International
2025-06-11 - Slovakia U21 vs Spain U21
A Sports Betting Pick by Auls
Football: UEFA Under 21 European Championship Group A
Wednesday 11th June 2025 - Kick Off 5pm
This game is live on TV
Preview
Two years after losing the 2023 Under 21 European Championship Final to England U21, Spain U21 are heading to Slovakia as the one of the joint favourites to win the trophy later this month. They have been placed in Group A and are set to face hosts Slovakia U21 in the opener in Bratislava and Spain will have real ambitions to return here on Saturday 28th June.
They were given very little challenges in Qualifying for the tournament and Spain have made it through to the Finals for a fifth edition in a row. In recent years this has been a nation that have consistently reached the business end of the tournament and the senior national team have benefited from those experiences.
Ten Qualifiers were played and Spain were able to win nine of those and the team managed to score 28 goals, while conceding just 5. A solid squad has been put together to travel to Slovakia and Spain will benefit from the fact that Barcelona have not earned a spot in the Club World Cup, which means having some of the talented youngsters that continue to come out of the Academy ready to compete.
Recent form has perhaps not been the most encouraging and Spain have won just 1 of their last 5 games at this level, although all of those have been in friendly settings. Those matches offered Spain a chance to work on things ahead of the Finals as they look to go a step further than two years ago and they will be expected to progress to the Knock Out Rounds as the top Seed in this Group.
Of course things will not be easy when having to face the likes of Italy U21 and Romania U21, while hosts have tended to make life difficult for the opponents in these Under 21 Finals. Two years ago, Georgia U21 came out of a tough Group in their debut appearance at the tournament and Slovakia did reach the Semi Final when hosting this event back in 2000.
This is only the third appearance at the Under 21 Finals overall though and Slovakia could have asked for an 'easier' Group than the one they have been handed.
Slovakia have stepped up their level of competition in more recent friendly matches with each of the last 5 being played against nations that have Qualified for the Finals this June. However, that step up has made things tougher for the host and they have not won any of those matches, while losing to France U21, Germany U21 and Portugal U21.
The real concern has to be the margin of defeats to France and Portugal and so this looks to be an extremely tough opener for Slovakia.
They did beat Spain last year in a friendly game, which may give the home team some confidence, but overall this has been a tough match up for Slovakia, who were beaten twice by the Spanish in the 2023 Qualifying Group.
Those defeats are part of a run of games where Spain have beaten Slovakia in seven of eight previous matches and it may be asking too much for the hosts to stay with one of the favourites on Wednesday as the Finals get underway.
Prediction
The Under 21 Finals can produce plenty of upsets with younger players still learning how to deal with tournament football, but the experience in the Spanish camp is invaluable.
That should show up in their opening Group game and Spain were able to get the better of one of the co-hosts at this Stage two years ago.
Slovakia do not have the same level of experience and recent friendly matches against some of the favourites who have arrived in their nation have shown a gap in quality that can be exposed by Spain.
The heavy defeats to France and Portugal were both suffered at home and Slovakia may struggle to stick with the 2023 Runners Up in this opening fixture.
The Pick :
Slovakia U21 0-2 Spain U21
