Despite the unpredictable weather, with rain and wind forecast throughout the day, Spain will play their first truly decisive match at this summer’s European Championships in Germany's most Latin feeling city on Sunday.

This is how the Germans themselves describe the city on the Rhine, whose carnival is a colourful and joyful event every February, with the massive parades that are the hallmark of this beautiful and populous city.

This Sunday at 21:00 (Iberian Peninsula time, live on LA1 and with full coverage on this official media), Spain will put on a footballing party on the pitch of the Cologne stadium against Georgia, which, like a carnival, the match will also be a reminder of the fragile and mortal nature of existence itself.

Click here to hear what coach Luis de la Fuente and defender Robin Le Normand had to say before the game.

Any mistake at this stage of the tournament could be fatal, as the Spanish coach and his players have been at pains to point out in the days leading up to the game, in which they have been tipped as favourites after their unparalleled performances and results in the group stage.

Just as Cologne's carnival season kicks off with Women's night Carnival, when the women take the keys to the city, so the national team has been playing  cheerful, colourful, vertical and uncomplicated football since the start of the European Championships, and now it is time to play that role without a safety net to save them if their footballing acrobatics lead to a slip up against Georgia over what could be the abyss of the Last 16..

Spain's Euro 2024 information pack

Luis de la Fuente has a squad of 26 players at his disposal and the confidence that came from beating the Caucasians in qualifying (7-1 in Tbilisi and 3-1 in Valladolid), as well as fantastic team spirit and a high level of play. Wingers Nico Williams and Lamine Yamal met for the first time in the Georgian capital, since that moment Spain has been one of the favourites.

But in football, as in carnival, anything can happen, and Georgia come into the game emboldened after beating Portugal and boasting some of the biggest stars of the tournament, both in goal with the giant Mamardashvili, as well as in the creative talents of Kvaratskhelia, and lethal finishing of striker Mikautadze, the only player to score in all their European Championships matches so far.

French referee François Letexier will officiate, with his compatriot Jérôme Brisard acting as video assistant referee.

It will be a challenge taking on the team coached by Willy Sagnol with both teams fighting for the prize of a place in the quarter-finals on Friday 5 July, with hosts Germany already waiting in Stuttgart. In the process of sealing a place in the next round, Spain could also set an all-time record with four straight European Championship victories.

Goals to strive for that will prolong the European feast of football for a young and festive Spain squad, at the same time mature and determined to continue fighting to be the genuine kings of this carnival of football.