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Croatia reached their maiden Nations League final thanks to a thrilling 4-2 victory after extra time against hosts Netherlands on Wednesday, and they return to Rotterdam here aiming to secure the first victory in their history at a final tournament. Spain, meanwhile, left it late but beat Italy 2-1 thanks to an 88th-minute Joselu winner, and will hope to go one better than in 2021, when they lost 2-1 to France in the final.
These two nations have certainly been involved in some entertaining contests over the years. Their first competitive meeting came at UEFA EURO 2012, with Spain winning the Group C game 1-0 thanks to a late Jesús Navas goal. Croatia got revenge four years later at EURO 2016 by triumphing 2-1 in Group D.
Spain incredibly beat Croatia 6-0 with a scintillating performance in the Nations League in 2018, but then lost 3-2 to the same opponents two months later.
But their most recent meeting was perhaps the most memorable, with Spain winning an extraordinary match 5-3 at EURO 2020 after extra time. Mario Pašalić struck in injury time for Croatia to level the scores at 3-3, but extra time goals from Álvaro Morata and Mikel Oyarzabal eventually saw Spain come out on top.
If history is anything to go by, goals should be guaranteed in this final.
Possible line-ups
Croatia: Livaković; Juranović, Vida, Šutalo, Perišić; Modrić, Kovačić, Brozović; Pašalić, Kramarić, Ivanušec
Spain: Simón; Carvajal, Le Normand, Laporte, Alba; Rodri, Merino/Ruíz; Asensio, Gavi, Fati; Morata
uefa.com
