This Euro 2024 Group B match between Spain and Italy will take place on Thursday 20th June 2024 at 8pm (BST).
The game will take place at the Veltins-Arena in Gelsenkirchen, the home of FC Schalke 04 which has a capacity of 50,000. This stadium notably hosted the 2004 Champions League final and the 2006 World Cup quarter-final.
Match Preview & Prediction
Spain head into this Euro 2024 tournament after finishing top of their qualifying group, winning seven of their eight games.
The European giants have won the competition three times before, in 1964, 2008 and 2012, only hosts Germany have qualified for more Euro tournaments than Spain.
Outright Winner - Spain
Spain had a good Euro 2020, they managed to get into the semi-final stage before being knocked out on penalties by their opponents here, Italy.
Spain boss Luis de la Fuente will be hoping his side can go one further this time around make it a record four-time winners of a Euro tournament.
Italy finished their qualifying group in second, runners up to England and had the same number of points as Ukraine (14), Italy qualified automatically via the head-to-head points system but they very nearly had to do it via the play-offs, a controversial decision towards the end of their final game against Ukraine went in their favour and they just scraped through.
Of course, Italy are the reigning champions of this competition following their victory on penalties against England at Wembley in 2021 - the delayed Euro 2020 tournament.
Head coach will Luciano Spalletti will be hoping to follow in Roberto Mancini’s footsteps and take his Italian side all the way, which would bring them level on three tournament wins with Spain and Germany.
Since their semi-final defeat to Italy, Spain have beaten Italy twice by the same scoreline (2-1), I think we’ll see something similar here, a tight affair but Luis de la Fuente’s side to take these vital three points in Group B.
Italy vs Spain History
These two European giants have met plenty of times over the years, they’ve come head-to-head thirty-six times before, with the first game taking place in 1924. The stats are fairly split, Spain have won fourteen, Italy have won ten whilst there have been twelve draws between the nations.
Despite the meetings between the two nations being fairly level, Spain have the upper hand in more recent times. Since 2010, the Spaniards have won four of their eight meetings, losing just once in ninety minutes.
Spain have also taken the victory in their last two meetings, both of which came in the UEFA Nations League competition, with the most recent victory coming just over 12 months ago by the time these two sides meet here in Germany (15th June 23).
Spain v Italy Betting Odds
The sports betting odds have Spain as the slight favourites to get the victory here.
Full Time Result - Spain
Italy will be looking to challenge Spain to the top spot in Group B, they’ve got a chance to show a real statement to the rest of Europe here.
Spain Squad Euro 2024
Goalkeepers:
David Raya, (Arsenal), Alex Remiro, (Real Sociedad) and Unai Simon (Athletic Club).
Defenders:
Dani Carvajal (Real Madrid), Marc Cucurella (Chelsea), Alejandro Grimaldo (Bayer Leverkusen), Aymeric Laporte (Al-Nassr), Robin Le Normand (Real Sociedad), Jesus Navas (Sevilla), Nacho (Real Madrid) and Dani Vivian (Athletic Club).
Midfielders:
Alex Baena (Villarreal), Mikel Merino (Real Sociedad), Pedri (Barcelona), Rodri (Manchester City), Fabian Ruiz (Paris Saint-Germain) and Martin Zubimendi (Real Sociedad).
Forwards:
Joselu (Real Madrid), Alvaro Morata (Atletico Madrid), Dani Olmo (RB Leipzig), Ayoze Perez (Real Betis), Mikel Oyarzabal (Real Sociedad), Ferran Torres (Barcelona), Nico Williams (Athletic Club) and Lamine Yamal (Barcelona)
Italy Squad Euro 2024
Goalkeepers:
Gigi Donnarumma (Paris Saint-Germain), Alex Meret (Napoli), Ivan Provedel (Lazio) and Guglielmo Vicario (Tottenham).
Defenders:
Alessandro Bastoni (Inter), Raoul Bellanova (Torino), Alessandro Buongiorno (Torino), Andrea Cambiaso (Juventus), Riccardo Calafiori (Bologna), Matteo Darmian (Inter), Federico Dimarco (Inter), Giovanni Di Lorenzo (Napoli), and Gianluca Mancini (Roma).
Midfielders:
Nicolo Barella (Inter), Bryan Cristante (Roma), Michael Folorunsho (Verona), Davide Frattesi (Inter), Jorginho (Arsenal), Lorenzo Pellegrini (Roma), Samuele Ricci (Torino) and Nicolo Fagioli (Juventus).
Forwards:
Federico Chiesa (Juventus), Stephan El Shaarawy (Roma), Riccardo Orsolini (Bologna), Giacomo Raspadori (Napoli), Mateo Retegui (Genoa), Gianluca Scamacca (Atalanta) and Mattia Zaccagni (Lazio).
Italy and Spain Euro 2024 Predictions
Here are my Euro 2024 predictions for these two nations.
Spain – I think Spain will top the group, if that’s the case they’ll come up against a third placed side from either Group A/D/E or F.
So I expect them to get to the quarter-final stage at least, where they could face hosts Germany, if that’s how this plays out, I think Germany would get the better of Spain at that stage.
Italy – This is a tough group for the Azzurri but I still fancy them to qualify in second place, that would set up a round of 16 clash with the runners up from Group A, I would expect them to come through that game, but again, the quarter-final stage might be a step too far for this Italian side.
In terms of the Euro 2024 odds, the Azzurri are currently 5/2 to cause an upset and top the group.
*Credit for the main photo belongs to Alamy*
