Spain vs Germany. Prediction and Preview. Probable Lineups, Team News, Stats, and more

Spain will meet with Germany in the FIFA World Cup 2022 2nd group-stage match at the Al Bayt Stadium. The fixture will take place on Sunday, November 28, beginning at 00:30 IST.

The start of the World Cup for two European top teams is completely opposite. Germany needs to beat Spain to go further. 

While Germany is not expected to win this match, we already know one thing about this Mundial: you can’t predict anything for sure.

Spain News & Current Form: 

After the first game of the World Cup, even current Manchester United bosses had the idea flying through their heads that they should consider offering the role of the gaffer to Luis Enrique. This chance came to the coach after his brilliant victory in the first game of the tournament in Qatar. That victory was the first for the Spanish side in their opening World Cup group stage clash since 2006.

In the opening round of the group stage of the 2022 World Cup in Qatar, Spain crushed Costa Rica 7-0. From the first to the last second, the Spaniards possessed the ball, owned the advantage, while constantly attacking, pressing, and trumping tiki-taka. In the end, Ferran, Olmo, Morata, Gavi and others unloaded seven unanswered goals on Keylor Navas, the goalkeeper of Costa Rica. The most powerful and indisputable defeat of this World Cup.

Given the fact that the team had two more victories before that, one thing is clear: the Furia Roja approached the Qatar World Cup in great shape.

Luis Enrique’s side qualified for the World Cup by winning Group B by a margin of four points over the Swedes. 

The team’s most recent achievement was reaching the playoffs of the UEFA Nations League.

In addition, a year ago, the Spanish national team played confidently at Euro 2020, where they were considered one of the favorites of the tournament.

There are many stars in the Red Fury’s attack, with Luis Enrique bringing the third youngest team to Qatar. However, the Spaniards’ young stars play for FC Barcelona, PSG and other top clubs. Prior to the start of the Mundial there was a lot of criticism in the press addressed to the head coach that he left in the squad only Sergio Busquets, who remained the last player of the “Red Fury” team of the 2010 model. 

For example, Gavi. He has become the third-youngest goalscorer in World Cup history, and the youngest European to net at the tournament.

Spanish midfielder Pedri had a birthday recently. He turned 20.

Gillamon will be out for the game today due to a knee injury.

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Germany News & Current Form:

The German team, just like Spain, is experiencing a generational transition. Only if the Red Fury are having success, the Germans are still facing problems. Over six rounds of the Nations League group stage Hans-Dieter Flick’s men have achieved only one victory – against Italy (5:2). They also drew four times. The defeat came against Hungary (0-1).

It was thought that Dfb-Eleven would approach the World Cup more thoroughly. However, in the match of the 1st round of the group stage of the tournament, it suffered a sensational defeat from Japan (1:2). The Germans did not seize many chances and completely failed in defense. The only goal was scored on penalties. Thus, it is vital for Bundestim to beat the Spaniards in order to qualify for the World Cup playoffs. 

The team overcame qualification for the upcoming World Cup in Qatar without much trouble, winning nine meetings out of ten and 1 draw, scoring 36 goals and conceding only four. The Bundestim played brilliantly in qualifying, followed by a disappointing performance in the Nations League.

The Bundesliga team has top players, but it lacks a star center forward. Werder’s Niklas Füllkrug, who was included in the World Cup squad against the Japanese, played only his second game for the national team, while attacking midfielder Kai Havertz played the role of forward. 

“Disappointing day for us all as a country. But we keep fighting, learning and putting in the work to come back stronger. Now let’s fight together for the win against Spain. Thank you for all the support here and back home!”

Havertz twitted.

The German national team is one of the strongest in the world. It has four World Cup wins to its name and has won the European Championship three times.

The Bundestim won its last title in 2014, then winning the WC, defeating Argentina 1-0 in the final. The 2018 World Cup, on the other hand, was a failure, as the Germans failed to qualify from the group.

Moreover, fresh are the memories of the last face-to-face meeting, when the Spaniards trashed the “German machine” with a score of 6-0, which was the biggest defeat for the guests since 1931.

This result, apparently, accelerated the departure of Joachim Löw last year – the coach had been at the helm of the national team for a very long time. Current coach Hansi Flick, formerly Löw’s assistant, now needs to stabilize the ship and avert a reoccurrence of Germany’s shocking group-stage exit in 2018.

The encounter with the Japanese was also memorable for a curious incident. Shortly before the starting whistle, all Bundestim players covered their mouths with their hands in the team photo to protest the ban on wearing the rainbow armband in the 2022 World Cup matches. In a post-match interview, the national team captain – Manuel Neuer – said FIFA could take away his armband, but would not silence him.

The goalkeeper noted that he stands up for his values and human rights. Nevertheless, Neuer and his compatriots are obviously paying too much attention to this topic and are distracted from what they essentially came to Qatar for: football. It seems that the team is not in the mood to fight and achieve results.

Spain form guide: W-W-L-W-W-W

Germany form guide: D-W-L-D-W-L

Spain vs Germany: Head-To-Head Record:

• June 29, 2008: Germany 0-1  Spain (UEFA European Championship);
• July 7, 2010: Germany 0-1 Spain (FIFA World Cup);
• November 18, 2014: Germany 1-0 Spain (International Friendly);
• March 23, 2018: Germany 1-1 Spain (International Friendly);
• September 3, 2020: Germany 1-1 Spain (UEFA Nations League);
• November 17, 2020: Germany 0-6 Spain (UEFA Nations League).

Spain vs Germany Predicted XI:

Spain’s possible starting lineup (4-3-3): Simon; Azpilicueta, Rodri, Laporte, Alba; Pedri, Busquets, Gavi; F. Torres, Asensio, Olmo.

Germany’s possible starting lineup (4-2-3-1): Neuer; Sule, Rudiger, Schlotterbeck, Raum; Kimmich, Gundogan; Gnabry, Muller, Musiala; Havertz.

Statistical preview of the match Spain vs Germany:

• Spain’s team First XI average age 26.8 yrs.
• Germany’s team First XI average age 27.7 yrs.
• The Spanish team in the first round against Costa Rica set World Cup records for ball possession (81.8%) and the number of successful passes in 90 minutes (976).
• Germany became the first team in World Cup history to lose a match with an xG (expected goals) greater than 3in the opening round.
• Spanish Gavi, 18 years and 110 days old,  became the third youngest player to score at the World Cup in the encounter with Costa Rica.
• German goalkeeper,Manuel Neuer, had 51 assists in a match against Japan, which is a World Cup record for goalkeepers.
• In games in 2022, Spain scored an average of two goals per game. 
• The German national team is ranked 11th in the FIFA ranking.
• The Spanish national team is ranked 7th in the FIFA ranking.

What has been said before the match:

Luis Enrique, coach of team Spain, said:

“You look at Germany’s shirt and you see four stars. I played against them at the 94 World Cup and their physical power was bestial. There was a big difference at the time. Now in footballing terms Spain is at as high a level as any team. In fact, in the Fifa ranking I think we are above them”.

“The German team has some top-level players in the world, but we are convinced that we can beat them, that’s the goal.”

“They are a team that always attacks, they want to be in the opposition’s half, they’re the national team that’s most like Spain. If anyone knows how to compete it is Germany. If anyone can turn it around, it’s them. They have lots of players who are world class, their history is there. They will want to control, dominate, have the ball, and that’s a lovely challenge for us because we have the same aims. But we have the conviction that we can beat them.”

“We must not forget that we will play against Germany, which needs to win. We have to beat them if we want to keep thinking about being a strong candidate to make it to the later stages”.

“We’ll celebrate the victory over Costa Rica – we’ll all have dinner together, rejoice, and then start preparing for the game against Germany. The praise is weakening. We are ready to make sure that nothing affects us. Although it’s much better that we are rated positively now”.

German coach Hansi Flick said:

“The game on Sunday will answer that (whether Germany is still a world footballing power). Maybe we will have a different answer, a better answer, to that question”.

 “It’s just the way it is. We need to accept a lot of other things about all this noise in the background of what happened before the tournament, and the story with the armband. The main focus for me has been the football”.

“I think there were some situations where we made a lot of mistakes, where we got [things] wrong. Clearly, I tried to articulate it, and tried to explain that to the team, because it’s important for them to understand and then to implement, and to make them sure that they can do what they’ve been told”.

“We talked about the match. We’re really convinced about our philosophy, how we want to play football. And, of course, we’re going to try to do better tomorrow”.

Spain vs Germany Prediction:

It seems strange to suggest this, but Germany look even slightly preferable to Spain ahead of the head-to-head encounter. The Germans are incredibly angry and motivated after their defeat to Japan, with their fate at this WC being decided for them. The Spanish look the more airy team and relaxed after an easy 0-7. For the Germans, tiki-taka is a pretty comfortable style. Flick’s set-up pressing, clever passes from Kimmich and Muller, the speed of Sane and Gnabry will work for at least a draw. Especially as there is no longer any margin for error.

The Red Fury have plenty of motivation and desire to go forward as well, and the teams’ attacking styles suggest that the game will be an action packed affair with plenty of attacks and scoring chances. The Spanish team has proved their worth in the first game, and we expect the same from them today. In addition, the level of the opponents is very high, so do not expect a thrashing. But Luis Enrique’s side will do everything they can to make the play-offs ahead of schedule.

Parimatch News staff prediction:

We say: Germany will not lose, both teams to score and the match total over 2.5 – Yes.

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