In this article…
Spain v France
📅
Kick Off: Tuesday 9th July at 20:00
📺
Watch Live: BBC One
🏆
Competition: Euro 2024
After a tight and tense quarter-final round where three of the four matches went into extra time, and two to penalties, Spain and France have emerged from a tough half of the draw to contest the first semi final on Tuesday night in Munich.
The Spanish eliminated the hosts Germany after a slow-burner of a quarter-final. There were very few shots in the first half, but the game kicked into life in the second 45 minutes, and despite conceding a late equaliser, Mikel Merino’s late header in extra time sealed Spain’s progression. They have probably been the most impressive of the four sides left in the competition in general play, and it is fitting that they are in the final four.
France have been far more laborious on the eye, but have made it here regardless, which demonstrates something of a winning mentality if nothing else. Remarkably, France are yet to score a goal from open play, relying instead on two own goals and a penalty for their three goals so far, conversely, they have also only conceded once, and that was to a penalty as well.
The Euros are heating up as the first game of the semi-finals draws closer, check our Spain v France bet builder on our daily Euro 2024 betting tips are back again on Andy’s Bet Club, alongside our Euro 2024 acca tips, both teams to score predictions, shot-on-target predictions and foul betting tips.
Make sure to also check out our best bet builder bookmakers and Euro 2024 free bet offers to ensure you get the best value from our football tips.
Spain v France Best Bets
Spain have a couple of defensive suspensions to deal with for this match, Dani Carvajal and Robin Le Normand are both out, and Pedri’s tournament is over after a knee injury suffered against the Germans. This could disrupt La Roja’s consistency, albeit Dani Olmo has been brilliant coming off the bench in the last two matches.
France face no such concerns, the main issue is whether they can turn around their poor finishing record of late, but faith will be kept with Kylian Mbappe, Randal Kolo Muani, and Antoine Griezmann to try and do that.
The way that the latter stages of this tournament have played out, and looking at the recent head-to-head between these nations as well. There is a temptation to play the correct score markets for a low-scoring draw, 0-0 is 6.0 and 1-1 is 5.50.
Spain should be favoured here in terms of analysing form and performance. The trouble is that France have been very solid defensively, so taking Spain on the Draw No Bet market at 1.73 could be a way to minimise the risk.
However, there is an intriguing-looking bet in the corners market here. Spain have been priced odds on at 1.67 for this market, despite the fact that the Spanish failed to register a single corner in the quarter-final against Germany. Spain have had 29 corners in the tournament so far compared to France’s 27, but 13 of them came against Georgia. Neither team has been prolific at winning corners, but the price differential here is too great, France at 2.70 is worth a bet.
📂 Spain v France Cheat Sheet
There are so many ways to use our Cheat Sheets and we encourage you to find your own formula to pick a winning bet builder, however, if you’re unsure of how to use a Cheat Sheet, just click the link for some quick tips to help you make the most of it.
You can find Spain v France match stats on my bet builder stats tool, along with official line-ups one hour before kick-off.
📊 Spain Form and Stats
It almost goes without saying that Spain are doing well, they are in the semi-finals. They reached this stage in Euro 2020 as well, looking impressive along the way, before falling to Italy on penalties.
Spain were the only team in the group stage to emerge with three wins from three. They then pulverised Georgia, winning 4-1, and edged out Germany after extra time. Germany had also been good up to that point, so a draw in regulation time against them was a very respectable result.
Spain have the highest xGF total in the tournament at 10.3, around 2 xGF per match, no other team remaining in the tournament can match this level of chance creation. They also have the highest number of shots on target per match and the most big chances missed.
They are not watertight though. Despite only conceding twice in the tournament in their five matches, their xGA conceded over that time is 5.4. This is the worst left in the tournament and demonstrates that they perhaps should’ve conceded at least a couple more goals than they have done.
📊 France Form and Stats
France have been utterly unconvincing so far and everyone in the camp, the media, and back home, knows it.
Having scored two own goals and a penalty so far, the question is, where will the goals come from? With supposedly the best player in the world in the forward line, as well as proven talent surrounding him, there should be more output than there has been seen so far.
It could be the case that Mbappe has been affected more by his broken nose than some will have thought, but Didier Deschamps faces a lot of criticism about France’s style of play, and yet, here they are again, challenging for another major honour.
France have the best xGA numbers of any of the teams left in the competition at 4.5, and the second-best xGF generated numbers at 8.1 over their five matches. This suggests that the issue hasn’t necessarily been creative, but perhaps a lack of execution in the final third.
⚔️ Spain v France Head-to-Head
There have been 36 meetings between the countries in men’s professional football going back to 1922, Spain have more wins with 16, France have 13, and there have been seven draws between the pair.
Recent history is pretty tight. France won their last encounter in the Nations League finals in 2021, with Kylian Mbappe scoring the winner in a 2-1 win on that occasion. However, it is likely that only five French players will start in both matches, for Spain, only three of the team that lost that final are likely to start in this match, so, despite its recency, there isn’t necessarily that much to take from the encounter.
The pair met in the quarter-finals of Euro 2012 as well. Spain emerged victorious there due to a brace from now Bayer Leverkusen coach Xabi Alonso. That was part of a run which saw Spain go on to win the tournament, making it three major tournament wins in a row for La Roja, but it is currently the last piece of silverware that Spain have won.
Overall, in their last five meetings, including friendlies, there have been two Spain wins, two France wins, and a draw, with Spain scoring five goals and France four.
* I recommend waiting for confirmed team line-ups before placing any bets.
* All odds displayed correct at the time of publishing.
Written by an Andy verified content writer
18+ please gamble responsibly.
