Gavi and Pedri will emerge as leaders of a new generation for Spain, according to Lothar Matthaus, who is expecting a World Cup classic when La Roja take on Germany on Sunday.
The Barcelona youngsters starred as Spain began their campaign by hammering Costa Rica 7-0 on Wednesday, while Germany surrendered a half-time lead in a shock 2-1 defeat to Japan.
Should Die Nationalmannschaft slump to consecutive group-stage losses at a single World Cup for the first time on Sunday, it may be enough for them to replicate 2018 s humiliating early exit.
With Gavi and Pedri pulling the strings for Spain and Germany having suffered an embarrassing 6-0 defeat when they last met La Roja two years ago in the Nations League, Matthaus is not overly confident.
Asked about the duo s potential impact against Germany, Matthaus told Marca: They are going to lead this new generation and Luis Enrique is giving them a lot of confidence, and that is essential for them.
La Roja always brings new values. If I go to the last game, I don t have a good feeling, but that is already past and tomorrow will be a new story.
They are the two favourites of the group, but Japan should not be neglected.
We will have to fight for every metre of the pitch. I think the Germans respect Spain a lot, they have a great team. It will be one of the great matches of the tournament.
Having started just one of their previous 18 World Cup campaigns with a defeat, Germany have now done so at consecutive editions after losing to Mexico in Russia four years ago.
Having retired from international football after Germany s Euro 2020 exit against England, Real Madrid midfielder Toni Kroos is absent from his country s squad at a World Cup for the first time since 2006.
With Kroos helping his club win LaLiga and the Champions League last season, some have highlighted his absence as a reason for Germany s struggles, but Matthaus disagrees.
We have [Ilkay] Gundogan, [Joshua] Kimmich, [Jamal] Musiala. Kroos made the difference, and he continues to do so with Real Madrid, Matthaus said.
He is a fantastic player, but he decided to leave the national team a few years ago and we have to respect that. In his position, we have [Manchester] City s captain Gundogan.
We have two Bayern Munich stars, Kimmich and [Leon] Goretzka, but they are different from Kroos. Toni did incredible things for German football, but we already have others.
