Spain vs Italy Preview

Spain and Italy will play their second group game of Euro 2024 this Thursday when they meet at the Veltins Arena in Gelsenkirchen.

Spain began their European Championship campaign with an eye-catching 3-0 win over Croatia. La Roja’s opening-day victory came on the back of some rampant form in qualifying (W7, L1), but they may struggle against Italy, whom they are familiar with.

Both sides are meeting for the fifth tournament in succession so there is a lot of history and bad blood between them. Italy knocked out Spain in their last two European Championship tournaments but Spain’s record against Italy over the years is balanced on a knife edge (W13, D16, L11).

Extending that slender all-time H2H advantage would see La Roja qualify for a fifth successive knockout phase with a game to spare, although four of their seven meetings against Italy at the Championships have ended level.

Italy came from conceding an early goal- the earliest goal in tournament history- to beat Albania 2-1 in their opening game. That win made it seven games unbeaten for Luciano Spalletti who is hoping to emulate his predecessor in achieving maximum points in the group, just as they did in the previous edition.

The former Napoli boss needs just a draw here to book his side a place in the next round. That said, this is Italy’s eighth successive appearance at the finals and a victory will ensure a fifth straight progression into the knockout rounds.