Spain v Sweden – BBC Sport

TEAM NEWS

Spain captain Sergio Busquets is ruled out due to a positive coronavirus test that means he is still self-isolating.

Sweden will be without youngsters Dejan Kulusevski and Mattias Svanberg, who have also received positive Covid tests.

Marcus Berg is expected to partner youngster Alexander Isak in attack.

LAWRO’S PREDICTION

Spain might not be the force they were a decade ago but they still hide the ball from the opposition extremely well. They are very capable in possession, but I am not sure about them in front of goal.

Lawro’s prediction: 1-0

MATCH FACTS

Head-to-head

• This will be the fourth meeting between Spain and Sweden at a major tournament. Spain have won the last two, a 2-1 victory at Euro 2008 and 1-0 at the 1978 World Cup.
• Sweden won the first meeting between the two sides at a finals – a 3-1 triumph at the 1950 World Cup.
• Spain have failed to score just once in their last 12 matches against Sweden.

Spain

• Spain have won only one of their last five opening matches at a major tournament, a 1-0 win over Czech Republic at Euro 2016.
• This is Spain’s 11th appearance at a European Championships. They have won two of the last three and their three tournament victories in total is only equalled by Germany.
• They have reached the knockout stages of five of their last six Euros – only failing to get out of the group stages in 2004.
• Spain’s last 37 goals at the Euros have all come from inside the box.

Sweden

• Sweden have lost six of their last eight European Championships matches (W1, D1), with their only win coming against France in 2012.
• Their best finish in six previous appearances at the Euros was making the semi-finals on debut as hosts in 1992.
• Sweden have failed to make it out of the group stages in the last three European Championships. They last made the knockout stages in 2004 before losing a penalty shoot-out to the Netherlands.
• Sweden’s only goal at Euro 2016 was an own-goal scored by the Republic of Ireland’s Ciaran Clark.

MOST RECENT MEETING

Sweden 1-1 Spain (15 October 2019)