It's time for the first Euro 2024 semi final, on Tuesday night we will see Spain taking on France. These are two of the biggest European nations for football, and both overcame fellow giants in the quarter finals to get here. It looks set to be a cracker, a place in the final is on the line, and these two have undoubted quality to really give us a game to remember.
Spain Form GuideFor me, Spain have been the best team in this tournament so far. They've been full of energy, and have the belief that they are the best team here. Full of young up and coming stars, they're not showing any signs of faultering on the big stage, and I don't expect them to start that in this semi final.
A 2-1 win over Germany, which needed extra time, saw them reach this stage. They conceded a last minute goal, to take the game to extra time, but showed real strength and determination to fight back. Ahead of the tournament, many saw Spain as a team that would learn a lot and improve from this, giving themselves a chance at the 2026 World Cup, but that's not been the case, they've overachieved.
France Form GuideEngland and France came into this tournament as the two favourites, and so far both have been quite lacklustre, managing to get through and do what they need, but not really impressing or showing us their quality. Of course, France are hurt by Kylian Mbappe in that, who is performing to around 60-70% his best right now due to the broken nose. But there's plenty of talent elsewhere, that haven't quite hit the heights yet.
It was evident in their last game, when they went all the way to penalties with Portugal and won the shootout. But in times during the game, it was evident that Portugal were trying to win, while France were happy for the game to play out, and go to penalties. We've not seen enough attacking intent from France yet, they have to be more ruthless on the ball.
Match PredictionTwo top class sides who could give us a semi final to remember. But I have to side with Spain here, as they're the team that has shown their quality in this competition so far. It's not the case for France, struggling without Mbappe, so I think the young Spain team can beat them here, and reach Sunday's final, where they will face England or the Netherlands.
