These two met in the semis of this year's European Championship, with Spain winning 2-1 after extra time. Can Italy get a bit of (pointless) revenge?
Team news
Both teams give under-played players a chance to play. There's too many changes to bother listing, but two players that do survive the rotation are Lionel Messi and Cristiano Ronaldo. They are on 3 and 4 goals respectively, whilst Luis Suárez is on 4 and Lorenzo Insigne is on 4. No player has reached 5 goals yet this tournament, so this match could be very fascinating in seeing who wins the Golden Boot.
There's a similar chance for Italy later in the half when Messi's free kick is cleared, and Sandro hurtles upfield on a scintillating run, but he can only fire into the side netting. Spain's first decent chance comes in the 39th minute when Antoine Griezmann gets down the left of Italy's box and cuts it back for Suárez, but Giorgio Chiellini is there to make a good block.
Unlike many of Spain's opponents this tournament, Italy are able to create their own spells of pressure in the final third. One such attack leads to Sandro's cross that Danilo rises to meet, his header beats Oblak but cannons off the crossbar! It's the last major moment of the half. Incredibly, Spain have played around 10 hours of DWC football now without conceding (since their opener against Belgium. However, it's also been around 4 hours since they themselves last scored, and that doesn't look like changing. Italy, a bit more direct, look more likely to find something.
11 minutes later, Italy press high up in the Spanish half, forcing Sergi Roberto into a clearance that only goes as far as Pjanic. It's worked upfield to Romelu Lukaku, who holds it up well and switches it to Danilo. He gets it away from Jordi Alba and beats Oblak with a great shot to open the scoring!
Spain nearly get an equaliser out of nowhere, as Messi's snapshot brings a great save from Samir Handanovic. Italy can't clear it, and Alba fires in a brilliant cross that Griezmann forces towards goal, but again Handanovic makes the save.
As Spain replace Suárez with Eden Hazard, it makes Griezmann (now playing up front) the tallest of their front three at 176cm. This means they have issues when they're forced to clear the ball, as Italy easily win any headers and attack again. One such moment leads to another chance for Danilo, but he heads Hernández's cross straight at Oblak.
Like Suárez, Ronaldo's quest for the Golden Boot ends as he's substituted, with Insigne coming on. Insigne's first job is to defend a Spanish corner. It's fired in, and the referee blows for a penalty due to a push from Marcelo Brozovic on Casemiro! He picks up a yellow, and it's his second of the game! Italy can't adapt, as Insigne was Italy's final replacement. Anyway, the man to take the penalty is Eden Hazard, the player whose missed penalty lost Spain the semi final. Can he put that out of his mind here? He can, sending Handanovic the wrong way! It's 1-1!
Spain kick off extra time, and Raphael Varane passes it straight to Danilo. He plays it to Pjanic who catches Spain's defence out with a brilliant quick ball for Insigne to run onto. This is a great chance for him to get to 4 goals for the tournament, but his shot is straight at Oblak, who pushes it behind! The corner is cleared, and Spain work it into the final third. One sub, Luka Modric, plays a wonderful pass to play in another, Hazard, but he also can't finish as Handanovic parries. But it falls into the path of Messi, who rolls it into an empty net to put Spain ahead! It's also his fourth goal of the tournament. He needs another to win the Golden Boot due to games played.
Final score: Spain e3-1 Italy
Player of the match: Eden Hazard
So, with this glorified friendly out of the way, we switch our attention to the final next time! Can Argentina complete their fairytale, or will France go one better than they did last year?