Spain vs Croatia Full Match EURO 2024

Group B of the UEFA European Championships starts with a bang as arguably the pick of the fixtures from the tournament’s first round of matches pits former winners Spain against perennial overachievers Croatia. It’s Luis de la Fuente’s side who enter as the favourites for this clash, mostly owing to the fact that his side breezed through their qualifying group in top spot, winning seven of their eight matches (L1) whilst conceding just five goals in total.

If that wasn’t enough, Spain then won both of their final two friendly matches in preparation for this tournament whilst netting exactly five goals in each against Andorra and Northern Ireland. But with just one clean sheet across their last six internationals (W4, D1, L1), their defence remains a potential weakness as they hunt success this summer. It’s also something that’s been exposed frequently in recent H2H clashes, with Croatia twice scoring three goals across their last three meetings (ESP: W2, L1).

Unlike their opposition in this tournament opener, Croatia struggled during qualifying, but eventually finished runners-up to Turkey in their group after taking 16 points from eight matches (W5, D1, L2). They then followed up that performance by winning each of their four friendly outings before heading to Germany – including an impressive 2-1 victory over Portugal last time out – as their final preparations delivered the perfect send off.

With many of their more experienced stars likely playing in their final major international tournament this summer, the pressure will be on to perform well again and escape this year’s ‘group of death’ which also consists of Italy and Albania. Croatia usually represent great value for that too, having qualified from each of their last four major tournament groups, eventually finishing as runners-up and in third spot at the last two World Cups.

Players to watch: Spain captain Álvaro Morata has previously struck six goals across ten matches at the Euros, whilst he also scored in his latest international outing against Northern Ireland. A teammate to three players on the opposing side here, Croatia’s Luka Modrić has netted five goals at major tournaments himself, but hasn’t scored in any of his six prior H2Hs.

Hot stat: Spain have scored nine goals in the opening 30 minutes of play across their last six internationals.