Spain and France, two continental powerhouses, are set to clash in the Euro 2024 semi-finals on Tuesday, just one step away from Berlin. Spain, with an impeccable record so far, advanced to Munich after defeating their hosts in the previous round. Meanwhile, France reached the final four by edging out Portugal in a tense penalty shootout.
The first quarter-final of Euro 2024, featuring arguably the tournament's two strongest teams, lived up to its high expectations. Spain emerged victorious with a 2-1 win in Stuttgart, courtesy of an extra-time goal. Dani Olmo, who replaced the injured Pedri, scored to put Spain ahead, but Germany's Florian Wirtz equalized. Just when the match seemed destined for penalties, Mikel Merino headed in the decisive goal, securing Spain's spot in the semi-finals.
Under the guidance of Luis de la Fuente, Spain has been a dominant force, winning all five of their matches so far. No team in European Championship history has ever achieved six victories in a single tournament or six consecutive wins in the finals.
The former Under-21 manager has received a lot of praise for initiating a tactical shift after replacing Luis Enrique. His team, Spain, has outpossessed its opponents twice this summer (48% against Germany and 47% against Croatia), which is more than it had in 44 major tournament games between the 2006 and 2022 World Cups.
A more varied strategy with fast passing and pace out wide has proven incredibly effective; since the beginning of 2023, La Roja has won 15 of their 19 games played under De la Fuente, giving them the greatest win % of any European team.
Their confidence was bolstered by their victory in the most recent UEFA Nations League, and they are now enjoying their finest winning streak since June 2010's heyday.
Although they fell to eventual champions Italy on penalties at this point three years ago, Spain has advanced from four of its five European Championship semi-finals to far. This Sunday, they will compete for the opportunity to play either England or the Netherlands.
The Iberian country would be competing in its fifth continental final, and its first since winning Euro 2012, which ended their brief but remarkable era of domination.
Only the second round of the European Championship was played outside of France, but the French hope to go to a fourth final.
The most recent one, a loss to Portugal in Paris in 2016, was overseen by Didier Deschamps, and the two-time World Cup champion is determined to go even better this time.
His brilliant squad has begun to falter since losing the last World Cup final, and their advancement to the semifinals has been significantly less smooth than that of Spain, who easily defeated the tournament's hosts by defeating Croatia, Italy, Albania, and Georgia.
After losing to Austria for the first place in Group D, France defeated Belgium in the round of 16 but looked unimpressive in the quarterfinals.
It went into extra time thanks to a pair of vital stops from goalkeeper Mike Maignan. In the end, penalties were used in Hamburg, where Theo Hernandez scored the game-winning kick from 12 yards out.
After Real Madrid's newest "galactico," Kylian Mbappe, was taken off prior to the shootout, raising doubts about his form and health once more, Les Bleus once again prevailed.
There have only been four goals scored in their five Euro 2024 matches thus far—three for and only one against—all of which have come from own goals or penalties due to a misfiring Mbappe.
Although France may not be as visually appealing as their Spanish rivals, whom they defeated 2-1 in their most recent meeting, the 2021 Nations League final, very few would wager against them. They are the only team in history to have more than 50 non-penalty shots at a European finals and fail to find the net with any of them.
With the exception of a few alterations for a Group B dead rubber against Albania, Spain's rather established starting lineup on Tuesday night will include at least three new players.
Therefore, veteran duo Nacho and Jesus Navas might go into La Roja's back four, while Bundesliga sensation Dani Olmo should replace Pedri after his outstanding performance as a substitute against Germany.
The most passes attempted and completed by any player scheduled to participate in the first semifinal of Euro 2024 are made by midfield mainstay Rodri; Aurelien Tchouameni of France is ranked second.
The 16-year-old Lamine Yamal, who has created 14 chances for his teammates at these finals—more than any other Spanish player at a major tournament since Xavi's 25 at Euro 2012—and Nico Williams will again provide support up front for captain Alvaro Morata.
France have no disciplinary difficulties at this point because the slate has been cleared, but Didier Deschamps is still concerned about Kylian Mbappe's nose injury because his squad has not shown much spark in the closing third.
The former Paris Saint-Germain striker's strike percentage at the European Championships sits at a pitiful 3%. He has only scored one goal from 20 shots thus far at Euro 2024. This is in sharp contrast to his World Cup record, which shows a 31% conversion rate with 12 goals from 39 shots.
On the other hand, 'Magic' Mike Maignan has amassed the best save percentage of any goalie who has appeared in several matches in Germany, as well as the greatest since Iker Casillas during Spain's 2012 world cup victory. Thus far, the AC Milan goalkeeper has maintained four clean sheets.
Adrien Rabiot is returned from a one-match ban, but it's unclear if he can unseat Mbappe's new Real Madrid colleague Eduardo Camavinga, who filled in for him in the French engine room against Portugal. Meanwhile, Marcus Thuram and Ferland Mendy should recover from minor ailments.
N'Golo Kante, who is sure to start in midfield, is Les Bleus' fortunate charm since he has played the most games in the history of the European Championship without ever losing—winning eight and drawing five.
