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Almost two months after Spain’s UEFA Euro 2024 victory, La Roja return to action against Serbia on Thursday for the opening match of their UEFA Nations League campaign at the Rajko Mitic Stadium. The Spaniards are also defending UNL champions and find themselves in League A Group 4 alongside Denmark and Switzerland. This is the first appearance for Luis de la Fuente’s side since they defeated England 2-1 in the Euro final in Berlin in July.
With Europe’s four-time European champions having won all seven matches at a major international tournament in a first for a European country, Spain also outscored everyone in Germany. De la Fuente has a record of 17 wins from 21 matches so far and has two titles to his name, putting the Spaniard third in the FIFA world rankings. Favorites to win League A Group 4, La Roja will take on a Serbian side they have only met in a 2012 friendly so far.
Dragan Stojkovic’s team attended the European Championships as an independent country this summer for the first time since 2000, but they flopped and did not progress beyond the group stage. With zero wins from six matches at major international tournaments, Stojkovic needs improvement. They have been promoted to this level of the Nations League, ahead of Slovenia, Sweden and Norway, and are 32nd in the FIFA world rankings. However, it will be quite a task to surpass Spain, Switzerland and Denmark.
Here are our storylines, how to watch the match and more:
How to watch and odds
- Date: Thursday September 5 | Time: 2:45 PM ET
- Location: Rajko Mitic Stadium – Belgrade, Serbia
- TV: FS2 | Live stream: Fubo (try for free)
- Chances: Serbia +550; Sign +320; Spain -225
League A Group 4
Joining European champions Spain and Serbia in League A Group 4 are Switzerland and Denmark. Although the Danes are in decline after a spell as a force to be reckoned with in major international tournaments, the Swiss are building a very solid reputation, reaching the quarter-finals before losing on penalties to eventual defeated finalists England.
Team news
Serbia: Aleksandar Mitrovic and Sergej Milinkovic-Savic are out injured, while Dusan Tadic has retired internationally and both Dusan Vlahovic and Filip Kostic are out. Kosta Nedeljkovic, Milan Aleksic and Mihailo Ivanovic are part of a group of five uncapped players, while Luka Jovic is expected to start at the top. Sasa Lukic and Marko Grujic or Ivan Ilic could be in Stojkovic’s midfield.
Possible Serbia XI: Rajkovic; Veljkovic, Milenkovic, Pavlović; Nedeljkovic, Lukic, Ilic, Zivkovic; Samardzic, S. Mitrovic; Jovic.
Spain: Unai Simon, Mikel Merino, Alvaro Morata and Fermin Lopez are all out while Jesus Navas has retired internationally. Rodri has not yet returned to action for Manchester City and Pepelu has been called up for the first time. David Raya could start in goal while Mikel Oyarzabal should lead the line, flanked by Lamine Yamal and Nico Williams.
Possible Spain XI: Raya; Carvajal, Le Normand, Laporte, Cucurella; Rodri, Fabian; Yamal, Olmo, Williams; Oyarzabal.
Prediction
It’s likely to be a tough return to action for Spain, but they need to get past Serbia by a goal or two to start this Nations League campaign with a win. Choose: Serbia 0, Spain 1.