Spain vs France Nations League semi-final preview: Where to watch, kick-off time, possible line-ups, expert views, form and coaches' thoughts

Spain and France meet in the second UEFA Nations League semi-final on Thursday 5 June.

Where to watch Spain vs France on TV

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

What do you need to know?

The competition's two most recent winners meet in Stuttgart for a heavyweight UEFA Nations League semi-final – a repeat of the 2020/21 final and EURO 2024 semi-final.

Spain reached the last four with a dramatic quarter-final win over the Netherlands. After a 2-2 draw in Rotterdam, La Roja edged the second-leg penalty shoot-out 5-4 thanks to Pedri's winning spot kick after a 3-3 thriller in Valencia.

France also needed penalties to advance to the semi-finals, after bouncing back from 2-0 down in the first leg against Croatia. Michael Olise and Ousmane Dembélé levelled the tie in Paris, before Mike Maignan saved a decisive kick and Dayot Upamecano dispatched the clincher in another 5-4 shoot-out win.

This time, a place in the final at Munich Football Arena awaits the winner – where Lamine Yamal and Dani Olmo goals saw Luis de la Fuente's charges overcome Les Bleus last year.

Possible line-ups

Spain: Unai Simón; Mingueza, Cubarsí, Huijsen, Cucurella; Pedri, Ruíz; Yamal, Olmo, Williams; Morata
Out: Rodri, Carvajal, Laporte, Ayoze Pérez, Ferran Torres

• Luis de La Fuente tends not to use Pedri at pivote, the 22-year-old's favoured position when he plays for Barcelona, but how will he view this test, and will that change where he locates Barcelona's La Liga winner? There’s also a dilemma at centre-back. Robin Le Normand is another favourite of the Basque coach, but two youngsters – Pau Cubarsí and Dean Huijsen – have had exceptional seasons and might be paired in the semi-final.

France: Maignan; Kalulu, Konaté, Lenglet, T. Hernandez; Koné, Rabiot; Dembélé, Olise, Doué; Mbappé
Out: Camavinga, Koundé, Saliba, Upamecano

• With seven players involved in the Champions League final between Paris and Inter (Lucas Hernandez, Désiré Doué, Bradley Barcola, Warren Zaïre-Emery, Ousmane Dembélé, Marcus Thuram and Benjamin Pavard) how might that influence the way Deschamps sets his side up, particularly for the semi-final? Michael Olise could again be given the keys to ignite the side’s stellar attacking talent.

Reporters' views

Graham Hunter, Spain reporter
Spain's favourite competition! Winners in 2023 and runners-up in 2021, Spain are in the business end of this competition once more. With memories of their UEFA EURO 2024 win fresh, they return to Germany with hopes of another triumph. It’s impactful that important, ‘winning’ footballers like Carvajal and Rodri are missing – but this coach has the knack of bringing the best out of less experienced players who are bursting with will-to-win. Last summer Yamal and Olmo did the damage to France in the Euro 2024 semi-final – do La Roja have it in them again? You wouldn't write them off.

Alex Clementson, France reporter
And so they meet again. After suffering heartbreak at the hands of De la Fuente's side last summer, Mbappé and Co. will be looking to enact revenge on their Iberian neighbours. With seven members of the squad involved in the Champions League final, how Deschamps navigates their reintroduction may go some way to influencing the outcome of this semi-final. Injuries to three of his preferred four-man defence will force the manager's hand – and how they police an in-form Yamal will prove key.

View from the camps

Luis de la Fuente, Spain coach: "We're in the final four. We're playing against a European champion. There are no favourites. Four games, four finals. Germany vs Portugal could be the final of a EURO, or the World Cup. It's very difficult for me to say we're favourites when we're surrounded by such good sides. Anybody can win this."

Pedri, Spain midfielder: "You don't play a final-four match like this everyday. We're super motivated to play in a competition like this. We want to play in the final. We want to look at winning a trophy, not the consequences of not qualifying for a final."

Didier Deschamps, France coach: "I don't like the word revenge. This is a different tournament and it's a new semi-final with an opportunity to get into the final. I'm not going to go back to the [EURO 2024] semi-final last year even though Spain did dominate us, especially in controlling possession. I'm not denying that they were superior in some aspects last time we played them, but I don't think that there was much between us, and it was a close call."

Ibrahima Konaté, France defender: "When you are in the semi-finals, it's not a game you play every day. We've got players who have not won a trophy this year so we want to take this trophy home. For me it would be an additional trophy! We hope to get a good performance."

Form guide (most recent first)

Spain (most recent first): DDWWWW

France (most recent first): WLWDWW