Spain – Cyprus

Islanders will not be able to maintain a dignified appearance in Spain

Qualifying Group A, based on the results of the first half of the scheduled matches, differs from the other groups by an unexpected leader. Scotland have won five matches out of five and have no equal so far. Moreover, the number of those beaten by the British team included both the frankly weak Cyprus and one of the strongest national teams in Europe - Spain. Another thing is that the Spaniards played two games less than Scotland and lost points only in Glasgow. This means that De la Fuente's wards only need to win the remaining matches in the group to finish first. This is exactly what the bookmakers see, offering odds of 1.35 for a Spanish victory in the group. Cyprus have no claim to anything in the current qualification, having managed to finish bottom of the standings without a single point, having not even played a single game against Spain. In June 2023, the Spaniards took part in the triumphant Nations League final, and therefore missed the game days of qualifying for the EURO. De la Fuente has someone to build a new team from, he is on the right track. The main rim of the Spanish national team consists of a large number of high-quality players, who last autumn won the right to participate in the "Final Four" of the Nations League, and then won the title there. Now the Spanish national team is striving for new victories, fuelled by a new coach and the failure of the "Red Fury" at the World Cup. Last Friday in Tbilisi the Spaniards "torn" the national team of Georgia with a score of 7:1, which they will try to do with Cyprus in front of their home fans in Granada. The results of Cyprus in recent years are only getting worse. In the World Cup qualification this team did not even manage to score more points than modest Malta, sharing the last place in Group H with it. In last year's Nations League, Temuri Ketsbaia's wards failed to compete with Northern Ireland, Greece and Kosovo, going from last place to the D-League. In the current qualifying tournament, the Cypriots have lost all their matches, only once conceding less than three goals. The islanders' last visit to Spain was in 1999, when they lost 0-8. Three years before that, they lost in the Pyrenees "more modestly" - 0:6. Many years have passed, but it is unlikely that Cyprus can perform more honourably in Spain.