Croatia vs Spain Nations League final preview: Where to watch, kick-off time, possible line-ups

Croatia and Spain meet in the UEFA Nations League final on Sunday 18 June.

Where to watch Croatia vs Spain on TV

Fans can find their local UEFA Nations League broadcast partner(s) here.

What do you need to know?

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; Stanišić, Šutalo, Vida, Sosa; Modrić, Brozović, Kovačić; Pašalić, Kramarić, Perišić

Spain: Simón; Carvajal, Le Normand, Laporte, Alba; Rodri, Merino; Asensio, Gavi, Fati; Morata

Reporters' views

Elvir Islamović, Croatia reporter

The last six years have been like a dream for Croatia fans: silver and bronze medals at consecutive World Cups, reaching the knockout stage at UEFA EURO 2020 and now another medal at the UEFA Nations League. Zlatko Dalić is on the money when he says this is the greatest Croatia generation ever. His side have quality, mental strength, team spirit and a huge love for their country, and have a chance to win Croatia's first major trophy: there can be no greater motivation. Will they be tired after playing extra time in the semi-finals at the end of a long season? No. That was just an additional warm-up.

Graham Hunter, Spain reporter

First things first, a sumptuous match is in prospect. The key questions: can Spain shackle Luka Modrić and can they produce key goals a little earlier than against Italy? The buzz in this squad was very noticeable even before their superb second half against the Azzurri. The players feel wounded by the criticism Luis De La Fuente was receiving and they resolved to do something about it. The last three matches between these two have produced 19 goals. Yes, an average of six per meeting! Let's hope for more of the same.

View from the camps

Zlatko Dalić, Croatia coach: "We know Spain very well, they like possession, they have great individuals and great technical style, they are very fast, it's a top team. We have experience playing against them in Copenhagen at EURO 2020, where we lost in extra time. But, we have quality to play against them."

Ivan Perišić, Croatia midfielder: "Spain are a really top team with the players from the best clubs in the world. I think we have more experience. This generation won bronze and silver medals and I hope we will have the strength tomorrow to get what we need – gold."

Luis De La Fuente, Spain coach: "Two great teams will play tomorrow and the final is very evenly balanced. We and Croatia are two of the best in Europe. We'll try and use our strengths and enjoy our virtues. That's our principal aim – be superior to a very good rival. We have talked through every possible scenario. We want to win it in 90 minutes if we can. They have more experience in playing 120 minutes but that's football. If you get to the final experience counts."

Rodri, Spain midfielder: "Croatia aren't an ordinary team. They are a bit anarchic. Modrić will pop up everywhere, Brozović will drop deep, Kovacić does his thing… they are an unpredictable, interesting side. Croatia because of the teams they've beaten in World Cups, EURO and Nations League have shown they're amongst the best. I want us to win this tournament, partly because it'll help to bring us closer to winning the next ones we compete in too."

Form guide (most recent first)

Croatia: WWDWLW

Spain: WLWLLD