Euro 2024: Familiar foes Spain and Croatia clash again in group opener

BERLIN (AP) — Spain’s bid for a fourth European Championship title begins against Croatia in Berlin’s Olympiastadion — where the final will be played next month. The other teams in the group are defending champion Italy and Albania. Kickoff is at 6 p.m. local (1600 GMT) on Saturday. Here’s what to know about the match:

Match facts

— Spain and Croatia are meeting for the fourth successive time at the European Championship. Spain knocked out Croatia after a 5-3 extra-time win in the round of 16 at Euro 2020. Spain also defeated Croatia on penalties to win the UEFA Nations League last year.

— Zlatko Dalić’s Croatia team is again led by the evergreen Luka Modrić, who at 38 will be playing at the tournament for the fifth time. Modrić joins his national teammates after winning a Spanish league and Champions League double with Real Madrid.

— Spain warmed up with big wins over Andorra and Northern Ireland, with Real Sociedad forward Mikel Oyarzabal bagging four goals over the two games.

— Croatia warmed up with an encouraging win over Portugal.

— Spain midfielder Dani Olmo played for Croatian power Dinamo Zagreb between 2014-20. During this time, he played with Croatia players Dominik Livaković, Bruno Petković, Lovro Majer, Josip Šutalo, Joško Gvardiol, Luka Ivanušec, Marko Pjaca and Borna Sosa. Dalić acknowledged he would have liked the 26-year-old Olmo to play for Croatia, instead.

— It’s the first match of Euro 2024 in the German capital, where enthusiasm for the tournament has been slow to build.

— Spain is placing its faith in youngsters Lamine Yamal (16) and Nico Williams (21).

Team news

— Spain coach Luis de la Fuente dropped Barcelona teenager Pau Cubarsí and midfielders Marcos Llorente and Aleix García from his final 26-man squad for the tournament. García has since joined Bundesliga winner Bayer Leverkusen. De la Fuente opted instead for Real Betis forward Ayoze Pérez and 21-year-old Barcelona midfielder Fermín López.

— De la Fuente said on Friday that defender Aymeric Laporte will not play, though he insisted the defender was not injured and “just had some issues. And I decided that we wouldn’t take the risk. So he’s not going to play tomorrow. It’s a precautionary measure." De la Fuente added Olmo was injury-free and an option for Saturday's match.

— Croatia counterpart Zlatko Dalić reported no injury worries.

By the numbers

— Spain has won five of the countries’ previous 10 meetings, with Croatia winning three.

— Only Germany (14 appearances) has played more times at a European Championship than Spain (12), while Croatia is making its seventh appearance overall, and its sixth straight.

— Croatia’s heaviest defeat came against Spain in September 2011, when the Spanish won 6-0 in the Nations League.

— Spain previously won the tournament in 1964, 2008 and 2012, when it became the only country to successfully defend its title.

What they're saying

“We know that the first game is important, it’s important to start on the right foot. But we’ve already seen that many teams win a big tournament after losing the first game, so there’s need to be anxious. It’s obvious that we’re going to go out to win and we’re not going to leave anything behind, we’re going to play with a lot of enthusiasm. We’re very young and we’re very eager for it to start.” — Spain forward Pedri.

“We have had quite a few matchups with Spain. It has always been a close game and I am sure it will be the same this time.” – Croatia left back Borna Sosa.

“We have the hardest group. That’s a fact. Everyone admits that. Italy, Spain. It’s important to remember the last World Cup in Qatar when we had Morocco in the first match. It was a draw, which meant a lot for our continuation. So, we would like not to lose this match. But this is not our aim. We wish to show the best of ourselves, to make a good start and try to win with great respect towards our opponents, who have a great national team. But we are not afraid of anyone.” — Croatia coach Zlatko Dalić.

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AP Euro 2024: https://apnews.com/hub/euro-2024

Ciarán Fahey, The Associated Press