Spain vs France Preview: Team News & Prediction | 2024-25 UEFA Nations League | Semi-Final

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With Germany facing Portugal at the Allianz Arena in Munich in the first semi-final, the European champions Spain seek to defend their UEFA Nations League title with a clash against two-time world champions France in the second semi-final at the MHPArena in Stuttgart.

Kick-off date/time:

How to watch on TV: UK – TBC / US – FOX Sports

How to watch online: UK – TBC / US – FOX Sports streaming platforms

Spain Preview: European dominance

Spain began the Luis de la Fuente reign badly with a 2-0 loss to Scotland at Hampden Park in Glasgow but a few months later, they won the 2022/23 UEFA Nations League before then winning UEFA EURO 2024 last summer, as comfortably the best team in the tournament.

La Roja came through a dramatic quarter-final tie against the Netherlands in March with a 2-2 draw at the Johann Cruyff Arena in Amsterdam before a thrilling 3-3 draw in the second-leg that resulted in a 5-4 penalty shootout victory for the Spanish in Valencia.

France Preview: Deschamps’ stagnation

Didier Deschamps has said that he will leave his post after the 2026 FIFA World Cup but quite a few supporters will be keen for that to happen before the tournament as Les Bleus continue to stagnate and become increasingly frustrating to watch from a neutral perspective.

The French did manage to overcome Croatia on penalties in the quarter-finals a couple of months ago. They were beaten 2-0 by the Croats in the first-leg in Zagreb before then matching that result back in Saint-Denis, eventually winning 5-4 on penalties.

Spain Team News: Still no Rodri

Ballon d’Or winner Rodri has returned to action for Manchester City but the former Atletico Madrid midfielder remains missing for Spain as they continue to get him back to full fitness. They will be able to choose from the likes of Lamine Yamal and Pedri, though, after their magnificent seasons for Barcelona.

Predicted XI (4-3-3): Unai Simon; Pedro Porro, Huijsen, Le Normand, Cucurella; Pedri, Martin Zubimendi, Dani Olmo; Lamine Yamal, Alvaro Morata, Nico Williams

Unavailable: Dani Carvajal (Injured), Marc Casado (Injured), Ferran Torres (Injured)

Questionable: 

France Team News: No Kounde

Defenders Dayot Upamecano, William Saliba and Jules Kounde have been rested by Deschamps for this campaign and they also have several players involved in the UEFA Champions League final a few days’ earlier, such as Benjamin Pavard, Desire Doue, Ousmane Dembele, Warren Zaire-Emery, Lucas Hernandez and Bradley Barcola.

Predicted XI (4-3-3): Maignan; Pavard, Konate, Lenglet, L. Hernandez; Zaire-Emery, Tchouameni, Guendouzi; Olise, Dembele, Mbappe

Unavailable: Fofana (Injured)

Questionable: 

Key Stats

• Spain and France are the last two winners of the UEFA Nations League. With France having defeated Spain 2-1 in the 2021 final and Spain having won the competition in a penalty shoot-out against Croatia in 2023.
• This is the second successive meeting between these teams in a semi-final, following Spain’s 2-1 success against France in the last four at EURO 2024.
• Their only previous UEFA Nations League encounter was in the 2021 final when France recovered from conceding the first goal to win 2-1.
• Spain have lost only two of their last nine international matches against France (W6 D1).
• Spain are aiming to reach a third successive UEFA Nations League final. They won 2-1 against Italy in the semi-finals in both 2021 and 2023.
• Spain are unbeaten in their last 11 UEFA Nations League matches (W7 D4).
• Spain are unbeaten in their last 18 international matches (W14 D4).
• France are through to their second UEFA Nations League semi-final. They came back from two goals down to win 3-2 against Belgium in their previous appearance in 2021.
• France have won five of their last seven UEFA Nations League matches (D1 L1).
• France have lost only three of their last 17 international matches (W9 D5).

Spain vs France Prediction

Spain have a few issues in defence, especially at right-back, and so France will seek to target that side of the pitch with both Kylian Mbappe and Ousmane Dembele, as well as Theo Hernandez. However, Spain will still likely dominate the battle in midfield and Lamine Yamal should find a lot of joy in behind the aforementioned Hernandez, as the AC Milan left-back bursts forward. Spain are favourites for what, again, should be quite a fun watch as it was in last summer’s UEFA EURO 2024 semi-final.

Spain vs France Tip: Spain to win & both teams to score