Spain route to the Euro 2024 final: Potential knock-out stage opponents | OneFootball

With Euro 2024 underway, we take a look at who Spain might face on their route to the European Championships final.

Spain have sewn up top spot in Group B — the ‘group of death’, no less – with a game to spare at Euro 2024

They can look ahead with a view to maintaining their strong recent record at this tournament, reaching at least the semi-final in three of the last four editions (during which time they won back-to-back titles in 2008 and 2012). They also finished third last time out. In fact, La Roja have lost just two of their last 24 matches at this tournament when factoring in their 3-0 demolition of Croatia and subsequent win over Italy.

Spain’s Group B fixtures

3-0 Croatia (15 June) – 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. If the early signs in Berlin are anything to go by, Spain could go far in Germany.

1-0 Italy (20 June, 8pm BST) – 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.

vs Albania (24 June, 8pm BST) – Head-to-head record is used to separate teams level on points at the Euros, meaning Italy cannot snatch top spot from La Roja. Spain’s work is done, then, as far as the group stage is concerned. Luis de la Fuente has the luxury of being able to rotate and rest certain players in this final group game against Albania.

If Spain finish top of Group B

Last 16: Spain will face one of the best third-place teams in the round of 16. More specifically, the third-best team in Groups A (Scotland or Hungary), D (potential dark horses Austria), E (potentially Belgium, but more likely Ukraine, Romania or Slovakia) or F (Georgia or the Czech Republic).

Quarter-finals: The most likely opponent at this stage is Germany, who are on course to win Group A.

Semi-finals: It’s shaping up to be the winner of Group F, Portugal, or alternatively the Netherlands in the semi-finals. Unless France fail to win Group D ahead of Oranje.

Final: If England and France both top their respective groups, these are the teams on the other side of the draw most heavily favoured by bookmakers to win Euro 2024.

Spain’s reasons for optimism

Spain lost just two of their previous 24 matches at the European Championships. They destroyed Zlatko Dalic’s side 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. 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 74 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 for anyone in Group B is that they face a more difficult route to the final. It is not impossible that to win Euro 2024, Spain must beat Austria, Germany, Portugal and then France. 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.

We should expect a 4-3-3 formation with Rodri pulling the strings just as he does for Manchester City. However, he’ll get plenty of help in possession from the likes of Fabian Ruiz, Mikel Merino and, if fit, 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.