Spain

vs

Argentina

Preview

Spain

• Luis de la Fuente has had Spain playing some really good soccer since taking over in December 2022, using possession and pressure to create the opportunities that they need.
• Their 2-1 defeat of Belgium and 2-0 beating of France in the knockout phase have shown that Spain have the ability to finish teams off when they get the upper hand.

Argentina

• Argentina's style is more to do with defending in numbers and hitting teams on the counter attack and they have been near unstoppable under Lionel Scaloni since he took over in August 2018.
• The two nations have the same recent record of 5 wins from 5 games, but the Spaniards have scored 'only' 17 goals in their last 10 across all competitions, while the Argentines have gone berserk with 29 in the same number of matches.

Key Players

• Lionel Messi has 3 goals and 4 assists in his last 5 appearances for Argentina across all competitions.
• Mikel Oyarzabal has 3 goals in 4 FIFA World Cup knockout games for Spain.
• Enzo Fernandez has also added 2 goals in 4 appearances at this FIFA World Cup.

Betting Insights

• Argentina are a perfect 10 in their last 10 in all competitions.
• Spain are the slight favorites at 2.2 in New York/New Jersey with Argentina 3.5 and the draw 3.0.

Prediction

• That difference of 2.90 per match compared to 1.70 shows that Argentina are in red-hot scoring form while Spain are more reliable in the way they control games, but can be just as ruthless once they get the ball in the final third.
• With both teams on five wins from five, expect a match where control and counters will decide opportunities for the in-form finishers listed above.