Preview: Serbia vs Spain – Prediction, team news, lineups

Almost seven weeks after their triumph at the 2024 European Championship Spain travel to the Rajko Mitic Stadium in Belgrade to face Serbia in their opening game of the 2024/25 season UEFA Nations League on Thursday evening.

La Roja are defending champions of the Nations League and will compete alongside Serbia in Group 4 of League A against Denmark and Switzerland.

Game Preview

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Spain is preparing for its first match since beating England 2-1 in the 2024 European Championship final at Berlin's Olympic Stadium on July 14, becoming the first nation to win the competition four times.

La Roja were by far the best team on the continent and deserved to win in Germany. Not only were they the first European nation to win all seven of their matches at a major tournament (European Championship and World Cup), they also scored more goals (15) than any other team in European Championship history.

Luis de la Fountain has won 17 of his 21 games as Spain head coach since taking office in December 2022, and Euro 2024 will be his second major title after previously leading his country to triumph in the 2022–23 Nations League.

In fact, Spain finished top of their group with 11 points from six matches, ahead of Portugal, Switzerland and the Czech Republic. They beat Italy in the semi-finals and Croatia in the final on penalties after a 0-0 draw.

Spain, ranked third in the world by FIFA, is the favourite to win Group 4 of League A this time around. The team will start its season against a Serbian team they have only faced once before: in May 2012 they won a friendly match 2-0.

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Serbia took part in the European Championships this summer as an independent nation for the first time since 2000, and many expected the team to progress beyond the group stage, but in the end they were wrong.

In fact, Dragan Stojkovic has not won any of his six games as Serbia's coach at major tournaments. At Euro 2024, the Eagles finished bottom of Group C after picking up just two points in games against England, Denmark and Slovenia.

However, Serbia had more success in their previous Nations League campaign, securing promotion to League A with four wins from six matches and finishing first in Group 4 of League B ahead of Norway, Slovenia and Sweden.

Serbia, ranked 32nd in the world by FIFA, have actually advanced from League C to League A in the last three Nations League tournaments and have a record of nine wins, six draws and just three losses.

However, the Eagles may find it difficult to move top of Group 4 of League A this time around and face a difficult opening match on Thursday against Spain, who have lost only two of their last 21 international matches since the start of 2023.

Serbia Form (All Competitions):

Spain Form (All Competitions):

Team News

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Serbia must do without key duo Alexander Mitrovic And Sergej Milinkovic-Savic due to injury and Dusan Tadic has retired from international football, while striker Dusan Vlahovic and versatile winger Filip Kostic are two notable omissions from Stojkovic’s 25-man squad.

Stojkovic has called up five players without international experience, including the Aston Villa right-back. Kosta NedeljkovicSunderland midfielder Milan Aleksic and Millwall striker Mihailo Ivanovicwho all hope to appear in some capacity on Thursday.

Luka Jovic is expected to start as a centre-forward in Mitrovic’s absence, while Sasa Lukic and either Marko Grujic or Ivan Ilic could be inserted into the central midfield.

As for Spain, Unai Simon (Wrist), Mikel Merino (Shoulder), Alvaro Morata (thigh) and Fermin Lopez (muscle) are out due to injury, while the 38-year-old Jesus Navas has retired from international football.

Midfield star Rodri has not played a game for Manchester City this season but is fit and ready to play, while the 26-year-old Valencia midfielder Pepelu was called up to the senior national team for the first time and is hoping to make his debut.

The absence of goalkeeper Simon could affect Arsenal’s David Raya given a start between the posts, while Mikel Oyarzabal is expected to lead the attacking line in Morata's absence, with the wingers supporting him in attack Lamine Jamal And Nico Williams.

Possible starting eleven for Serbia:
Rajkovic; Veljkovic, Milenkovic, Pavlovic; Nedeljkovic, Lukic, Ilic, Zivkovic; Samardzic, S. Mitrovic; Jovic

Possible starting eleven for Spain:
Raya; Carvajal, Le Normand, Laporte, Cucurella; Rodri, Fabian; Yamal, Olmo, Williams; Oyarzabal

We think: Serbia 0-2 Spain

If Spain can pick up where they left off and perform as well as they did on Thursday at Euro 2024, they should have no trouble getting past a weakened Serbia team that is missing some key attacking players and will struggle to compete against a strong La Roja side.

Click here to see a data analysis of the most likely outcomes, scores and more for this match.

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