“La Roja” will be playing in Belgrade in their first competitive match since their triumph in Berlin almost two months ago. Goalkeeper Unai Simon and striker Alvaro Morata are two regulars who are missing due to injury, but with Arsenal keeper David Raya and the often-tested Mikel Oyarzabal there should be no noticeable drop in quality. Up front, young stars Lamine Yamal and Nico Williams could once again get things going.
Spain’s selection has won nine games in a row since a 3:3 friendly match against Brazil at the end of March. In addition to Serbia, Switzerland will also try to break this streak on Sunday in Geneva. Denmark completes the group. Spain’s team manager Luis de la Fuente was pragmatic: “We will continue to try to get as far as possible in every competition.”
Hits between France and Italy
France and Italy will meet on Friday in the first round match in the Parc des Princes in Paris. It is also a duel of the disappointed. In the “Azzurri” camp, head coach Luciano Spalletti is under a certain amount of pressure after the European Championship went more than badly and they were knocked out in the round of 16. For the “Bleus”, reaching the semi-finals in Germany was not necessarily seen as a success.
For French team manager Didier Deschamps, Italy remains “one of the best national teams”. Kylian Mbappe is expected to lead the home team again. According to Deschamps, the new Real striker arrived at the team camp “with a smile” after scoring his first goal for the Madrilenians last weekend with a brace. France and Italy are meeting in a competitive match for the first time in 16 years. The French have won the last three friendlies.
Ronaldo has no intention of quitting
In Portugal, the situation surrounding Cristiano Ronaldo dominated the media before the home match against Croatia (Thursday). The 39-year-old declared that he was not considering resigning from the “Selecao”. “It motivated me even more to carry on,” said the 130-time team goal scorer (212 international matches) about his poor performances at the European Championships. Ronaldo is still guaranteed a starting place.
Germany will play its first match against Hungary in Düsseldorf on Saturday. “Games and competitions are there to be won,” stressed national coach Julian Nagelsmann. The DFB team is aiming for first place, and the duels with the “Oranje” are likely to be decisive. It will be exciting to see how Nagelsmann handles the change. Goalkeeper Manuel Neuer, Toni Kroos, Ilkay Gündogan and Thomas Müller retired after the European Championships at home. Joshua Kimmich will lead the German team as captain from now on.
England only in second place
England starts as European runners-up, but is only in League B and has no chance of getting involved in the title race. Finland, Greece and Ireland are the opponents in the first games after Gareth Southgate’s resignation. England’s association has taken its time in the search for a successor. U21 national team coach Lee Carsley (50) will be on the sidelines in the first games on Saturday in Dublin and three days later at Wembley in London against the Finns. Jude Bellingham is missing from England due to a muscle injury.
The route to the Final Four has been reformed and now involves quarter-final matches. The Nations League remains important in connection with qualification for the next major tournament, in this case the 2026 World Cup. The four best teams that do not make it into the top two in their groups in the 2025 World Cup qualifiers will compete with the twelve World Cup qualifying group runners-up in March 2026 for the four remaining European starting places for the finals in North America.
