In The Mixer: Experts pick their Nations League winners
Sports Journalist at FST, Gareth qualified as a journalist after graduating from university and spent over a decade as a freelance broadcast journalist, commentator and tipster before joining FST. Now living in Manchester, he is a long suffering Bolton Wanderers fan who also enjoys boxing, the NBA, tennis and rugby league.
In The Mixer is FST’s weekly column where we catch up with our team of football betting experts and get their opinion on the hot topic of the week.
The Nations League quarter-finals take place this week as Spain, France, Germany, Portugal, Italy, Croatia, The Netherlands and Denmark remain in the hunt for overall glory.
Further down the pecking order, the promotion/relegation play-offs are taking place but we’ve focused on the big prize. Spain and France got two votes each from our panel of seven, with three other contenders tipped.
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Spain fancied for back-to-back Nations League titles
Alex Wrigley
Spain are the only two-time finalists in the Nations League and I fancy them to become the first side to win the competition more than once in June.
La Roja have won 13 of their last 15 outings, including their successful Euro 2024 campaign and Luis de la Fuente has an enviable amount of talent to choose from, with starlets including Lamine Yamal, Nico Williams, and Pedri balancing well with more experienced members of the squad such as Unai Simon, Alvaro Morata, Ferran Torres, Dani Olmo, and Mikel Oyarazabal.
Rob Eddy
Spain are the favourites and for obvious reasons, and they are big enough to support to make it back-to-back Nations League wins, having also finished runners-up in 2021.
La Roja have put together a 16-game unbeaten run that of course takes in their success at Euro 2024, while victories over Germany, France, Italy and England are included in that run.
While there are some fantastic individual talents in the squad, arguably their whole is greater than the sum of their parts, and every player seems to know exactly what is required of them. While there may be some concerns from other teams, La Roja will fear no-one and deserve to be top of the market.
Second Nations League win for Les Bleus?
Liam Flin
Euro 2024 champions Spain are favourites to win the Nations League but they could come unstuck against France in a potential semi-final clash and Les Bleus are the value pick.
France topped a tough group featuring both Italy and Belgium en route to the knockout stage and should make the last four at the expense of Croatia.
A potential semi-final with Spain would be tough but they have so much quality going forwards with in-form forwards Ousmane Dembele, Kylian Mbappe, Marcus Thuram, Bradley Barcola, Desire Doue and Michael Olise to choose from.
Their squad is outstanding and I fancy them to go the distance as they did in 2020-21.
Jack Ogalbe
France won the 2020-21 Nations League and could seal a second title.
Didier Deschamps’ tactics continue to divide Les Bleus’ fans and critics, but a glance at their squad demonstrates that they have depth throughout.
Kylian Mbappe’s form might have been middling for Real Madrid but his old friend Ousmane Dembele is flying at former club Paris Saint-Germain and can outclass a Croatian defence in transition over two legs in the quarter-finals.
France can then get the better of the Netherlands or Spain in the last four and, with Mbappe, Dembele and several other clutch players available, are sure to take some stopping.
The other Nations League contenders
James Mason
I like the look of Italy and fancy them to go all the way after back-to-back third-placed finishes in the Nations League. It won’t be easy to overcome Germany in the quarters, but if they manage that then a semi-final against Denmark or Portugal awaits and that should hold no fears for Gli Azzurri.
Italy finished level on points with France in League A Group 2, missing out on top spot only on goal difference, and there looks to be more to come from this talented squad for many years to come.
Enda McElhinney
We’ve had three different winners of the Nations League so far and Germany can continue the trend by emerging best this time.
They won their group by going unbeaten, scoring 18 goals and conceding just four as they ended up five points clear of the Netherlands.
Julian Nagelsmann now squares off against an Italian side that missed out on topping their section after losing 3-1 to France in Milan in November.
Die Mannschaft can take care of the Azzuri and that will ensure they host the finals in June, which can help tip things in their favour.
Aaron Rogan
The possibility of Spain and France slogging it out 72 hours before the final could benefit the sides in the weaker top-half of the draw.
Germany have significant injury issues which could stretch to June. Italy’s lack of quality in the final third makes them a side to swerve.
Roberto Martinez’s Portugal have arguably the deepest squad outside of Spain and France. They did underwhelm at Euro 2024 but the stakes aren’t quite as high in the Nations League.
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