Spain vs Croatia preview, team news, tickets and prediction

The opening group B fixture of the 2024 UEFA European Championship will see two heavyweights, Spain and Croatia lock horns. Spain was in scintillating form throughout the qualifying stages of the Euros as they won seven of their eight qualifying matches to ensure their place in the tournament. Croatia on the other hand endured a somewhat shaky run of form but managed to do enough to book their place at the Euro finals.

After a disappointing outing at the FIFA World Cup, La Roja wanted to begin a new era under new head coach Luis de la Fuente. The Spaniards did just that with a comprehensive 3-0 victory over Norway in their first match of the Euro qualifying stages.

Dani Olmo latched onto a pass from Alex Blade to score from close range thirteen minutes into the game before Joselu's late quick-fire double in the second half put victory beyond doubt for Spain. Luis de la Fuente looked to explore alternative options as he made some changes ahead of their next match. Still, his side ended up being outclassed by a properly drilled Scottish side as they lost out 2-0 on this occasion with Manchester United's Scott McTominay grabbing first and second-half goals for his team, back to the drawing board for Luis de la Fuente.

Spain bounced back superbly as that Scotland defeat proved to be their last for the remainder of their qualifying campaign as they went on to claim six successive victories to earn their place at the finals. La Roja's immediate response after their loss to Scotland came in a ruthless 7-1 mauling of Georgia.

The Spaniards tore Georgia apart in the first half as Alvaro Morata hit a brace on both sides of a Kverkveliya own goal and a Dani Olmo strike to see La Roja home and dry at halftime. The start of the second half saw Georgia pull one back after Chakvetadze capitalized on a moment's crazy confusion among the Spanish backline to squeeze in his shot from close range. However, Spain turned on the style as Morata grabbed his third before youngsters Nico Williams and Lamine Yamal got in on the act as they both scored a goal each.

La Roja followed their mesmerizing display against Georgia with another dominant 6-0 victory over Cyprus. Spain controlled the first half and went in at the break with a 2-0 advantage with goals from Gavi and Mikel Merino. The second half saw Spain's substitutes impress as Joselu headed in Spain's third and Ferran Torres netted the fourth. Alex Baena scored his first goal for Spain moments after he was brought on before Torres completed his brace to seal another emphatic victory for La Roja. Further victories in their second round of qualifying matches over Scotland, Norway, Cyprus, and Georgia saw Spain clinch the top spot in their qualification group.

Croatia on the other hand, commenced their Euro qualifying campaign with a hard-fought 1-1 draw against Wales. Croatia looked set for the win when Andrej Kramaric put them in front with a lovely finish after 28 minutes as Wales struggled to provide any threat going forward. Croatia spurned a couple of great chances as they looked to double their lead and they were made to rue those missed opportunities in the 93rd minute when a long throw from Wales fullback Connor Roberts caused havoc in Croatia's box before Broadhead tapped in with Wales' first shot on target of the match to steal a draw.

Croatia got their qualification quest back on track with three consecutive wins including a 2-0 win over Türkiye with Mateo Kovacic starring as he grabbed himself a first-half brace, A dominant 5-0 display against Latvia, and a 1-0 victory over Armenia. Croatia saw their winning run halted against Tükiye at the start of their second round of qualifying matches when they lost 1-0 before suffering back-to-back defeats as they also lost 2-1 to Wales. However, victory in their last two qualifying matches against Latvia and Armenia respectively was enough for Zlatko Dalic's men to book their place at the finals.

Head-to-head records show that Spain and Croatia have played 7 games. Among them, Spain have won 4 (scoring 17 goals) while Croatia have won 2 (scoring 9 goals) with 1 draw.

Match tickets

This clash of European titans at the Olympia-Stadion in Berlin is set to kick off on Saturday, June 15, 2024 at 18:00 GMT.

The 74,694-capacity stadium is set to showcase this epic encounter. Given the game's magnitude, getting Spain vs Croatia tickets for this match could take a lot of work.

Hence, you are advised to check ticket reselling sites should they be expected to sell out on both nations' official ticketing websites.

Team news

Line-ups

Spain have successfully established themselves as one of the teams to beat in Europe after their scintillating display at the Euro qualification stages. Luis de la Fuente hopes his charges can replicate their impressive qualifying campaign form when the tournament kicks off in June.

Spain: Simon, Carvajal, Normand, Martinez, Gaya, Gavi, Rodri, Ruiz, Torres, Morata, Williams

Zlatko Dalic will be hoping his team can maintain the edge they showed at the start of their qualifying campaign as consistency will prove to be invaluable in their quest to qualify from this group.

Croatia: Livakovic, Stanisic, Sutalo, Gvardiol, Sosa, Modric, Brozovic, Majer, Kramaric, Ivanusec, Budimir

Prediction

Spain has rediscovered their dominant edge under the stewardship of Luis de la Fuente and they look like a team that can overcome any opponent at the moment.

This is a group opener, so that both teams will be wary of the threat of the other. It should be a good game for the neutrals.

Spain 1-0 Croatia