Holders Spain set for title defence as Nations League gets under way

Big guns gear up as International football gets underway in Europe for the first time in 2025 as the Nations League moves into the quarter-finals stage and the continent’s 2026 World Cup qualifying campaign gets underway.

Nations League promotion/relegation play-offs are also on the cards in a week where all the European big guns are in action.

Spain face the Netherlands on Thursday in the Nations League quarter-final, with Luis de la Fuente’s side looking to win their third-straight title after success in the 2023 edition of the competition and their stunning European Championship victory last year.

Euro 2024 break-out stars Lamine Yamal and Nico Williams, as well as Dani Olmo and Alvaro Morata are in the squad which will play a two-legged tie against the Dutch with a semi-final berth awaiting the winners.

Leverkusen’s Aleix Garcia were called up to the Spain Nations League squad on Monday after Barcelona duo Inigo Martinez and Marc Casado withdrew.

The Spanish football federation said Barcelona had reported both Casado and Martinez suffered right knee problems in their dramatic comeback victory over La Liga title rivals Atletico Madrid on Sunday.

The 19-year-old Huijsen, who has helped Bournemouth push for Champions League qualification and reach the FA Cup quarter-finals this season, is promoted from the Under-21 squad.

Garcia has already won three caps for the European champions.

Nations League holders Spain visit Rotterdam for their quarter-final first leg against the Netherlands on Thursday, with the return game to be played in Valencia three days later.

Denmark take on Portugal and France face Croatia in the last eight as well for this first edition of the expanded Nations League final phase.

Germany and Italy clash in the other quarter-final, with the winner not only advancing to the last four but also confirming their status as hosts of the Nations League finals.

Germany travel to Euro 2020 winners Italy for the first leg at Milan’s San Siro on Thursday, before the reverse fixture takes place three days later in the Westfalenstadion in Dortmund.

The four-team final tournament begins with the semi-finals on June 4-5. The final is scheduled for June 8.

England begin their journey to reach the 2026 World Cup with a new manager at the helm following the appointment of former Bayern Munich, Paris Saint-Germain and Chelsea boss Thomas Tuchel.

The German will be under no illusions that his reign will ultimately be judged by success in major tournaments as England seek to win their first silverware since the 1966 World Cup.

“Exciting and a bit surreal,” Tuchel said last Friday of becoming the first German to lead England.

“It’s a big honour and I’m very proud of it. I’m very well aware of it, I will make sure that I earn my rights to be in this place.”

Tuchel will make his debut next Friday when Albania travel to Wembley, before Latvia visit London on March 24.

One coach whose achievements Tuchel will doubtless be desperate to replicate is outgoing France coach Didier Deschamps, who announced in January he would be stepping down from his role after the 2026 World Cup in North America.

The captain of France’s first World Cup-winning side in 1998 took over as coach in 2012 and masterminded his country’s second triumph in football’s biggest tournament six years later.

“All good things come to an end, and you also need to know when to stop,” Deschamps said in January.

“It has been 12 years, and it will have been 14, which is fine. I have done my time, and I still have time left.”

Fittingly, Deschamps will begin the end of his reign as France boss against Croatia in the Nations League quarter-finals -- the same side he defeated in the 2018 World Cup final.

Mateo Retegui will miss Italy’s Nations League quarter-final against Germany with a thigh injury, the country’s football federation (FIGC) said on Wednesday.

In a statement, the FIGC said Atalanta striker Retegui had picked up an unspecified problem in his right thigh which has ruled him out of both legs of the last four tie.

Agencies