Nations League, Tuesday: Spain host Croatia in Seville, England go to Prague with two defenders in doubt, and Switzerland arrive at Hampden without Xhaka

Matchday 2 closes on Tuesday with ten matches, and League A, Group 3 is split down the middle: Spain and Croatia both won on Saturday and meet in Seville with the group lead at stake, while England and Czechia both lost and meet in Prague with neither yet on the board. Both League A matches kick off at 18:45 UTC, alongside Scotland v Switzerland at Hampden, where the visitors are without their captain. The two early matches, at 16:00 UTC, are Finland v Belarus in Helsinki and Moldova v Faroe Islands.

Spain v Croatia, 18:45 UTC

Spain v Croatia is at the Ramón Sánchez Pizjuán in Seville, a ground that, according to EFE, has not hosted the national team for eleven years. Spain won 3–2 at Wembley on Saturday from 2–1 down and have won the last three meetings with Croatia: 3–0 at Euro 2024, the 2023 Nations League final on penalties, and 5–3 after extra time at Euro 2020. Croatia's last win in the fixture was 3–2 in Zagreb in November 2018.

The Spain squad has changed since Saturday. Eric García was injured in the warm-up at Wembley, and Robin Le Normand was called up on Sunday in his place, joining the group on Monday; he has not played for Spain since October 2025. Luis de la Fuente said on Monday that he will rotate to refresh the side across four matches in ten days while keeping its structure; all 26 players trained.

Croatia are in their second match under Slaven Bilić, who was appointed in July after Zlatko Dalić ended his tenure following the World Cup, fourteen years after Bilić's first spell in charge. His side won 2–1 in Prague on Saturday, where Luka Modrić, at 41, scored and won his 203rd cap, which took him third on the all-time list behind Lionel Messi and Cristiano Ronaldo. Tuesday is Modrić's first match in Spain since he left Real Madrid in July 2025. Josip Stanišić missed Monday's training with a viral infection, and whether he can play will only be known on the day; Josip Juranović and Martin Erlić withdrew before the window with injuries. Bilić said Spain can be beaten if Croatia play at their top level, and that Croatia had no intention of adding to the hosts' celebration.

Czechia v England, 18:45 UTC

Czechia v England is at the Fortuna Arena in Prague, where Czechia beat England 2–1 in October 2019; England won the other two recent meetings, 5–0 in March 2019 and 1–0 at Euro 2020, both at Wembley.

England arrive after the 3–2 defeat to Spain in which Harry Kane missed a penalty at 2–1 up. Thomas Tuchel said a third goal would have been the decisive punch and that England should have scored it, and that with the ball they were the biggest danger to themselves through individual mistakes in the deep build-up. Two of Saturday's starters, Ezri Konsa and Nico O'Reilly, trained apart from the group on Monday with what Tuchel called minor issues, with a decision due on Tuesday morning. The squad had already lost Declan Rice, Cole Palmer, Marcus Rashford, Kobbie Mainoo and Tino Livramento to injury before the window, with James Garner and Morgan Gibbs-White called up. Tuchel would not call the match a must-win, saying it is early in the group for that.

Czechia are in their second Nations League match under Santi Denia, the Spaniard appointed on 31 July as the country's first foreign head coach after Miroslav Koubek resigned following the World Cup. Captain Ladislav Krejčí missed the Croatia match with a calf problem and says he feels ready, with Denia deciding after training; Tomáš Souček remains out injured, and Vladimír Coufal was absent from the open part of Monday's training. With four matches in eleven days, Denia said any changes will be decided after training with the medical staff, and that the players who start need to be completely fit.

Scotland v Switzerland, 18:45 UTC

Scotland v Switzerland at Hampden is the home debut of Sébastien Pocognoli, who replaced Steve Clarke. Scotland drew 0–0 in Slovenia on Saturday in a new 3-5-2, and Pocognoli said afterwards that the dressing room was disappointed not to take three points. Scott McTominay, Ché Adams, Lawrence Shankland, Kenny McLean and Kieran Tierney are all absent; Andy Robertson, who won his 98th cap on Saturday, would reach 99 on Tuesday.

Switzerland won 3–0 in Skopje without Granit Xhaka and Breel Embolo. Both are out of the squad over forged Covid-19 documents from the pandemic: the Swiss FA removed Embolo, who was fined last November for using fake test certificates, saying the decision was to let the team stay fully focused on the next matches; Xhaka withdrew after admitting he obtained a fake vaccination certificate in 2022, and the federation says his case will be reviewed after the window. Blick reports he must miss three Nations League matches. The journey to Glasgow was its own story: SRF reports that the flight from Skopje had to stop in Zurich after an airline weight miscalculation left it short of fuel, the squad arrived about three hours late, and Murat Yakin missed the press conference with ear problems from the landing, though he was back on the training pitch. Zeki Amdouni, who scored twice on Saturday, is expected to keep his place. The last meeting was 1–1 at Euro 2024 in Cologne, and the Scottish FA notes that Scotland's last win over Switzerland was at Euro 96.

The other seven

Finland v Belarus (16:00 UTC), League C, Group 1, is at the Olympic Stadium in Helsinki. The Finnish FA had said in March that the fixture would go to a neutral venue on government advice, then in May chose to play it at home; Yle reports that Ukraine's embassy sent a diplomatic note expressing its disappointment, with the ambassador saying he hoped the match would be moved outside Finland, and that the FA will donate the net ticket proceeds to humanitarian aid for Ukraine. Finland lead the group on goal difference after their 7–0 in San Marino, level on three points with Albania.

Moldova v Faroe Islands (16:00 UTC), League C, Group 3. Four meetings since 2021, two draws and a win each; the Faroes have a point from Saturday's 1–1 with Kazakhstan, Moldova none.

San Marino v Albania (18:45 UTC). San Marino's Alessandro Golinucci is suspended after his red card against Finland; Albania's Qazim Laçi is out with a muscle injury. Albania won both meetings in 2021, 2–0 and 5–0.

Slovakia v Kazakhstan (18:45 UTC), in Košice. Slovakia lead League C, Group 3 on three points, the only side in the group with a win. Kazakhstan won both meetings in the 2022 Nations League, 1–0 in Trnava and 2–1 at home.

Bulgaria v Estonia (18:45 UTC), at the Stadion Hristo Botev in Plovdiv, League C, Group 4. No previous meeting on record. Ivaylo Chochev is out for the remaining four Nations League matches with a knee problem.

Luxembourg v Iceland (18:45 UTC). Luxembourg lead Group 4 after winning 2–1 in Bulgaria; Iceland drew 1–1 with Estonia. Luxembourg won 3–1 at home in September 2023 and drew 1–1 in Reykjavík a month later. Iceland's goalkeeper Elías Rafn Ólafsson is out for months after kidney surgery.

Slovenia v North Macedonia (18:45 UTC), the other League B, Group 1 match, in Ljubljana. Slovenia have a point from the Scotland draw, North Macedonia none after the 0–3 against Switzerland. Slovenia have not won any of the three meetings since 2019: 1–1, 1–2 and 1–1. Vanja Drkušić is injured and Andraž Šporar is a doubt for Slovenia.

Where the groups stand before Tuesday

• League A, Group 3: Spain and Croatia on three points, both +1; England and Czechia on nothing.
• League B, Group 1: Switzerland on three (+3), Slovenia and Scotland on one, North Macedonia on nothing (−3).
• League C, Group 1: Finland (+7) and Albania (+2) on three; Belarus and San Marino on nothing.
• League C, Group 3: Slovakia on three; Faroe Islands and Kazakhstan on one; Moldova on nothing.
• League C, Group 4: Luxembourg on three; Iceland and Estonia on one; Bulgaria on nothing.

Numbers to know

• Ten matches, two at 16:00 UTC and eight at 18:45.
• Spain have won the last three meetings with Croatia; Croatia have not beaten Spain since November 2018. Sky Sports puts Spain's unbeaten run at 39 matches going into Tuesday.
• Modrić's 203 caps put him behind only Messi and Ronaldo among all players; Robertson reaches 99 for Scotland if he plays.
• Two sides in their second match under a new coach: Croatia under Bilić, Czechia under Denia. Scotland are in their second under Pocognoli and their first at home.
• Switzerland's Xhaka and Embolo, Scotland's McTominay, England's Rice and Palmer, Spain's Eric García: the absentee list is longer than usual for a second matchday.

Matchday 3 begins on Thursday 1 October, with Germany v Serbia, Greece v Netherlands, Denmark v Portugal and Wales v Norway in League A. The full round with kick-off times in your time zone is on the Nations League page.

Sources for the team news and context: The FA, Scottish FA, HNS, EFE, SRF, France 24, Yle, ČTK, Sky Sports.