Spain avoid group of death for Euro 2025 qualifying, but who will they face?
Spain discovered their opponents for their Euro 2025 qualifying group this month.
Spain will be relatively pleased with their Euro 2025 qualifying group, especially considering some of the other groups in League A.
The draw for the groups was based on recent Nations League standings, with eight teams from the League A pathway directly qualifying to join hosts Switzerland in the 16-team finals in July 2025.
It is a quick turnaround as teams will compete in groups of four over six matchdays between April and July, with the top two teams in each group qualifying for the tournament next year. The remaining seven spots will be decided by two rounds of play-offs in October and November/December.
The reigning World Cup and Nations League winners will be in Group A2 alongside Denmark, Belgium and Czechia.
Whilst they are ranked first in FIFA’s World Rankings, Denmark come in at 13th, Belgium at 18th and Czechia at 28th.
Denmark came second in their Nations League group behind Germany, who they did beat during the group stage.
They were Euro finalists in 2017, losing 4-2 against the Netherlands in the decider, although they failed to get out of the group stage in 2022, winning just one game and scoring just one goal.
Belgium finished third in their Nations League group, but did manage to beat England and the Netherlands on home soil in that tournament so will be ones to watch out for.
Belgium have appeared at the last two European Championships, finishing third in their group in 2017 and reaching the quarter-final stage in 2022 where they were beaten 1-0 by Sweden.
Czechia were recently promoted to League A, after topping their League B4 table in a group that contained Bosnia and Herzegovina, Slovenia and Belarus.
They have never qualified for a major tournament and are rank outsiders in this group, although they do have a play-off spot assured due to their Nations League finish.
On paper, Spain should top the group with relative ease, but given that Denmark and Belgium have upset the odds in qualifying games recently, they cannot be underestimated.
Montse Tome will be breathing a sigh of relief however, when she looks at England’s group in comparison.
The reigning champions have been drawn against France, Sweden and the Republic of Ireland in Group A3.
That is three of the four semi-finalists from the 2022 Euros and the 3rd, 4th and 5th highest ranked teams in the world according to FIFA.
Factor in a Republic of Ireland side who are on the up and keen to qualify for another major tournament following their maiden appearance at the World Cup last summer, and it really is a group of death.
Group A1 also sees the Netherlands, Norway and an improving Italy as well as Finland facing each other, whilst Germany have a more favourable group too with the likes of Austria, Iceland and Poland.
Given that Spain go into qualifying which will begin in the first week of April riding high off the crest of a wave of qualifying for the Olympics and winning the Nations League, they will be a real force to be reckoned with.
It looks like, as we saw in the Nations League group stages, the teams around them will struggle against them and they should be set to have their sights on winning another major tournament in Switzerland next year.