Soccer fans, fasten your seatbelts! The UEFA Euro 2024 has now reached its crucial semi-final stage. The tournament started with 24 teams and now we are down to the last 4. And the first two teams to kick-start this phase of the tournament are Spain and France. This is no doubt a clash between two European giants vying for a spot in the finals against either England or the Netherlands. So far, both teams haven’t lost a single match in the tournament. Now, let’s delve into the details of this highly anticipated match-up.

Team news and injury updates

Spain: Spain is set to undergo significant changes going into the semi-finals. They will be missing three of their usual starters. The major news is about Barcelona’s star midfielder, Pedri, who suffered a knee injury clashing with Toni Kroos during the quarterfinals against Germany. Unfortunately, the injury ended his tournament early. Dani Olmo who has scored 2 goals alongside 2 assists in the last 3 games is likely to be his replacement. Here’s also a piece of good news for the Spanish fans; Lamine Yamal is all fit to play.

Additionally, Spain would also miss two other players, Dani Carvajal and Robin Le Normand. Dani Carvajal picked up a red card against Germany and Robin Le Normand got his second yellow of the tournament, meaning both are suspended for the semi-final match. As a backup for the Real Madrid right-back, Jesus Navas is likely to step in. The 38-year-old Navas, who is interestingly the only remaining player from La Roja’s golden generation that won the 2008 and 2012 Euros and the 2010 World Cup, now has a chance to be the oldest player ever to win Euro if Spain wins this time.

France: On the other hand, the situation is slightly better for the French. Eduardo Camavinga is the only one who has received a suspension in the France squad. Adrien Rabiot who faced a one-match ban, is now available and can be a starter. Also, Usman Dembele who put out an impressive display in the last match against Portugal is likely to be Deschamps’ pick on the right flank.

Other than that, Kylian Mbappe ignited some further injury worries after being taken out right before the penalty shootout against Portugal. However, no further alarming updates have come from that, and the star striker is expected to play.

Expected starting lineups for Euro 2024 semi-final

Spain Expected XI: Simon; Navas, Nacho, Laporte, Cucurella; Ruiz, Rodri, Olmo; Lamal, Morata, Williams

France Expected XI: Maignan; Kounde, Upamecano, Saliba, Hernandez; Rabiot, Tchouameni, Kante; Dembele, Kolo Muani, Mbappe

Head-to-head stats

Total matches played: 36

Spain (won): 16

France (won): 13

Draw- 7

Predictions for the match

Before dropping predictions, let’s take a look at both team’s performance in the last 5 matches.

Spain: W, W, W, W, W
France: W, W, D, D, W

There is no doubt that Spain has so far had a better track record at Euro 2024 than France and has looked like the favorite to win the whole tournament. Well, our prediction also doesn’t differ from that, as we expect Spain to win over France. But given France’s strong defense, it won’t be an easy task and could even go down to penalty shootouts. Our final score prediction is Spain 1-0 France.

Euro 2024: Where and how to watch Spain vs. France?

The Spain vs France clash is set to take place at the Allianz Arena in Munich, with the game kicking off at 1500 hrs ET (1200 hrs PST) on July 9th, 2024. Fans at home can catch the action live on Fox Sports and stream it on Fubo TV, and VIX.