Spain vs Norway

Spain’s Euro 2024 qualification Group A journey kicks off at the Estadio La Rosaleda against injury-plagued Norway.

Spain’s underwhelming 2022 World Cup last-16 exit to surprise package Morocco resulted in Luis Enrique’s departure, with new manager Luis de la Fuente looking to pain his touchline debut with flying colors and help his side qualify for an eighth straight EURO finals. However, De la Fuente has already had to handle internal issues within the squad, having had to separate Barcelona and Real Madrid players during the team’s preparations for this fixture. He’ll hope that the new-look side will have sufficient cohesion to maintain their impressive record against Norway (W5, D2, L1) and bounce back from a 2-1 UEFA Nations League loss to Switzerland in their most recent competitive home outing. Considering their last two home EURO qualifiers against Norway have yielded 2-1 wins, everything seems settled for Spain’s strong start.

On the other hand, Norway’s bid to qualify for the EURO finals for the first time since 2000 has already suffered a massive setback after Manchester City’s talismanic striker Erling Haaland picked up an injury. With Haaland on the sidelines, the visitors’ hopes of arresting a two-game losing streak in competitive action are hanging by a thread. But with their last three competitive away matches settled by a single-goal margin (W2, L1), they could give Spain a run for their money. Stale Solbakken’s men can draw further confidence from having scored on their last four international travels, friendlies included. It’s also worth mentioning they found the net in the first half of play in three of those four matches, highlighting the potential for a quick-fire start.