Having clashed back in June at Euro 2020, Sweden and Spain meet again on Thursday, this time in 2022 FIFA World Cup qualifying.
The two sides played out a goalless draw two months ago, although it’s safe to say that Spain deserved to claim all three points.
The Spaniards enjoyed 86% possession and racked up 17 shots last time around, while Sweden only managed a single effort on target.
However, the Swedes defended for their lives and were able to come away with a precious goalless draw.
Looking at the current World Cup qualifying campaign, first-place Spain sit one point ahead of second-place Sweden in Group B.
That said, Spain have already played three matches – picking up seven points. Sweden, on the other hand, have only played twice – securing two wins.
Sweden kicked things off with a 1-0 victory over Georgia before crushing Kosovo 3-0 on Matchday 2.
Since then, they managed to reach the last 16 of Euro 2020 before bowing out of the tournament at Ukraine’s expense.
Still, it is worth pointing out that Sweden have only lost two of their last 13 home games in all competitions and have won each of their previous six WCQ on home soil.
On the flip side, Spain kicked off their qualifying campaign with a 1-1 draw against Greece before beaten Georgia 2-1 and Kosovo 3-1.
They then made it all the way to the semi-finals of Euro 2020 but ended up losing on penalties to eventual champions Italy.
Remarkably, the Spaniards have only lost one of their previous 25 matches in all competitions, so they will be confident of avoiding defeat on Thursday.
Let’s not forget that Spain haven’t lost any of their last 21 World Cup qualifiers, too, including five straight away wins.
Head-to-head: Sweden and Spain have faced each other on 15 occasions over the years, although Sweden have only managed three wins.
Sweden’s last win over Spain came back in 2006. Since then, the Spaniards have picked up three wins and two draws in this fixture.
Team news: Aris defender Daniel Sundgren could make his international debut for Sweden. Meanwhile, Alexander Isak will be hoping to pick up where he left off at Euro 2020.
As for Spain, Luis Enrique has made seven changes from his Euro 2020 squad, with Sergio Ramos missing out once again.
Despite Spain’s impressive WCQ record, Sweden can take confidence from the fact that they held Spain to a draw a couple of months ago.
På torsdag drar herrlandslagets VM-kval igång igen. Sverige ligger tvåa men har en match mindre spelad än Spanien! 👏✅🇪🇸 - 7 poäng🇸🇪 - 6 poäng🇬🇷 - 2 poäng🇬🇪 - 1 poäng🇽🇰 - 0 poäng— Svensk Fotboll (@svenskfotboll) August 30, 2021
På torsdag drar herrlandslagets VM-kval igång igen. Sverige ligger tvåa men har en match mindre spelad än Spanien! 👏✅🇪🇸 - 7 poäng🇸🇪 - 6 poäng🇬🇷 - 2 poäng🇬🇪 - 1 poäng🇽🇰 - 0 poäng
For that reason, Forebet predicts that Sweden will claim a point on Thursday, especially with the backing of the home crowd.