Euro 2024 semi-finals: Spain vs France preview, H2H, team news, line-ups and prediction

Two countries chasing landmark records will clash in a feisty affair as Spain take on France at the Allianz Arena on Tuesday, July 9.

Spain have arguably been the best-performing side so far in this tournament showing superiority in attack and defence. France on the other hand have not been vintage having failed to score a goal from open play so far in this tournament.

With Germany out of the tournament, La Roja are the only side with the chance of setting a historic record of winning the European Championship on four occasions having already won thrice in 1964, 2008 and 2012.

France on the other hand have won this competition twice in 1984 and 2000. They hope to join Spain and Germany as the only sides to have won this tournament on three occasions.

Spain became the only side to win all their matches in this tournament when they faced hosts and tournament favourites, Germany in the quarter finals on Friday. They also became the first nation to knock out the host country of a European Championship at the quarter-final stage.

Mikel Merino became the unlikely hero for Spain, netting a 119th-minute to ensure qualification into the semifinals.

After a keenly contested first half with chances falling to both teams, the second half saw more goal-mouth actions as all three goals were better in the second half and the second half of extra time.

A quick break saw Lamine Yamal make a mazy run on the right before teeing up Dani Olmo with a cutback and the RB Leipzig man beautifully dispatched the ball into the bottom far corner. Germany began to pounce the pressure and came closest to scoring when Niclas Füllkrug’s strike hit the post. The pressure finally paid off as a long cross from Maximilian Mittelstädt from the left was headed down by Joshua Kimmich and Florian Wirtz was at the right place to poke home the equaliser.

Wirtz’s goal meant the 21-year-old became the youngest ever to score in a knockout clash for Germany at the European Championship. The match was minutes away from heading to penalties and Spain ensured they avoided the dreaded penalty shootout against a side that have won all their last six shootouts.

Olmo turned provider this time with his pinpoint cross finding Merino to give La Roja the lead and following it up with a celebration reminiscent of his father’s celebrations in the 1991 winning goal against Osasuna in the UEFA Cup.

They now gear up to face a goal-shy French side that have managed to progress to the semi-finals of the competition without scoring a goal from open play.

Having previously scored ten goals in his last nine major tournaments, all eyes were on five times Balon d’Or winner and captain of the Portuguese national team, Cristiano Ronaldo who was looking to open his goal account in this competition and his first goal in his last nine appearances in a major tournament.

The Selecao were the better of the two sides and had the better chances across the 120 minutes. Rafael Leao, Bruno Fernandes, and Nuno Mendes all came to touching distances of opening the scoring but failed to convert their chances.

Didier Deschamps’ side had their chances with Kylian Mbappe and Theo Hernandez seeing their efforts saved while the impressive Ousmane Dembele came closest to finding the winner.

In contrast to his heroics against Slovenia, Diogo Costa did not save any efforts as France emerged winners with João Félix hitting the post with his spot kick.

Both France and Spain will hope to advance to the finals when they meet at the Allianz Arena on Tuesday.

Spain vs France match details

• Date: Tuesday, July 9, 2024
• Location: Munich, Germany
• Venue: Allianz Arena
• Kick-off time: 08:00 PM BST, 11: 00 PM CEST, 03: 00 PM ET, 07:00 PM UTC.
• Tickets: Supporters can buy Euro 2024 tickets through a secondary martketplace such as Seatsnet.com.

Match stats and head-to-head

• With their victory over Portugal, France will be participating in their sixth semifinal in the European Championship, the most by any country after Germany with eight.

• Les Blues have reached the semi-finals in four of their last five major tournaments with the only exemption being the round of 16 knockout at Euro 2020. No other European country has played more semifinal matches than France since 2016.

•France have gone five games without scoring at this year’s European Championship. No other country has played a longer streak of matches in the tournament history without scoring.

• Ousmane Dembelé created six chances after coming on as a substitute, the most by any substitute in the tournament since Cec Fabregas created six for Spain vs Russia in Euro 2008.

• Mikel Merino’s 118:52 minute winner against Germany was the third-latest winning goal in the European Championship after Michel Platini (118:52 winner for Italy against Portugal) and Artem Dovbyk (120:36 winner for Ukraine against Sweden.

• Luis de la Fuente’s side have won all five of their matches at the Euro so far, becoming the third country to achieve such feat without a penalty shootout after France in 1984 and Italy in 2020 with both countries progressing to win the tournament.

• Spain’s 16-year-old winger, Lamine Yamal became the youngest player and first teenager to record three assists at the European Championship and World Cup since 1966.

• Florian Wirtz became Germany’s youngest-ever scorer at the knockout stage of the European Championship and also the youngest scorer for Germany in any major tournament since Thomas Müller in 2010 at the age of 20.

Team news

Nacho Fernandez and Ayoze Perez regained fitness to make the bench in the victory over Germany.

The major contention will be who could replace Pedri in midfield. The Barcelona midfield suffered a collision with Toni Kroos and is potentially out of the tournament after suffering an injury.

Spain will also be without Dani Carvajal and Robin Le Normand due to suspension with Jesus Navas and Nacho expected to fill the void.

Alvaro Morata is also out of contention after receiving a booking during celebrations for Merino’s winner. The booking means Spain’s captain is now suspended for the game with Joselu or Mikel Oyarzabal tipped to feature upfront.

Didier Deschamps will savour the chances of slotting Adrien Rabiot back into the starting lineup after the Frenchman served a suspension in the victory over Portugal.

Kylian Mbappe is expected to feature in this match with his extra-time substitution believed to be precautionary.

Predicted starting lineup

Spain predicted starting lineup:

Simon; Navas, Nacho, Laporte, Cucurella; Merino, Rodri, Ruiz; Yamal, Oyazarbal, Williams.

France predicted starting lineup:

Maignan; Kounde, Saliba, Upamecano, Hernandez; Kante, Tchouameni, Rabiot; Griezmann; Mbappe, Dembele.

Prediction

Spain have been perfect so far in this tournament. Their fluidity in attack is complemented by a solidified backline that is in turn being protected by a controlling midfield.

On the other hand, France have been less spectacular but their experience and elite mentality have seen them progress to this round while beating strong opponents like Belgium and Portugal en route to this stage.

The clash will be cagey but France are tipped to repeat their 2021 UEFA Nations League final victory over their opponents on Tuesday.

We’re predicting a 2:1 win for France.