- 1 Spain vs Croatia: world champions host a regular at the big-table
- 2 Spain: five straight wins and a deeper attacking pecking order
- 3 Croatia: patchy form, with Luka Modric still pulling the strings
- 4 Football Prediction Spain vs Croatia
- 5 First, a word on our free predictions
- 6 No commitment from us
- 7 Information changes
- 8 Your responsibility
- 9 Responsible gambling first
- 10 Legal age
- 11 About the visuals…
Spain vs Croatia: world champions host a regular at the big-table 
Spain host Croatia on Tuesday 29 September at the Estadio Ramon Sanchez Pizjuan in Seville, with kick-off set for 20:45 Paris time.
This match is part of matchday two in Nations League Group A3, three days after both sides opened their campaigns in the section.
The group also includes England and Czech Republic, with two qualification spots for the quarter-finals and a straight drop to League B for the bottom side.
Spain arrive in Seville riding the wave of their World Cup triumph this summer, a status that changes the way every opponent approaches La Roja.
Croatia, meanwhile, remain a proven team in this format, turning up for almost every major international occasion over the past decade.
The Sanchez Pizjuan sets the scene for a heavyweight clash, with the prestige of the world champions on one side and Croatia’s big-game reputation on the other.
These two sides have met plenty of times in major tournaments before, which adds extra bite to another showdown in the Nations League.
Both teams are looking to build on a strong start in the group rather than play it safe and settle for a point.
The League A format, with four teams in each group meeting twice over a matter of weeks, does not leave much room for a warm-up act by matchday two.
A win in Seville would put Spain within touching distance of top spot before the final two fixtures, scheduled for early October.
Spain: five straight wins and a deeper attacking pecking order 
Spain have won their last five matches, a run that includes this summer’s World Cup title.
For this camp, Luis de la Fuente has kept the spine of the world champion squad, with 22 players from that group retained.
A few pieces are missing, though, starting with Rodri, Pau Cubarsi, who has a knee issue, and Pedro Porro, who is dealing with a hamstring problem.
In goal, Josep Martinez steps in for Joan Garcia, who has been rested because of a minor knee issue rather than any serious absence.
Up front, Ferran Torres sums up Spain’s attacking depth, with seven goals in six matches since joining Paris Saint-Germain, a move completed in mid-August 2026 from Barcelona.
That wealth of attacking options, combined with Lamine Yamal and Nico Williams out wide, makes life very difficult for any defence over 90 minutes.
The question now is how a team riding the high of a world title handles the opening of a new campaign, with the pressure of living up to the standard it set for itself this summer.
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That awkward mix of confirming the title and dealing with life after the World Cup leaves Spain facing a different kind of pressure from previous editions of the competition.
In front of their own fans at the Sanchez Pizjuan, though, La Roja are clearly aiming to keep the run going rather than simply protect what they already have.
Croatia: patchy form, with Luka Modric still pulling the strings 
Croatia have been up and down over their last five matches, alternating between wins and defeats without finding much rhythm.
That inconsistency jars with the image of a side that has become a familiar sight at the business end of major tournaments since 2018.
Martin Erlic is out until mid-October, a long-term absentee that leaves Zlatko Dalic, then Slaven Bilic, short of another option at centre-back.
Josip Stanisic is still a doubt for this one, with a late call needed before the team is announced.
In midfield, the Luka Modric and Mateo Kovacic partnership still shapes Croatia’s play, with Modric captaining the side and starting at 41.
Historically, the edge is firmly with Spain, who have won five of the last seven meetings between the teams, with Croatia taking the other two and no draws in that spell.
Against Spain and their world champion status, Croatia will probably need their collective know-how more than any sort of favourable matchup if they want to upset the script.
This trip to Andalusia also comes inside a tight window for Croatia, with another group fixture due in early October.
Against a Spain side in near-perfect form, Croatia will need to tighten up at the back if they are to leave Seville with anything.
The group’s experience, built across several straight runs in major tournaments, is still a real asset in this sort of high-pressure setting.
The big question is whether that experience can make up for the defensive absences on a pitch where Spain expect to win in front of their own crowd.
Expected Spain line-up: Not announced at time of publication.
Expected Croatia line-up: Not announced at time of publication.
Football Prediction Spain vs Croatia
Our prediction: Spain to win
Five wins on the spin, a world title in the bag and a squad kept almost intact — Spain come into this one with every reason to keep rolling.
The head-to-head record backs that up too, with five Spanish wins in the last seven meetings against Croatia and no draws in that run.
With Croatia missing Erlic and unsure about Stanisic, we are backing Spain to win in front of their own fans on matchday two in Group A3.
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