Luis de la Fuente has announced his preliminary squad for the Euro 2024 in Germany, and it’s only a couple of weeks until the tournament starts. But what are Spain’s chances? Will La Furia Roja be one of the title contenders?
In March 2023 the qualifiers for the Euro 2024 in Germany got underway, and the Spanish team was were not expected to face too many issues in their group. Norway and Scotland have been the toughest opponents and without underestimating them, neither hold the same aspirations as La Furia Roja.
This has been proven throughout the matches as well – for the most part. Only Scotland’s tough defensive play and vertical attack turned out to be challenging for the young Spanish team. Other than a harrowing defeat in Glasgow, the team was able to win every single match and qualified easily for the tournament this summer. But how strong is the team?
Preliminary Squad with two surprises
Some days ago, Spain manager Luis de la Fuente announced his preliminary squad for Euro 2024. According to the rules, the squad can contain 26 players as a maximum, but de la Fuente nominated 29 players, meaning that he has to make a decision before the tournament and send three players back home.
Overall there were not that many surprises, and the squad was largely as expected. Only the call-ups of Fermin Lopez and Ayoze Perez came as a surpise. Other than that, it’s the expected squad with lots of quality and some really interesting youth prospects in there.
In comparison to former generations, it might look like a weaker squad overall and maybe it is, but that is in part due to the outrageous generation that has just passed. It will be tough to reach that level in the near future. Instead, the current generation has high-quality players in every position and at least some world-class players standing out and leading the team like Rodri of Manchester City.
Spain is one of the favorites for the title
There are still two friendlies against Andorra and Northern Ireland until de la Fuente is expected to make his final decisions and make the final cut for the squad. After that, it gets serious quickly, as Spain will face Croatia in the first match of the group stage only a week later. A tough opponent in the first match, it could be a good indicator of how well the tournament will go for Spain.
In the second and third match, Italy and Albania are await them. It’s arguably the hardest of the tournament, but Spain are still expected to go through and is the favourite for Group B ahead of Italy, Croatia, and Albania, in that order.
According to experts and bookmakers, they’re also one of the favourites to win the title, which is easily checkable with the specific odds of the bookies. Something that feels far away, but if La Furia Roja can win their group or at least get through it, anything will be possible, and previous Euros have shown that one or two good performances can see you through to the final.
If de la Fuente can get the most out of their attacking talent, they could be one of the best teams in the tournament. More information about this and betting on the Spanish team can be found in overviews and comparisons of suitable bookmakers for betting on the Euros. Regardless of how good or bad Spain is play, it will be a great tournament in such a host nation like Germany.
