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Former FIFA World Cup winners Spain will look to get their 2022 FIFA World Cup qualifying campaign off to a positive start. Luis Enrique’s men will go up against Greece in the opening match of the qualifiers.
2010 World Cup winners, Spain, will begin the qualification process with a match against Greece. La Roja have been drawn alongside Greece, Kosovo, Georgia, and Sweden in their qualifying group and are expected to book their place for the 2022 World Cup in Qatar.
Meanwhile, Spain’s upcoming round of fixtures will also help them prepare for this summer’s UEFA Euro and the subsequent UEFA Nation League Finals. Luis Enrique’s men have been drawn alongside Sweden, Slovakia, and Poland for the former while they will face Italy in the latter.
Enrique’s squad selection for the forthcoming international window features a cast of experienced and young players. Veterans Sergio Ramos and Sergio Busquets are expected to form the spine of the team while there are high hopes attached to newcomers Pedri and Bryan Gil.
Greece and Spain last faced each other thirteen years ago in a group stage game at the 2008 UEFA Euro. Then the defending champions Greece took the lead in the match thanks to Angelos Charisteas. However, Spain fought back to win the game 2-1, thanks to second-half strikes from Ruben de la Red and Daniel Guiza. La Roja would go on to win the tournament that summer.
More than a decade on from their last encounter, the two sides will go head-to-head in the World Cup qualifier, hoping to take an early lead in the group. The match will be held in Granada on March 25.
Key Players
Sergio Ramos: Spain’s captain and record appearance maker, Ramos’ importance to his national team cannot be stated enough. Luis Enrique will once again look to his captain to inspire the team and get their FIFA World Cup qualifying campaign off to a positive start. If selected, Ramos will be capped for a whopping 179th time by La Roja, and will have the opportunity of scoring his 24th international goal – more than any other player in the current squad!
Alvaro Morata: The Morata of previous years was criticized often for missing one too many chances. However, the Spanish forward has been in fine form ever since returning to Juventus in 2020. He has netted 16 times in 33 matches for his club side and was also on the scoresheet during Spain’s last competitive match – a 6-0 thrashing of Germany.
Christos Tzolis: Considered to be the ‘Golden Boy’ of the current Greece team, many eyes will be on the 19-year-old Tzolis when the two sides meet in the upcoming international window. The youngster has been on fire domestically and has scored 16 goals so far this campaign, including five in European competitions. He has appeared four times for his national team as well and scored his first international goal against Cyprus.
Carlos Zeca: Portuguese by birth, Zeca became eligible to represent Greece in 2017. The experienced midfielder – who has 27 caps and two goals internationally – will be key for his side in terms of the battle in the middle of the pitch. Zeca will go head-to-head against the likes of Fabian Ruiz, Sergio Busquets, and Thiago. His performance could dictate how his team fares in this clash.
Prediction
Greece are unbeaten in their last five international matches. With talented youngsters such as Tzolis and Dimitris Limnios in their ranks, they will fancy their chances against the much stronger opponents. However, Galanolefki’s last true challenge came in October 2020, in the form of Austria. They were beaten that night by two goals to one.
There aren’t many teams that can claim to be the ‘favourites’ heading into a match against Spain. La Roja are among the best international sides on the planet and boast a talented squad full of exciting players. In Luis Enrique, they also have a manager willing to award players on merit and is not shy of handing opportunities to youngsters. His latest squad selection is proof of the latter, with Barcelona’s Pedri, Sporting Lisbon’s Pedro Porro, and Eibar’s Bryan Gil all called-up to the national set-up.
Spain, themselves, have enjoyed some good wins of late. They memorably thrashed former world champions Germany by six goals to nil in their last competitive international match and earned a place in the 2021 UEFA Nations League Finals. However, they still seem very much like a work-in-progress, evident by their draws against Switzerland and Netherlands and a shock defeat to Ukraine.
Despite that, Enrique’s men will be the heavy favourites going into this one. They should be able to beat a Greece side that is far behind them in terms of international pedigree and the overall balance of the squad.
