Spain and France face off for a place in the Euro 2024 final on July 9 after taking contrasting routes to the semifinal clash in Munich. As France have stumbled their way through to the last four, Spain’s flowing football has made them the team to beat in Germany. However, they will have to overturn a poor record against the French in major tournament competition to do so.
AFP Sport looks at five classic clashes between the two nations: Platini’s Euro 84 The first meeting between two of European football’s powerhouses at a major tournament did not take place until the final of Euro 1984. Spanish goalkeeper Luis Arconada dives in vain to try to stop the ball as it rolls behind the goal line following the free kick from France captain Michel Platini during the final of the Euro 1984 soccer championship in Paris on June 27, 1984.| Photo Credit:AFP Hosts France emerged victorious led by the imperious Michel Platini — whose nine goals in a single tournament remains a Euros record.
Platini opened the scoring at the Parc des Princes in a moment that dogged Spanish goalkeeper Luis Arconada for the rest of his career. Arconada let the French legend’s low free-kick slip through his grasp before Bruno Bellone chipped the Spanish goalie in stoppage time to seal France’s first major tournament victory. Djorkaeff stunner at Euro 2000 France also defeated Spain 2-1 en route to their second Euros win in the Netherlands and Belgium.
The quarter-final clash in Bruges was a classic .
