Our prediction for this Euro 2024 match:
Spain play host to Norway at Estadio La Rosaleda in their EURO 2024 opener. La Roja aim to kick off their qualifying campaign in style, and they are likely to adopt an attack-minded approach in Saturday’s clash. New boss Luis de la Fuente has left Jordi Alba out of the squad, but Gerard Moreno is back after overcoming his injury. Experienced Celta striker Iago Aspas made the cut as well.
The Norwegians, on the other hand, continue to rely on Man City centre-forward Erling Haaland, who is likely to prove a handful for the opposition back-line. Given Norway’s attacking potential, we believe that there is a big value in betting on the hosts. Fenerbahce forward Joshua King has been omitted, but Arsenal midfielder Martin Odegaard made the cut. In their last meeting in Spain La Roja defeated the Scandinavians 2-1, and we predict that history is going to repeat itself.
Highlighted Player (Daniel Carvajal):
Dani Carvajal is a Spanish footballer who is a product of Real Madrid’s youth academy. After making 68 appearances for Castilla, he moved to Bayer Leverkusen in 2012 and he was producing outstanding performances with the Bundesliga outfit in the 2012/2013 season.
In the summer of 2013 he returned to Real Madrid as los Blancos exercised their buy-back option and the pacey full back has been playing for the Spanish giants ever since. Carvajal won two Champions League trophies with Real Madrid (2013/2014, 2015/2016), but he has yet to win the La Liga trophy with the capital club. Dani has five caps for Spain U21 and he played his fifth game for the senior team against Macedonia in the Euro 2016 qualifiers.
He made his Spain debut on 4 September, 2014 in a 1-0 loss France in Paris. Speaking of his individual honours, he was named in the Champions League team of the season (2013/2014). Dani Carvajal has a contract with Real Madrid which expires on 30 June, 2020.
Highlighted Team (Norway):
Norway are a Nordic side that participated three times at the FIFA World Cup finals (1938, 1994 and 1998). The Norwegians were producing fine performances at the 1998 FIFA World Cup in France, with the team setting up a meeting with Italy in the last 16 of the showpiece tournament thanks to a 2-1 win over Brazil in their last group match.
However, the Azzurri proved to be a big catch for Norway and thanks to Bobo Vieri’s goal the Italians made it to the quarter-finals. Norway only once qualified for the European Championship finals, with the team suffering elimination in the group stages of the 2000 tournament in Belgium and Netherlands. Ole Gunnar Solskjaer is the most famous Norwegian player and it is well known that he helped Manchester United beat Bayern Munich in the 1999 Champions League final.
The “Baby-faced” striker scored the winner for the Red Devils in the dying seconds of the match. Norway play their home games at Ullevaal Stadion, which was opened in September, 1926. The capacity of the venue is 28.000.