On the road to Euro 2024: Group B

There are two obvious favourites in Group B of the European Football Championship: the Italian and Spanish national teams. The Croatians, who reached the final at the World Cup in Russia, could spring a surprise. The Albanian national team will almost certainly close out the quartet, but will fray the leaders' nerves.

The Spanish national team

Best result

The Spanish team will play at the Euro for the 12th time. The team from the Iberian Peninsula won the championship three times - in 1964, 2008 and 2012.

Qualification

The Spanish team won the qualifying group A, scoring 21 points in eight matches. The "Red Fury" suffered only one defeat in the qualifying stage - they lost 0:2 away to Scotland. In addition, the Spanish team won two big victories, defeating Georgia (7:1) and Cyprus (6:0).

Players

16-year-old Lamin Yamal is going to the Euro as part of the Spanish team. The youngest player in the history of the team made his debut for the national team in the qualifying match against the Georgian team at the age of 16 years and 57 days, and also became the youngest scorer.

The recognized players, the current Champions League winners Dani Carvajal, Nacho Fernandez, Joselu are also going to the European Championship.

Croatian National Team

Best result

The Croatian team caused a real sensation at the World Cup in Russia, reaching the final and putting up a fight with the French. At the European Championship, the team from the Balkan Peninsula was less successful. Its best result was the quarter-finals in 1996 and 2008.

Qualification

The Croats scored 16 points in the qualifying group D and took second place, only one point behind the Turkish team. The Balkan team’s most productive victory in the qualification was over Latvia – 5:0.

Players

Andrej Kramaric became the team’s most productive player in the qualifying stage – he scored four goals. As expected, the 32-year-old striker is going to the Euro. So is 38-year-old Luka Modric, who has just won the Champions League trophy. Russian fans will have a reason to root for the Croatians, because Nikola Vlasic, known for his play for CSKA, is going to the European Championship.

The Italian national team

Best result

The Italian national team is the current European champion. In 2021, the "squadra azzurra" defeated the English in the penalty shootout at Wembley. The Italians won the European Championship again in 1968.

Qualification

Italy played with England in the qualifying group and lost to them twice - 1:2, 1:3. But this did not prevent the team from qualifying for the Euro from second place.

Players

One of the youngest in the "squadra azzurra" camp - and at the same time one of the most experienced - was the team captain, PSG goalkeeper Gianluigi Donnarumma. Apart from him, the Italian national team has only two players who play outside the Apennine Peninsula - second goalkeeper Guillermo Vicario and midfielder Jorginho. They play in England for Tottenham and Arsenal, respectively.

By the way, the head coach of the Italians is well known to Russian fans - this is Luciano Spalletti, who managed Zenit from 2009 to 2014.

Albanian national team

Best result

The Albanian national team will go to Euro for only the second time in history. The team first took part in Euro 2016, but then did not make it out of the group.

Qualification

In qualifying group D, the Albanian national team scored the same number of points as the Czech Republic (15 each), but was higher in additional indicators - a 3:0 home victory over a direct competitor helped.

Players

Two footballers from the Russian championship are going to Euro 2024. The first is 20-year-old defender Mario Mitai, who plays for Moscow Lokomotiv. The second is 26-year-old Rubin forward Mirlind Daku. Interestingly, Daku first played at the international level for the Kosovo national team in a friendly match against Albania. However, after receiving Albanian citizenship, he began to play for the national team of this country.

Group stage schedule:

June 15

Spain vs. Croatia

Italy vs. Albania

June 19

Croatia vs. Albania

June 20

Spain vs. Italy

June 24

Albania vs. Spain

Croatia vs. Italy