Spain vs Croatia Prediction: Tough test for Spain in this opener

The UEFA Euro 2024 Group B fixture will start with Spain taking on Croatia at Olympiastadion Berlin. The last time these two nations faced was in the UEFA Nations League 2023, which Spain won on penalties. How will this opener play out?

Spain's journey to this year's EURO tournament has been fantastic, and this team hopes they get a solid start in this one. In the qualification stage, Spain finished top of Group A with 21 points, coming from a possible 24. In their matches, Spain won each except their round 2 against Scotland, scoring 25 goals and conceding 5 in 8 games. 

In recent matches, Spain have been excellent, and they head into this game with just one defeat in their last 12 games, a 0-1 defeat at the hands of Colombia. In one other encounter in that span, Spain settled for a 3-3 draw with Brazil, with Lucas Paqueta's late penalty denying them a win. However, other encounters saw Spain defeat Northern Ireland, Andora, Georgia, Cyprus, Norway, Scotland, Italy and Croatia. 

Ahead of this opener, Luis de la Fuente's side won the Euros on three occasions - a joint record alongside Germany in the competition's history. In their last 22 matches in open play in this Euros, Spain have lost just two of their last 22. 

Croatia know they have a tough job ahead and will be confident they can deliver quality performance. Croatia finished 2nd in Group D in the qualification stage with 16 points, one behind Turkey's first place. In the matches played during the qualification stage, Croatia lost 2, drew 1, and won five, scoring 13 goals and conceding 4. 

In their recent matches into this main tournament, Croatia boast a perfect win record of six consecutive games where they defeated Latvia, Armenia, Tunisia, Egypt, North Macedonia, and Portugal. In those matches, Croatia scored 12 goals while conceding three. In fact, their last defeat was dated to October 2023, when they lost 2-1 to Wales in that encounter, with Harry Wilson scoring twice in that game. 

The Croatia national side have been knocked out in the round of 16 in their last two European Championship appearances. At the same time, their best-ever performance in the competition came in 1996 and 2008, when they reached the quarter-finals. Ahead of this opener, Croatia have lost six of the last ten games of this fixture, winning three and drawing one.

Spain possible starting lineup:

Simon; Carvajal, Le Normand, Nacho, Grimaldo; Ruiz, Rodri, Pedri; Yamal, Morata, Williams

Croatia possible starting lineup:

Livakovic; Stanisic, Sutalo, Pongracic, Gvardiol; Brozovic, Kovacic, Modric; Majer, Budimir, Kramaric

This game is expected to be competitive from the first minute, and it is very tough to write either team off. Looking at the performances from the two teams ahead of this Euro, it is tough to expect a a dull encounter, looking at the two teams' fluidity in offense. Also, while the quality of players lies with Spain, with their youngsters like Lamine Yamal, Nico Williams, and Pedri Gonzalez, I am backing them in picking their first win in this game.