Preview: Spain vs Serbia - prediction, team news, lineups

Spain will continue their preparations for the 2026 World Cup with a friendly against Serbia at Villarreal's Estadio de la Ceramica on Friday night.

La Roja will open their World Cup campaign against Cape Verde on June 15, but Serbia have not qualified for this summer's tournament, finishing third in Group K behind England and Albania.

Match preview

Spain were impressive during their qualification campaign for the 2026 World Cup, picking up 16 points from their six matches to finish first, three points ahead of second-placed Turkey.

Luis de la Fuente's side are among the favourites for this summer's tournament, with England, Argentina, France, Brazil and Portugal also regarded as challengers for the trophy.

Spain won the World Cup in 2010, but they have actually been eliminated in the round of 16 in the last two editions of the competition, while there was a group-stage exit in 2010.

La Roja will take on Serbia and Egypt in their two friendlies this month, with their 2026 World Cup campaign then beginning against Cape Verde on June 15.

Spain will also face Saudi Arabia and Uruguay in the group stage of this summer's competition, and it would be one of the biggest shocks of all time if they failed to make the knockout round.

Serbia, meanwhile, will not be present at the 2026 World Cup, having finished third in their qualification campaign for the tournament, collecting 13 points from eight matches.

Veljko Paunovic's side finished one point behind second-placed Albania and 11 points off the leaders England, winning four, drawing one and losing three of their eight matches.

Serbia's next competitive football will therefore come in the UEFA Nations League, with their campaign beginning against Greece at the end of September.

However, the national side have three friendlies before then, taking on Saudi Arabia on March 31, before facing Mexico on June 4.

Serbia have faced Spain on three previous occasions, suffering a 3-0 defeat when the pair last locked horns in October 2024, but they did hold La Roja to a 0-0 draw in September 2024.

Spain friendlies form:

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Spain form (all competitions):

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Serbia friendlies form:

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Serbia form (all competitions):

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Team News

Spain head coach De la Fuente will make full use of his squad in the upcoming friendlies, but a recognisable XI is set to take to the field for the first whistle, including Lamine Yamal.

Ferran Torres and Mikel Oyarzabal could also feature in the final third of the field, while Rodri and Pedri are likely to be starters for the national side on Friday night.

Marcos Llorente may get the nod at right-back, with Dean Huijsen also starting, while Unai Simon is set to start between the sticks despite the competition in the goalkeeping department.

Fabian Ruiz, Mikel Merino, Pablo Barrios, Gavi, Alvaro Morata and Nico Williams are notable absentees from the latest squad.

As for Serbia, Aleksandar Mitrovic is still going strong at the age of 31, and the striker will be looking to add to his 63 goals for the national side in this match.

Luka Jovic has 11 Serbia goals to his name and is set to feature in the final third of the field, while Nemanja Gudelj is in line to win his 75th cap.

It is a very experienced Serbia outfit in terms of appearances, and Nottingham Forest's Nikola Milenkovic is also expected to be a notable starter against Spain.

Spain possible starting lineup:

Simon; Llorente, Laporte, Huijsen, Cucurella; Rodri, Zubimendi, Pedri; Yamal, F Torres, Oyarzabal

Serbia possible starting lineup:

Rajkovic; Pavlovic, Milenkovic, Erakovic, Terzic; Gudelj, Milinkovic-Savic, Lukic; Kostic; Mitrovic, Jovic

We say: Spain 2-1 Serbia

Serbia will provide strong opposition for Spain, which is exactly what La Roja will want at this stage of their preparations. We are expecting it to be a tight match in terms of the scoreline, with Spain potentially coming out narrow winners on home soil.

For data analysis of the most likely results, scorelines and more for this match please click here.