Spain and Portugal will meet for their first match of the UEFA Nations League at the Estadio Benito Villamarin in Seville tonight. Together with the Czech Republic and Switzerland, the two nations are in group A. In the 2020-21 UEFA Nations League, Spain beat Euro 2020 champions Italy in the semis to reach the finals where they lost to World Champions France 2-1 in Milan. Spain will take on Portugal, the Czech Republic twice, and Switzerland over the next couple of weeks, and the four fixtures will give head coach Luis Enrique a good chance to have a look at his squad, as he solidifies his plans for the 2022 World Cup as they bid to win their second title in Qatar after winning their first back in 2010 in South Africa edition. The European giants went out in the group stage in the 2014 edition in Brazil, reached the Round of 16 in the 2018 edition where they were eliminated by hosts Russia, and were eliminated on penalties by eventual winners Italy in the Euro 2020. They are certainly capable of putting up a strong challenge in Qatar later this year. Tonight, Spain will be bidding to make it a run of 5 straight victories when they face Portugal. 

Portugal had to go through a playoff round in order to book its spot at the 2022 Qatar World Cup. They recorded a 3-1 win over Turkey in the semis before thrashing North Macedonia 2-0 in the final to secure their position in the world cup finals. They have been put in a ‘group of death’ as they will take on Uruguay, South Korea, and Ghana later this year which will be a very tough group given that only two out of the four very able nations will proceed to the next round. In two of their last three world cups, Portugal have been eliminated in the round of 16 losing to Uruguay in the 2018 edition. Their best world cup finish remains to be third in the 1966 edition. Portugal will take on Spain, the Czech Republic, and Switzerland twice over the next couple of weeks. Santos will definitely be using the fixtures to prepare his team for the world cup. 
 

The two nations met in the group stage of the 2018 world cup and played out an entertaining draw in a 6 goals thriller match ending 3-3. They have also played out goalless draws in their last two meetings in friendly matches of October 2020 and June 2021 respectively. They are both very good teams in football and you can guess that the group stage number one and two spots will be shared between them as the other two nations follow.