 24.