Deschamps believes Spain is the "strongest team" in the world, but France has the same, if not more, attacking strength

24 hours after Portugal eliminated hosts Germany and reached the Nations League final, now it's turn for Spain and France, in the semi-final taking place tonight, Thursday June 5, at 20:00 BST, 21:00 CEST. A match with high expectations, that many will be watching to decide who's Ballon d'Or winner this year, Ousmane Dembélé or Lamine Yamal, in which Spain will defend the 2023 Nations League title but also the UEFA Euro 2024 win.

Didier Deschamps, French manager, who will be in charge of the team until after World Cup 2026, thinks that Spain is "the strongest team in the world right now", but doesn't see today's match as a revenge for the UEFA Euro 2021 semi-final.

"It's been a long time. I don't want to remember the Euro Cup game; Spain were superior. But I left with the feeling that we weren't far behind. The same players won't be there. We want to play in the final on Sunday", he said, via RTVE.

There's reasons for optimism to the 2018 World Champion, including having five players still with the adrenaline rush of winning Champions League: Ousmane Dembélé, Desiré Doué, Lucas Hernández, Bradley Barcola, and Warren Zaire-Emery. And Kylian Mbappé is showing a much stronger form than he had at this point of the season last year. However, Deschamps doesn't want to copy Luis Enrique's style, and believes that they have the same level offensively as Spain, "if not more".