Spain and France meet in a clash of the titans in the first semi final of UEFA Euro 2024.
A mouth-watering clash between two titans of European football awaits in Munich. Spain have lit up the tournament so far, and are the only team to win all five of their games. They are also joint-top in number of goals (11) and top on total attempts (102) and balls recovered (230), demonstrating how impressive they have been both going forward and defensively. “My players are insatiable,” beamed coach Luis de la Fuente after the quarter-final win over Germany. “There’s always room for improvement, of course, but we can’t question their pride, quality and commitment.”
Standing in La Roja’s way, though, are a solid France side who have kept four clean sheets in their five matches so far. Les Bleus are aiming for a fourth major tournament final in the last eight years (after reaching the EURO 2016 showpiece and the 2018 and 2022 World Cup finals) – an incredible record which attests to their reservoir of big-game experience. “We’re in the semi-finals and it’s something we shouldn’t take for granted, even if we may be used to it recently,” said coach Didier Deschamps after the quarter-final victory over Portugal. “Now we go to win it.”
Possible line-ups
Spain: Unai Simón: Navas, Nacho, Laporte, Cucurella; Olmo, Rodri, Fabián Ruiz; Lamine Yamal, Morata, Williams
Suspended: Carvajal, Le Normand
France: Maignan; Koundé, Saliba, Upamecano, Hernández; Kanté, Tchouaméni, Camavinga, Griezmann; Kolo Muani, Mbappé
