On Tuesday, Spain Under-17s will face Iberian rivals Portugal Under-17s on matchday one of the European Under-17 Championship.
Spain are hoping to win the tournament for the fourth time, while Portugal are dreaming of becoming three-time winners.
Match preview
Spain have won the European Under-17 Championship on three occasions, winning back-to-back tournaments in 2007 and 2008 before lifting the trophy again in 2017.
They are now set to make their eighth consecutive appearance in the competition after navigating their way through qualifying.
After claiming maximum points in the first stage, Spain went on to pick up six points in the elite round to finish in second place and behind Austria in group seven.
Hernan Perez's side claimed dominant wins over Norway and Slovenia, before they fell to a 3-1 defeat to Austria in their final qualifier.
With Spain set to get their tournament underway, they will be hoping to better last year's performance when they progressed to the semi-finals before losing to France.
Portugal won all six games across the two stages of qualifying to seal their spot at a fifth consecutive European Under-17 Championship.
They have previously won the European Under-17 Championship on two occasions, lifting the trophy for the first time at their home tournament in 2003 before winning the competition again in 2016.
Since claiming their second trophy, Portugal have suffered group-stage elimination in two of their last four tournament appearances, including in last year's edition in Hungary.
Despite finishing level on points with second-placed Germany, Portugal were ultimately knocked out of the 2023 competition due to their losing head-to-head record.
That exit proved how important each match is, and they will be desperate to get off to a positive start on Tuesday, especially after being drawn in a tough group alongside Spain, France and England.
- W
- D
- D
- W
- W
- L
- W
- D
- L
- W
- W
- W
Team News
Spain are set to line up with Manu Gonzalez in goal, while the Real Madrid duo of Joan Martinez and Duegi Aguado are poised to form the central-defensive partnership.
The midfield could be made up of three Barcelona players, with Quim Junyent, Marc Bernal and Juan Hernandez all in contention to start.
Adrian Arnuncio is expected to feature in the frontline, and the youngster will be full of conference after recently making his senior debut for Real Valladolid.
As for their opponents, Diogo Ferreira is expected to get the nod in goal, with Rui Silva and Rafael Mota set to operate as the two centre-backs.
Head coach Joao Santos could decide to name a midfield trio of Rodrigo Mora, David Daiber and Joao Simoes.
Gabriel Silva will offer one of Portugal's main goal threats after scoring six times in as many qualifying matches.
Spain Under-17s possible starting lineup:
M Gonzalez; Fortea, Martinez, Aguado, Navarro; Hernandez, Bernal, Junyent; Fernandez, Arnuncio
Portugal Under-17s possible starting lineup:
Ferreira; Soares, R Silva, Mota, Cunha; Mora, Daiber, Simoes; Quenda, Varela, G Silva
We say: Spain Under-17s 1-1 Portugal Under-17s
The two nations played out a 1-1 draw in their most recent meeting in February, and we think that we could see a repeat of that result with both teams desperate to avoid defeat in their first match of the tournament.
For data analysis of the most likely results, scorelines and more for this match please click here.
body check tags ::
Previews by email
