Ladies and gentlemen, the time has come - UEFA Euro 2024 is upon us. The very best nations from across the continent of Europe will compete with one another for the right to be called champions. There are some great teams who are ready to lay it all on the line in the name of greatness, and we can’t wait to see it. Today, we’ll be taking a look at the upcoming clash between Spain and Croatia.

Regardless of what their situation may be at any given moment, Spain should always be seen as a nation that is well and truly in the fight. They had their big run between 2008 and 2012 but now, they’ve got a brand new golden generation coming through. At this stage, it’s just a case of figuring out how they can maximise that, and whether or not they’ve got what it takes to win another major trophy.

For Spain, they had a pretty solid qualification campaign - outside of a surprising loss to Scotland. They topped Group A with seven wins and just one defeat and, perhaps more encouragingly, they scored 25 goals and only conceded five throughout their eight matches.

They may have only made it to the round of 16 at Euro 2021, but on the biggest stage of them all, Croatia have proven themselves to be the ultimate dark horse. They have finished in 2nd place and 3rd place at the last two World Cups and although it must be said that they have an ageing squad, we still think they’ve got enough gas left in the tank for one more big run.

Croatia didn’t have things all their own way in the qualifiers as they finished in 2nd place in Group D behind Turkey. They needed to dig deep in order to fend off the challenge of Wales but in the end, they managed it, and they’ve done really well to earn their spot here.

Spain and Croatia are both really exciting teams to watch and we feel as if it’s inevitable that they’ll live up to their respective reputations in this game. It’s going to be a tight and tense affair, and in our view, the most likely outcome is a draw - which isn’t the end of the world for either side.