{"id":169269,"date":"2025-06-09T03:47:12","date_gmt":"2025-06-09T03:47:12","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/169269\/"},"modified":"2025-06-09T03:47:12","modified_gmt":"2025-06-09T03:47:12","slug":"portugal-vs-spain-opta-supercomputer-nations-league-final-prediction","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/169269\/","title":{"rendered":"Portugal vs Spain: Opta Supercomputer Nations League Final Prediction"},"content":{"rendered":"<p class=\"has-text-align-center\"><strong>We look ahead to<br \/>\nSunday\u2019s UEFA Nations League Final at the Allianz Arena with our<br \/>\nPortugal vs Spain prediction and preview. Which country will become<br \/>\nthe first to win the Nations League twice?<\/strong><\/p>\n<p><strong>Portugal<br \/>\nvs Spain Stats: The Key Insights<\/strong><\/p>\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li>The Opta supercomputer makes Spain favourites to win the<br \/>\nNations League, with La Roja beating Portugal inside 90 minutes in<br \/>\n50.1% of simulations.<\/li>\n<li>Spain are unbeaten in their last 13 Nations League games (W9<br \/>\nD4).<\/li>\n<li>Portugal are looking to beat Spain for the first time since a<br \/>\n4-0 friendly win in 2010.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>It promises to be a fascinating final of the UEFA Nations League<br \/>\nat the Allianz Arena on Sunday as Portugal take on Spain.<\/p>\n<p>Portugal are in the final of the competition for the first time<br \/>\nsince they won the inaugural edition in 2019, when they beat the<br \/>\nNetherlands 1-0 to lift the Nations League trophy in the Est\u00e1dio do<br \/>\nDrag\u00e3o in Porto.<\/p>\n<p>Spain have featured in every Nations League final since, with<br \/>\nthis being their third, more than any other country. La Roja were<br \/>\nbeaten 2-1 by France in Milan in 2021, before winning on penalties<br \/>\nagainst Croatia in 2023 in Rotterdam, so whoever wins on Sunday<br \/>\nwill become the first team to win the Nations League twice.<\/p>\n<p>Roberto Mart\u00ednez\u2019s men reached the final with an impressive<br \/>\ncomeback win against Germany. <a href=\"https:\/\/theanalyst.com\/football\/player\/sc-494595\/florian-wirtz\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Florian<br \/>\nWirtz<\/a> \u2013 <a href=\"https:\/\/theanalyst.com\/articles\/florian-wirtz-liverpool-stats-record-fee\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\"><br \/>\nrumoured to be a target for Liverpool this summer<\/a> \u2013 headed the<br \/>\nhosts in front in their semi-final on Wednesday, before <a href=\"https:\/\/theanalyst.com\/football\/player\/sc-465630\/francisco-conceicao\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\"><br \/>\nFrancisco Concei\u00e7\u00e3o<\/a> curled in a brilliant equaliser and<br \/>\nCristiano Ronaldo tapped in <a href=\"https:\/\/theanalyst.com\/football\/player\/sc-465206\/nuno-mendes\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Nuno<br \/>\nMendes<\/a>\u2019 cross to give Portugal a 2-1 victory. It handed them<br \/>\ntheir first win over Germany since Euro 2000.<\/p>\n<p><img fetchpriority=\"high\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"1024\" height=\"645\" src=\"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/06\/germany-v-portugal-momentum-unl-2024-25-1024x645.jpeg\" alt=\"Germany v Portugal momentum UNL 2024-25\" class=\"wp-image-194259\"  \/><\/p>\n<p>Spain\u2019s semi-final was even more dramatic, with Luis de la<br \/>\nFuente\u2019s men racing out to a 4-0 lead over France in Stuttgart,<br \/>\nwith <a href=\"https:\/\/theanalyst.com\/football\/player\/sc-523654\/nico-williams\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Nico<br \/>\nWilliams<\/a>, <a href=\"https:\/\/theanalyst.com\/football\/player\/sc-195384\/mikel-merino\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Mikel<br \/>\nMerino<\/a>, <a href=\"https:\/\/theanalyst.com\/football\/player\/sc-593109\/lamine-yamal\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Lamine<br \/>\nYamal<\/a> (penalty) and <a href=\"https:\/\/theanalyst.com\/football\/player\/sc-490541\/pedri\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Pedri<\/a><br \/>\nall finding the net in a dominant display.<\/p>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/theanalyst.com\/football\/player\/sc-220160\/kylian-mbappe\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Kylian<br \/>\nMbapp\u00e9<\/a> pulled one back from the penalty spot, but Yamal added<br \/>\nanother shortly after to restore the four-goal cushion.<\/p>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/theanalyst.com\/football\/player\/sc-466052\/rayan-cherki\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Rayan<br \/>\nCherki<\/a>\u2019s introduction from the bench helped make things more<br \/>\ninteresting as he scored and provided an assist for <a href=\"https:\/\/theanalyst.com\/football\/player\/sc-247693\/randal-kolo-muani\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\"><br \/>\nRandal Kolo Muani<\/a> either side of a <a href=\"https:\/\/theanalyst.com\/football\/player\/sc-437554\/dani-vivian\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Dani<br \/>\nVivian<\/a> own goal to make it 5-4, but Les Bleus were unable to<br \/>\nfind an equaliser.<\/p>\n<p>\nWhat To Read Next:\n<\/p>\n<p>Portugal came through a group stage of Croatia, Scotland and<br \/>\nPoland to reach the quarter-finals, where they had to come from<br \/>\nbehind having lost the first leg 1-0 to Denmark, winning the second<br \/>\nleg 5-2 after extra-time (5-3 on aggregate).<\/p>\n<p><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"1024\" height=\"576\" src=\"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/06\/spain-v-france-xg-race-unl-2024-25-1024x576.jpeg\" alt=\"Spain v France xG race UNL 2024-25\" class=\"wp-image-194258\"  \/><\/p>\n<p>Spain played Serbia, Switzerland and Denmark in the group stage,<br \/>\nbefore edging past the Netherlands in the quarter-finals. A 2-2<br \/>\ndraw in the first leg was followed by a 3-3 stalemate back in<br \/>\nSpain, but De La Fuente\u2019s side went through 5-4 on penalties.<\/p>\n<p>Spain have an outstanding recent record in the Nations League,<br \/>\nhaving not lost any of their last 13 games in the competition (W9<br \/>\nD4).<\/p>\n<p>Sunday will likely see Ronaldo and Yamal face off, which would<br \/>\nbe quite a sight for football fans everywhere. The Portuguese<br \/>\nlegend, who has won the Ballon d\u2019Or five times, will come up<br \/>\nagainst a player 22 years and 168 days his junior whom many expect<br \/>\nto win the award multiple times in the future.<\/p>\n<p>On that topic, there is likely to be a 2+ year difference in the<br \/>\naverage age of both teams, with Portugal\u2019s starting XI against<br \/>\nGermany having an average age of 27 years and 164 days, while<br \/>\nSpain\u2019s starters against France were just 25 years and 34 days old<br \/>\non average. Will that experience tell, or will youthful exuberance<br \/>\ncarry the holders through?<\/p>\n<p><strong>Portugal<br \/>\nvs Spain Head-to-Head<\/strong><\/p>\n<p>The last time these two faced one another was in the previous<br \/>\nedition of the Nations League, in a 1-1 draw in Seville, with<br \/>\nRicardo Horta\u2019s goal for Portugal cancelling out <a href=\"https:\/\/theanalyst.com\/football\/player\/sc-88482\/alvaro-morata\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">\u00c1lvaro<br \/>\nMorata<\/a>\u2019s opener. That was followed by a 1-0 win for Spain in<br \/>\nthe return game three months later, with Morata scoring an<br \/>\n88th-minute winner in Braga.<\/p>\n<p><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"1024\" height=\"768\" src=\"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/06\/portugal-v-spain-stats-unl-2022-23-1024x768.jpeg\" alt=\"Portugal v Spain stats UNL 2022-23\" class=\"wp-image-194257\"  \/><\/p>\n<p>In fact, prior to that 1-0 win for Spain, the previous five<br \/>\ngames in all competitions between the two nations had been drawn,<br \/>\nwith the last time Portugal beat Spain coming in a friendly in<br \/>\nNovember 2010, which they won 4-0.<\/p>\n<p><strong>Portugal<br \/>\nvs Spain Prediction<\/strong><\/p>\n<p>The Opta supercomputer sees Spain as favourites for the final,<br \/>\nas they win just over half of its 10,000 simulations inside 90<br \/>\nminutes (50.1%). Portugal do so in just over a quarter (26.0%),<br \/>\nwith the remaining 23.9% seeing the game go to extra-time and<br \/>\npotentially penalties.<\/p>\n<p><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"1024\" height=\"576\" src=\"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/06\/portugal-vs-spain-opta-prediction-1024x576.png\" alt=\"Portugal vs Spain Opta prediction\" class=\"wp-image-194255\"  \/><\/p>\n<p><strong><strong>Portugal vs Spain Squads<\/strong><\/strong><\/p>\n<p><strong>Portugal:<\/strong> Diogo Costa, Jos\u00e9 S\u00e1, Rui Silva,<br \/>\nN\u00e9lson Semedo, R\u00faben Dias, Ant\u00f3nio Silva, Diogo Dalot, Renato<br \/>\nVeiga, Gon\u00e7alo In\u00e1cio, Nuno Mendes, Jo\u00e3o Palhinha, Bruno Fernandes,<br \/>\nBernardo Silva, Jo\u00e3o Neves, R\u00faben Neves, Pote, Vitinha, Rodrigo<br \/>\nMora, Cristiano Ronaldo, Gon\u00e7alo Ramos, Jo\u00e3o F\u00e9lix, Francisco<br \/>\nTrinc\u00e3o, Rafael Le\u00e3o, Pedro Neto, Diogo Jota, Francisco<br \/>\nConcei\u00e7\u00e3o.<\/p>\n<p>Coach: Roberto Mart\u00ednez<\/p>\n<p><strong>Spain:<\/strong> David Raya, \u00c1lex Remiro, Unai Sim\u00f3n,<br \/>\nPedro Porro, Robin Le Normand, Pau Cubarsi, Dani Vivian, Dean<br \/>\nHuijsen, Oscar Mingueza, \u00c1lex Grimaldo, Marc Cucurella, Mikel<br \/>\nMerino, Fabi\u00e1n Ruiz, Gavi, Nico Williams, \u00c1lex Baena, Mart\u00edn<br \/>\nZubimendi, Pedri, Mikel Oyarzabal, Isco, \u00c1lvaro Morata, Dani Olmo,<br \/>\nYeremy Pino, Lamine Yamal, Ferm\u00edn L\u00f3pez, Samu Aghehowa.<\/p>\n<p>Coach: Luis de la Fuente<\/p>\n<p class=\"has-text-align-center\"><strong><strong>Subscribe<br \/>\nto our\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/theanalyst.com\/sign-up\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">football<br \/>\nnewsletter<\/a>\u00a0to receive exclusive weekly content. You should<br \/>\nalso follow our social accounts over on\u00a0<\/strong><a href=\"https:\/\/www.twitter.com\/OptaAnalyst\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\"><strong>X<\/strong><\/a><strong>,\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/www.instagram.com\/optaanalyst\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">Instagram<\/a>,\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/www.tiktok.com\/@optaanalyst\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">TikTok<\/a>\u00a0and\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/theoptaanalyst\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">Facebook<\/a>.<\/strong><\/strong><\/p>\n<p><script async src=\"https:\/\/platform.twitter.com\/widgets.js\" charset=\"utf-8\"><\/script><script async src=\"\/\/www.instagram.com\/embed.js\"><\/script><script async src=\"\/\/www.tiktok.com\/embed.js\"><\/script><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"We look ahead to Sunday\u2019s UEFA Nations League Final at the Allianz Arena with our Portugal vs Spain&hellip;\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":169270,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[5312],"tags":[2000,299,104],"class_list":{"0":"post-169269","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-spain","8":"tag-eu","9":"tag-europe","10":"tag-spain"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/pubeurope.com\/@uk\/114651362114852592","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/169269","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=169269"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/169269\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/169270"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=169269"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=169269"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=169269"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}