The Spain men’s national team has been underwhelming in the past two major international tournaments. Luis Enrique’s men crashed out of the 2022 World Cup in Qatar in the round of 16 to Morocco, who went on to reach the semi-final of the tournament. Spain’s exit at the last World Cup will be remembered for their failure to score a single spot-kick in the shootout.
This led to the sack of Luis Enrique, who quickly took up the PSG job in the summer. Under a new manager, Spain are now back to their best, scoring 19 goals and conceding just three as they beat Erling Haaland’s Norway to qualify for the 2024 edition of the Euros on Sunday.
Spain qualified for Euro 2024 following win vs Norway
Spain needed to send a message to the world that they were still a force to reckon with as far as global tournaments are concerned, and a qualifying win over Erling Haaland’s Norway must have sent the message loud and clear.
After a few disappointing exits in the last two major tournaments leading to the sacking of Luis Enrique, who took the PSG job in the summer and demanded a U-turn of Kylian Mbappe’s situation, Spain are looking like the team that won the 2010 World Cup and the 2012 Euros.
Gavi scored the only goal of the game in the second half, which proved to be enough against Norway as Spain sealed their place in Euro 2024. While Spain managed to keep most of the possession, they couldn’t break down a stubborn Norway side until the early moments in the second half when Gavi worked his magic.
Although VAR intervened to check for offside in the build-up play, Gavi’s goal was allowed to stand, sending Spain to Germany for Euro 2024 alongside Scotland, who have won four of the last four qualifying matches.
Norway can only qualify for Euro 2024 through Nations League playoffs
Despite having a squad with Premier League elites like Erling Haaland and Martin Odegaard, Norway could not make automatic qualification for Euro 2024, leaving them with only the playoffs to qualify. This must have been disappointing for Erling Haaland, who was kept quiet throughout the game by Spain.
Erling Haaland has won everything there is to win at the club level, including a treble with Manchester City last season, where he topped the goalscoring charts in the Premier League and the UEFA Champions League, and eventually the UEFA Player of the Year. However, Haaland is yet to appear at any major tournament with Norway, something he’ll hope changes soon if he wants to be considered one of the best players of his generation.
Can Norway qualify for Euro 2024 through the Nation League playoffs?
