Spain national team don return to action for 2026 with friendly match against Serbia for Estadio de la Cerámica for Villarreal. Di European champions, wey dem dey call La Roja, dey prepare well-well for World Cup wey go hold for USA, Mexico and Canada dis year. Dem no lose any match for 90 minutes for over two years now, and dem dey look sharp to continue dat form.
Coach Luis de la Fuente don assemble strong squad for di match, even though some key players like Álvaro Morata and Nico Williams no dey available. Young star Lamine Yamal from Barcelona dey expected to shine, join with oder attackers like Mikel Oyarzabal, Ferran Torres and Dani Olmo. Midfield go feature Pedri, Rodri and Martín Zubimendi, wey all dey in top form for dia clubs.
For Serbia side, new coach Veljko Paunović dey try to rebuild di team after poor World Cup qualification campaign. Dem miss important players like Dušan Vlahović from Juventus, but Aleksandar Mitrović still dey lead di attack. Midfielders Sergej Milinković-Savić and Sasa Lukić go try to control di game against Spain strong midfield.
Spain don win all three previous matches against Serbia, including 3-0 victory for UEFA Nations League for 2024. Experts dey predict another win for Spain for dis friendly match, with some saying dem fit win 3-0 again. Di match go kick off 4 p.m. ET on Friday, March 27, and fans fit watch am live on RTVE for Spain or through VPN for oder countries.
Coach De la Fuente talk say him dey happy with Rodri and Zubimendi wey him call di two best defensive midfielders for di world. Him say both players fit play together for Spain team because dem get different qualities. Zubimendi, wey move from Real Sociedad to Arsenal last summer, don become important player for Premier League title race.
One interesting story wey dey develop na about Barcelona midfielder Gavi. Even though im no dey for dis Spain squad after returning from knee injury, De la Fuente no rule out including am for World Cup squad. Di coach say dem dey monitor Gavi progress and dem go decide in two months time if im fit join di team for di tournament.
For training, Yamal do light session separate from di group after arriving from Barcelona, but De la Fuente insist say im want to win both friendly matches against Serbia and Egypt. Di coach say all players get equal chance and dem go protect Yamal health while still fielding strong team.
Spain qualification for World Cup 2026 bin smooth as dem win five of dia six matches. Di team don win 20 of dia last 25 matches across all competitions, only drawing against Netherlands, Portugal and Türkiye. Dis form make dem one of di favorites to win di World Cup dis year.
Serbia own form no too good as dem only win against Austria, Andorra and Latvia since dia last defeat to Spain for October 2024. Paunović, wey bin coach Chicago Fire before and don work for Spain, get work to do to improve di team performance before World Cup qualifiers start again.
Di match originally suppose be La Finalissima between Spain and Argentina, but di 2026 edition of dat competition cancel. Instead, Spain go use dis opportunity to test dia squad depth and tactics against European opponent wey get quality players but dey struggle for consistency.
Fans around di world dey look forward to di match as proper test for both teams. Spain want to maintain dia unbeaten run while Serbia want to show say dem fit compete with top teams. Di result go give indication of how both teams dey prepare for di big tournament wey dey come later dis year.
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