Sports Mole previews Tuesday’s friendly clash between Spain and Brazil, including predictions, team news and possible lineups.
One of the most iconic stadiums in world football will play host to a glamour international friendly on Tuesday evening, as European powerhouses Spain welcome South American giants Brazil to Bernabeu.
Spain will enter the contest off the back of a surprise 1-0 defeat to Colombia on Friday, while Brazil were in action on Saturday, recording a 1-0 victory over England at Wembley.
Match preview
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Spain head coach Luis de la Fuente named an experimental XI against Colombia at the London Stadium on Friday evening, and it was an underwhelming performance from La Roja, who suffered a 1-0 defeat, with Daniel Munoz netting the only goal of the contest just past the hour.
The European giants will now be bidding to bounce back against Brazil, who will be full of confidence due to their impressive 1-0 success over England on Saturday.
Spain won seven of their eight matches during qualification for Euro 2024, topping Group A with 21 points, and their campaign this summer begins against Croatia on June 15.
De la Fuente’s side will also tackle Italy and Albania in the group stage of the European Championship – a competition that they have famously won three times, including in 2008 and 2012.
La Roja reached the semi-finals of Euro 2020, losing out to Italy on penalties, but they were knocked out in the last-16 stage of the 2022 World Cup, again losing on spot kicks, this time to Morocco.
This will be Spain’s first clash with Brazil since the Confederations Cup in 2013, when the South Americans ran out 3-0 winners, while the last friendly between the two nations finished 0-0 in November 1999.
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Dorival Junior made the perfect start to life as Brazil manager on Saturday, with the 61-year-old managing to guide his team to a famous 1-0 victory over England at Wembley.
Aged 17 years and 246 days old, Endrick, who is joining Real Madrid from Palmeiras this summer, decided the contest with a close-range strike, becoming the youngest-ever male player to score a senior international or club goal at Wembley in the process.
The victory actually ended a run of three straight losses for Brazil, who have been beaten 2-0 by Uruguay, 2-1 by Colombia and 1-0 by Argentina in their last three 2026 World Cup qualification matches, which has left them down in sixth position in the section, boasting just seven points from six games.
The Green and Yellows have two more friendlies in the diary against Mexico and United States before beginning their 2024 Copa America challenge against Costa Rica at the end of the month.
Brazil were disappointedly knocked out of the 2022 World Cup in the quarter-finals, but they were Copa America champions for the ninth time in 2019 and reached the final in 2021, famously losing 1-0 to Argentina.
There is no getting away from the fact that it was a difficult end to 2023 for the national team, but another positive result against Spain would certainly boost confidence in the camp ahead of the summer.
Spain friendly form:
Spain form (all competitions):
Brazil friendly form:
Brazil form (all competitions):
Team News
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Spain had three debutants against Colombia, with Alex Remiro, Pau Cubarsi and Dani Vivian all featuring for the national team for the first time.
There are set to be wholesale changes to the starting side for this match, with at least six of the players who did not feature on Friday expected to come into the XI.
Indeed, Unai Simon, Dani Carvajal, Robin Le Normand, Fabian Ruiz, Rodri and Dani Olmo are all likely to be introduced into the side, while Alvaro Morata and Nico Williams, who were second-half substitutes against Colombia, are also expected to feature in the starting team on Tuesday.
As for Brazil, there remains doubt surrounding Richarlison‘s involvement, as head coach Dorival Junior said that he did not use the forward against England due to concerns over a knee problem.
The absences of Ederson and Alisson Becker through injury meant that Bento earned his first cap on Saturday, and the 24-year-old could retain his spot between the sticks for this match.
There are expected to be changes from the side that started against England, with Bremer, Douglas Luiz and Pepe Aquino potentially coming into the side, while Galeno will be hoping to earn his first cap at some stage.
Real Madrid head coach Carlo Ancelotti will be hoping that the fitness of both Vinicius Junior and Rodrygo is managed, and it is possible that the duo might only play the first half of the glamour friendly.
Spain possible starting lineup:
Simon; Carvajal, Le Normand, Laporte, Grimaldo; Ruiz, Rodri, Merino; N Williams, Morata, Olmo
Brazil possible starting lineup:
Bento; Danilo, Bremer, Beraldo, Wendell; Paqueta, Guimaraes, Luiz; Pepe, Rodrygo, Vinicius
We say: Spain 1-1 Brazil
It is always difficult to know exactly what to expect when two powerhouses of international football lock horns in a friendly, especially at this stage of the year. Spain will be keen to bounce back from their loss to Colombia, but Brazil were impressive against England, and we are predicting a low-scoring draw on Tuesday.
For data analysis of the most likely results, scorelines and more for this match please click here.
