Two final worthy matches will be played out on Friday in Germany at Euro 2024, Spain and the host nation Germany is a clash of teams that have played well all tournament, while Portugal vs France is the opposite, a clash of teams that have been struggling but continue to advance in the tournament. Our panelists offer their predictions.
Spain vs Germany (Friday in Stuttgart)
Steen: The final that most pundits and fans of the game would want to see is instead a quarterfinal, the hosts Germany have 3 wins and a draw at Euro 2024, a stark improvement from their performances in recent tournaments. Two second half goals sent Germany into the quarterfinals with a victory over Denmark as the backline pairing of Antonio Rudiger (Real Madrid) and Nico Schlotterbeck (Dortmund) was the top rated in the game. Denmark were viable for much of the match, but Germany capitalized on their chances better. Bayern Munich’s Jamal Musiala is hunting for the Golden Boot with 3 goals this tournament, this is a Germany team that is strong at the back and won’t concede easily, while they play sensibly and with good movement when they go forward to score. Toni Kroos passing and leadership, along with Barcelona’s Ilkay Gundogan is massive for their midfield.
Spain are the most joyful team of Euro 2024, undefeated in their four matches thus far and having whipped Georgia 4-1, they are flying, especially the young attackers Lamine Yamal (Barcelona) and Nico Williams (Bilbao). PSG’s Fabian Ruiz in the midfield has been one of the best players of the tournament, and Chelsea’s Marc Cucurella has been a superstar defender in transition. Germany are a really good team, but when Spain get things clicking it’s been scary, Spain has been at a high level this tournament and I see them upsetting the hosts. Prediction: Spain 2 Germany 1
Ben Gray: This would be a fitting European Championships Final but, instead, the two teams who’ve undoubtably been the most impressive at this summer’s tournament simply go head-to-head for a place in the last four, so Stuttgart is set for, what’ll surely be, a classic.
Having won all three group games without conceding a goal, Spain fell behind against Georgia in Sunday night’s last 16 tie, Robin Le Normand deflecting the ball into his own net, but they still fought back, cruising to a 4-1 victory at RheinEnergieStadion.
Rodri equalised on the cusp of half time, before Fabián Ruiz, Nico Williams and Dani Olmo secured the victory.
Incidentally, Rodri’s strike in Köln was Spain’s first goal from outside the box at a Euros since Raúl netted against Slovenia at Euro 2000; they’ve scored 59 goals at the competition, winning it twice, since then.
So, Luis de la Fuente’s team look very strong right now, with that their 12th successive competitive victory, but this’ll be the toughest test they’ve faced during this streak by some distance.
Germany meantime have reached at least the semi-finals at all four tournaments they’ve previously hosted, winning the World Cup in ’74, while they were defeated in the semis of Euro ’88, the Confederations Cup in 2005 and the following summer’s World Cup.
This time round, Die Mannschaft required a last-gasp equaliser from Niclas Füllkrug to pip Switzerland to top spot in Group A, before swatting aside Denmark in Dortmund on Saturday night, prevailing 2-0 on a very eventful evening.
Play was suspended for over 25 minutes mid-way through the first half due to a thunderstorm above Westfalenstadion, before the Danes thought they’d taken the lead, only for VAR to have other ideas.
Mere moments later, the hosts were awarded a very dubious penalty, that Kai Havertz expertly tucked away, before Jamal Musiala rubber stamped their passage with a sublime solo strike soon after.
Julian Nagelsmann’s team might just be clicking into gear at the right time, but die Nationalelf will need to improve further to prevail here.
Ahead of this tie, Spain are unbeaten six competitive meetings with Germany, including beating them 1-0 both in the final of Euro 2008 and the semis of the 2010 World Cup, while their most-recent encounter produced a 1-1 draw in Al Khor at the most-recent World Cup.
On German soil however, la Roja’s only victory over die Mannschaft came in a friendly in 1935, winless in six attempts subsequently, most-notably beaten 2-0 at Olympiastadion München in 1988, the last Euros Germany hosted, a win that booked their place in the semi-finals. Will Neckarstadion witness déjà vu, or can Spain crush Germany’s dreams; it’s so tough to call! Prediction: Germany 2 Spain 1
Portugal vs France (Friday in Hamburg)
Steen: Two toothless draws and two narrow 1-0 victories have placed France into the quarterfinals, on paper they are one of the best teams in the world, but under Didier Deschamps this side have been dreadful in open play for much of the tournament. In the Round of 16 France played slowly and failed to capitalize much of the game, but Belgium were worse and it ended 1-0. After starting well, Portugal are also in a slump, they were forced into penalties against Slovenia after losing to Georgia in the final group stage match. Despite 72% possession and 20 shots on goal, Portugal couldn’t find the back of the net and leaders like Cristiano Ronaldo have struggled to produce. Roberto Martinez and Didier Deschamps have a lot to consider ahead of this quarterfinal, Portugal has at least shown a higher ceiling this tournament, France defends well but anything past the halfway line has been tepid at best. I will go with the upset in a defensive game. Prediction: Portugal 1 France 0
Ben: These two nations have both tasted glory in recent times, hence why the pair were amongst the pre-tournament front-runners, but for one, their quest for yet more silverware will come to an end here.
France have been very underwhelming at this competition, ending up second in their group, below Austria, after only yielding draws with both the Netherlands and Poland, probably lucky to pick up a point both times.
Then, in Monday evening’s last 16 tie, les Bleus and neighbours played out a frankly dire 90 minutes in Düsseldorf, devoid of any quality of imagination, fittingly decided by a scrappy own goal as Randal Kolo Muani’s rather tame wayward shot deflected in off Jan Vertonghen.
Didier Deschamps’ side have now reached at least the quarter-finals at six of the last seven tournament, featuring in three finals, so they certainly know how to get the job done, even if they do so with a minimum amount of “joie de vivre”.
Well, the same could be said about Portugal, who did manage to top their group courtesy of wins over Czechia and Türkiye, before an inconsequential 2-0 defeat to Georgia after they’d already rubber stamped first place, making eight changes.
The first-choice team then returned for Monday night’s tie with Slovenia in Frankfurt, a match that quickly, in a borderline farcical manor, became the Cristiano Ronaldo show, with cross after cross flying over his head, as he fired umpteen free-kicks high into night-sky; luckily for air traffic control, Waldstadion’s roof was closed.
With the tie still goalless, extra time was required, before A Seleção das Quinas were awarded a golden chance to snatch the lead, Daniele Orsato pointing to the penalty spot, but Ronaldo saw his effort saved, leading to him being in tears at half time of extra time.
To penalties we went and, following on from the Ronaldo show, Diogo Costa became the hero, saving all three of Slovenia’s spot-kicks, while Ronaldo himself, Bruno Fernandes and Bernardo Silva all held their nerve, to set up this heavyweight quarter-final clash.
To date, France have won 19 of 28 encounters with Portugal, losing just six, while at major tournaments it’s three victories for les Bleus and only one for A Seleção, although that was rather noteworthy, coming in the final of Euro 2016 in Paris, with the pair playing out a very entertaining 2-2 draw in Budapest during the last Euros.
Well, based on both have produced in Germany so far, this clash at Volksparkstadion is unlikely to be as high-scoring, but the high-stakes makes this match-up in Hamburg unmissable. Prediction: France 2 Portugal 1
Main Photo Credit: IMAGO / osnapix.
