Nations League Preview: France vs. Spain

France met Croatia in the quarterfinal and needed to overcome a two-goal deficit after losing the first leg. Les Bleus secured a 2-0 win of their own over Croatia, leading to a penalty kick shootout, with France winning and advancing.

Spain was also in a tight quarterfinal tie against the Netherlands and needed a penalty kick shootout to advance. France manager Didier Deschamps spoke with UEFA ahead of Friday's contest at MHP Arena, giving high praise for a Spanish team that got the best of them last year.

"Currently, Spain are certainly the best team in Europe, and in the world, and it's not just because they won the most recent EURO. They have a new coach, and new players with different characteristics. They've always had good ball control, but now they also have new abilities, especially attacking-wise, where they are very quick, especially [Lamine] Yamal and [Nico] Williams."

"This French team has evolved over the last few years, with plenty of players retiring, and young, talented, players coming through. Since the EURO, the squad has got even younger, with plenty of quality, but they need game time, they need difficult periods as well, which we have had, in order to build and allow France to maintain its level."

France will have at their disposal five players from Paris Saint-Germain's Champions League winning side, so this group of players will be looking to lift another trophy heading into the summer months.

Two players who will look to ride this wave of momentum from his Champions League performance will be Désiré Doué after he scored a brace and Ousmane Dembélé who notched two assists in the 5-0 win over Inter Milan.

Doué will also look to establish himself as an attacker that Deschamps can count on as Doué made his senior debut in March.

France have won the Nations League before, lifting the trophy in 2021 by defeating Spain, so there's a rivalry brewing between these two nations as they continue to meet in these big-stage matches.

It will be interesting to see if Deschamps and his team can edge Spain as they did in 2021 as France look to move forward on their path to becoming two-time Nations League winners.

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