Switzerland vs Spain

European champions Spain take a competitive-looking trip to the Stade de Geneve to meet Switzerland in a mouth-watering UEFA Nations League game.

Conceding twice beyond the 80th minute condemned Switzerland to a dismal 2-0 defeat at Denmark in their Group A4 opener, adding to their frustration following a gut-wrenching quarter-final exit at Euro 2024. Murat Yakin’s side dropped a second-half lead before losing to England on penalties, failing to reach the semi-finals of a major international tournament for the first time in the nation’s history. However, they’re no strangers to making deep runs in the Nations League, qualifying for the last four in the competition’s inaugural iteration in 2018/19. Replicating that feat will likely hinge on winning this match, yet it’s worth noting that the Swiss have only won twice in 25 previous encounters against Spain (D5, L18). Interestingly, one of those two victories came in this competition as Switzerland eked out a 2-1 win in September 2022.

But as that defeat came on their home turf, visiting Spain should take the field in high spirits despite being held to a 0-0 draw by Serbia on matchday one. It was Spain’s first scoring blank since a 1-0 friendly loss to Colombia in March 2024, knocking the Euro 2024 winners down from an impressive ten-game scoring streak. Luis de la Fuente’s high-flyers won’t care about their slow Group A4 start if they can extend an eye-catching eight-match unbeaten run in foreign lands with a win (W7, D1). Defensive solidity has been the Spaniards’ standout feature – they’ve not conceded more than one goal in a competitive match since March 2023, indicating a repeat of a 1-0 scoreline from the last H2H on Swiss soil could be in store.