A | B | C | D | E | F | G | H | CH | I | J | K | L | M | N | O | P | Q | R | S | T | U | V | W | X | Y | Z | 0 | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9
 | |||
| Nickname(s) | La Roja (The Red One)[1] | ||
|---|---|---|---|
| Association | Real Federación Española de Fútbol (RFEF) | ||
| Confederation | UEFA (Europe) | ||
| Head coach | Luis de la Fuente | ||
| Captain | Álvaro Morata | ||
| Most caps | Sergio Ramos (180) | ||
| Top scorer | David Villa (59) | ||
| Home stadium | Various | ||
| FIFA code | ESP | ||
| |||
| FIFA ranking | |||
| Current | 8  (20 June 2024)[2] | ||
| Highest | 1 (July 2008 – June 2009, October 2009 – March 2010, July 2010 – July 2011, October 2011 – July 2014) | ||
| Lowest | 25 (March 1998) | ||
| First international | |||
 Spain 1–0 Denmark  (Antwerp, Belgium; 28 August 1920) | |||
| Biggest win | |||
 Spain 13–0 Bulgaria  (Madrid, Spain; 22 August 1933) | |||
| Biggest defeat | |||
 Italy 7–1 Spain (Amsterdam, Netherlands; 4 June 1928)  England 7–1 Spain (London, England (9 December 1931) | |||
| World Cup | |||
| Appearances | 16 (first in 1934) | ||
| Best result | Champions (2010) | ||
| European Championship | |||
| Appearances | 12 (first in 1964) | ||
| Best result | Champions (1964, 2008, 2012) | ||
| Nations League Finals | |||
| Appearances | 2 (first in 2021) | ||
| Best result | Champions (2023) | ||
| FIFA Confederations Cup | |||
| Appearances | 2 (first in 2009) | ||
| Best result | Runners-up (2013) | ||
Medal record | |||
The Spain national football team (Spanish: Selección Española de Fútbol) has represented Spain in men's international football competitions since 1920. It is governed by the Royal Spanish Football Federation, the governing body for football in Spain.
Spain is one of eight national teams to have been crowned world champions and have participated in a total of 16 of 22 FIFA World Cups, qualifying consistently since 1978. Spain have won three UEFA European Championships and have appeared in 11 of 16 Euro tournaments. It also won the 2022–23 edition of the UEFA Nations League, becoming the second national team to win three major titles (World Cup, Euro and Nations League) after France.
Spain's achievements from 2008 to 2012 have led many experts and commentators to consider this era's Spain squads one of the best ever teams in football history.[4][5][6][7][8] During this period, Spain became the only national team to win three consecutive major titles, including two back-to-back European Championships in 2008 and 2012, while becoming the first European team to win a World Cup held outside of Europe in 2010.[9] From 2008 to 2013, Spain won the FIFA Team of the Year, the second-most of any nation, behind only Brazil.[10] From the start of 2007 to the 2009 FIFA Confederations Cup, Spain achieved 35 consecutive undefeated matches, a feat which they shared with Brazil, and a sport record at the time. Spain is one of only two nations to have won both the FIFA World Cup and the FIFA Women's World Cup (the other being Germany).
History
Spain has been a member of FIFA since its founding in 1904, even though the Spanish Football Federation was first established in 1909. The first Spain national football team was constituted in 1920, with the main objective of finding a team that would represent Spain at the 1920 Summer Olympics held in Belgium in that same year. Spain made their debut at the tournament on 28 August 1920 against Denmark, silver medalists at the last two Olympic tournaments. Spain managed to win that match by a scoreline of 1–0, eventually finishing with the silver medal.[11] Spain qualified for their first FIFA World Cup in 1934, defeating Brazil in their first game and losing in a replay to the hosts and eventual champions Italy in the quarter-finals.[12] The Spanish Civil War and World War II prevented Spain from playing any competitive matches between the 1934 World Cup and the 1950 edition's qualifiers. At the 1950 finals in Brazil, they topped their group to progress to the finals round, then finished in fourth place.[13] Until 2010, this had been Spain's highest finish in a FIFA World Cup finals.[14]
Spain won its first major international title when it hosted the 1964 European Nations' Cup, defeating the Soviet Union 2–1 in the final at the Santiago Bernabéu Stadium.[15] The victory would stand as Spain's lone major title for 44 years. Spain was selected as host of the 1982 FIFA World Cup, reaching the second round and four years later they reached the quarter-finals before a penalty shootout defeat to Belgium.[16] Also at UEFA Euro 1984, they lost the final against France.[17] Spain reached the quarter-finals of the 1994 World Cup. The match became controversial when Italian defender Mauro Tassotti struck Luis Enrique with his elbow inside Spain's penalty area, causing Luis Enrique to bleed profusely from his nose and mouth, but the foul was not noticed nor sanctioned by referee Sándor Puhl. Had the official acknowledged the foul, Spain would have merited a penalty kick.[18] In the 2002 World Cup, Spain won its three group play matches, then defeated the Republic of Ireland on penalties in the second round. They faced co-hosts South Korea in the quarter-finals, losing in a shootout after having two goals controversially called back for alleged infractions during regular and extra time.[19]
At UEFA Euro 2008, Spain won all their games in Group D. Italy were the opponents in the quarter-finals match, which Spain won 4–2 on penalties. They then met Russia again in the semi-finals, beating them 3–0.[20] In the final, Spain defeated Germany 1–0, with Fernando Torres scoring the only goal of the game.[21] This was Spain's first major title since the 1964 European Championship. Xavi was awarded the player of the tournament.[nb 1] The following year the side finished third at the 2009 FIFA Confederations Cup breaking their 35-match unbeaten streak that began in November 2006 after a loss to the United States.[22] In the 2010 World Cup, Spain advanced to the final for the first time ever by defeating Germany 1–0. In the decisive match against the Netherlands, Andrés Iniesta scored the match's only goal, coming in extra time. Spain became the third team to win a World Cup outside their own continent, and the first European team to do so. They then qualified for UEFA Euro 2012, finishing on top of Group I with a perfect 100% record.[4] They became the first team to retain the European Championship, winning the final 4–0 against Italy, while Fernando Torres won the Golden Boot for top scorer of the tournament.[23]
Spain advanced to the final of the 2013 FIFA Confederations Cup, losing to hosts Brazil,[24] and the following year they were eliminated from the group stage of the 2014 World Cup.[25] At Euro 2016 and the 2018 World Cup, the side reached the last 16 in both tournaments, losing to Italy 2–0 and Russia 3–2 on penalties after a 1–1 draw.[26][27] In the UEFA Euro 2020, held in 2021 after COVID-19 pandemic caused delays, Spain made a breakthrough, reaching the last four of a major tournament for the first time since 2012, before losing to eventual champions Italy 4–2 on penalties after a 1–1 draw. The team finished the tournament with two wins and four draws (including two penalty shootouts).[28] The same year they managed to reach the 2021 UEFA Nations League final, losing against France.[29] In the 2022 World Cup, Spain finished second in their group, then in the round of 16, they lost to Morocco 3–0 on penalties after a 0–0 draw, to be the third consecutive elimination from a major tournament in penalty shootouts.[30]
Spain will host the FIFA World Cup for the second time in 2030. As co-host alongside Morocco and Portugal, they have automatically qualified for the tournament.
Team image
Nicknames
Spain's team was known in the past by some fans as "La furia española", 'the Spanish Fury'; this nickname was originally given by a Dutch newspaper, recalling the "Sack of Antwerp" – an episode in the military history of Spain.[31] More modernly, the team is called "La roja", 'the Red (squad)'. [1]
Style of play
Between 2008 and 2012, the team played a style of football dubbed 'tiki-taka', a systems approach to football founded upon the ideal of team unity and a comprehensive understanding in the geometry of space on a football field.[32]
Tiki-taka has been variously described as "a style of play based on making your way to the back of the net through short passing and movement",[33] a "short passing style in which the ball is worked carefully through various channels",[34] and a "nonsensical phrase that has come to mean short passing, patience and possession above all else".[35] The style involves roaming movement and positional interchange amongst midfielders, moving the ball in intricate patterns,[36] and sharp, one or two-touch passing.[37] Tiki-taka is "both defensive and offensive in equal measure" – the team is always in possession, so doesn't need to switch between defending and attacking.[38] Commentators have contrasted tiki-taka with "Route One physicality"[33] and with the higher-tempo passing of Barcelona and Arsène Wenger's 2007–08 Arsenal side, which employed Cesc Fàbregas as the only channel between defence and attack.[34] Tiki-taka is associated with flair, creativity, and touch,[39] but can also be taken to a "slow, directionless extreme" that sacrifices effectiveness for aesthetics.[35]
Tiki-taka was successfully employed by Spain to win Euro 2008, the 2010 World Cup and Euro 2012. The 2008–12 teams are regarded as being among the greatest of international teams in football history.[6][4][5]
They have the Barcelona "carousel" of Xavi and Andrés Iniesta augmented by Real Madrid's Xabi Alonso in midfield.
Sid Lowe identifies Luis Aragonés' tempering of tiki-taka with pragmatism as a key factor in Spain's success in Euro 2008. Aragonés used tiki-taka to "protect a defense that appeared suspect , maintain possession and dominate games" without taking the style to "evangelical extremes". None of Spain's first six goals in the tournament came from tiki-taka: five came from direct breaks and one from a set play.[35] For Lowe, Spain's success in the 2010 World Cup was evidence of the meeting of two traditions in Spanish football: the "powerful, aggressive, direct" style that earned the silver medal-winning 1920 Antwerp Olympic team the nickname La furia española ('The Spanish Fury') and the tiki-taka style of the contemporary Spain's team, which focused on a collective, short-passing, technical and possession-based game.[40]
Analyzing Spain's semi-final victory over Germany at the 2010 World Cup, Raphael Honigstein described Spain's tiki-taka style as "the most difficult version of football possible: an uncompromising passing game, coupled with intense, high pressing". For Honigstein, tiki-taka is "a significant upgrade" of the Netherlands' Total Football because it relies on ball movement rather than players switching position. Tiki-taka allowed Spain to "control both the ball and the opponent".[38]
We have the same idea as each other. Keep the ball, create movement around and off the ball, get in the spaces to cause danger.
— Xabi Alonso (Spanish midfielder).[37]
Kits and crest
Spain's kit is traditionally a red jersey with yellow trim, dark blue shorts, and black socks, whilst their current away kit is all predominantly white. The colour of the socks altered throughout the 1990s from black to the same blue colour as the shorts, matching either the blue of the shorts or the red of the shirt until the mid-2010s when they returned to their traditional black. Spain's kits have been produced by manufacturers including Adidas (from 1981 until 1983), Le Coq Sportif (from 1984 until 1990) and Adidas once again (since 1991). Rather than displaying the logo of the Spanish Football Federation, Spain's jersey traditionally features the country's coat of arms over the left side. After winning the 2010 World Cup, the World Cup winners badge was added to the right side of the jersey and a golden star at the top of Spain's coat of arms.
Kit suppliers
| Kit supplier | Period | Notes |
|---|---|---|
| None | 1920–1935 | |
 / Deportes Cóndor
|
1935–1966 1967–1981 |
|
| Umbro
|
1966 | |
 / Adidas
|
1981–1983 1991–present |
Current until 2030[41][42] |
 Le Coq Sportif
|
1984–1990 |
Home stadium
Spain does not have a designated national stadium. The capital city of Madrid (Bernabéu and Metropolitano), Seville (Pizjuán, La Cartuja and Villamarín), Valencia (Mestalla and Orriols) and Barcelona (Camp Nou and Montjuïc), are the four Spanish cities that have hosted more than 15 national team matches, while also being home to the largest stadiums in the country.[43]
Other friendly matches, as well as qualifying fixtures against smaller opponents, are played in provincial stadia. The 2018 FIFA World Cup qualification campaign included matches at the Reino de León in León,[44] Los Cármenes in Granada,[45] El Molinón in Gijón,[46] and the Rico Pérez in Alicante.[47]
Media coverage
Spain's UEFA European Qualifiers and UEFA Nations League matches, are televised nationwide by La 1, flagship television channel of the public broadcaster TVE.[48]
Rivalries
Spain has four main rivalries with other top footballing nations.
- Their rivalry with Italy, sometimes referred to as the Mediterranean Derby,[49] contested since 1920. Although the two nations are not immediate geographical neighbours, their rivalry at international level is enhanced by the strong performances of the representative clubs in UEFA competitions, in which they are among the leading associations and have each enjoyed spells of dominance.[50][51] Since the quarter-finals match between the two countries at Euro 2008, the rivalry has renewed, with its most notable match between the two sides being in the UEFA Euro 2012 final, which Spain won 4–0.[52][53]
- Their rivalry with Portugal, also known as the Iberian Derby, is one of the oldest football rivalries at a national level. It began on 18 December 1921, when Portugal lost 3–1 to Spain in Madrid in their first ever international friendly game. Portugal lost their first matches, with their first draw (2–2) only coming in 1926. Portugal's first win came much later (4–1) in 1947. Both belong to the strongest football nations of the world, and have met a total of 39 times (of which 9 matches were competitive) which resulted in 16 victories for Spain, 17 draws and 6 victories for Portugal.
- Their rivalry with France, also another major football force, is also one of the oldest at a national level. Spain and France have met a total of 36 times, began with a 4–0 triumph for Spain in a friendly in Bordeaux on 30 April 1922, though their first competitive meeting came in the UEFA Euro 1984 final, which France won to take over its first major international honours.[54][55] Spain has the advantage in head-to-head competition with 16 wins, 13 losses and 7 draws.
- Their rivalry with Germany, is also one of the oldest at a national level. Germany and Spain have faced each other 26 times, started with a 2–1 friendly victory for Spain on 12 May 1935 in Cologne. However, Spain only met a German side for the first time in any competitive fixture in 1966, as part of the 1966 FIFA World Cup, where West Germany (competing separately form East Germany at the time) came back to win 2–1.[56] However, since the reunification of Germany in 1990, Spain has remained undefeated in competitive fixtures against Germany, including the famous 6–0 rout in the 2020–21 UEFA Nations League A.[57] The head-to-head result slightly favours Germany with 9 wins, 9 draws compared to 8 Spanish wins.
Results and fixtures
The following is a list of match results in the last 12 months, as well as any future matches that have been scheduled.
Win Draw Loss Fixture
2023
| 18 June 2022–23 UEFA Nations League F | Croatia  | 0–0 (a.e.t.) (4–5 p) |  Spain | Rotterdam, Netherlands |
| 20:45 CEST (UTC+02:00) | Report | Stadium: De Kuip Attendance: 41,110 Referee: Felix Zwayer (Germany) | ||
| Penalties | ||||
| Note: Spain won on penalties 5–4 | ||||
| 8 September Euro 2024 Q | Georgia  | 1–7 | Spain | Tbilisi, Georgia |
| 18:00 CEST (UTC+02:00) |
|
Report | Stadium: Boris Paichadze Dinamo Arena Attendance: 51,694 Referee: Daniel Siebert (Germany) |
| 12 September Euro 2024 Q | Spain | 6–0 |  Cyprus | Granada, Spain |
| 20:45 CEST (UTC+02:00) | Report | Stadium: Nuevo Los Cármenes Attendance: 17,311 Referee: Simone Sozza (Italia) |
| 12 October Euro 2024 Q | Spain | 2–0 |  Scotland | Seville, Spain |
| 20:45 CEST (UTC+02:00) | Report | Stadium: La Cartuja Attendance: 45,623 Referee: Serdar Gözübüyük (Netherlands) |
| 15 October Euro 2024 Q | Norway  | 0–1 | Spain | Oslo, Norway |
| 20:45 CEST (UTC+02:00) | Report |
|
Stadium: Ullevaal Stadion Attendance: 25,885 Referee: Tobias Stieler (Germany) |
| 16 November Euro 2024 Q | Cyprus | 1–3 | Spain | Limassol, Cyprus |
| 18:00 CET (UTC+01:00) |
|
Report | Stadium: Alphamega Stadium Attendance: 9,667 Referee: Mykola Balakin (Ukraine) |
| 19 November Euro 2024 Q | Spain | 3–1 | Georgia | Valladolid, Spain |
| 20:45 CET (UTC+01:00) |
|
Report |
|
Stadium: José Zorrilla Attendance: 24,146 Referee: Ovidiu Hațegan (Romania) |
2024
| 22 March Friendly | Spain | 0–1 |  Colombia | London, England |
| 20:30 GMT (UTC±00:00) | Report |
|
Stadium: London Stadium Attendance: 44,000 Referee: Michael Oliver (England) |
| 26 March Friendly | Spain | 3–3 |  Brazil | Madrid, Spain |
| 21:30 CET (UTC+01:00) | Report | Stadium: Santiago Bernabéu Attendance: 65,000 Referee: João Pinheiro (Portugal) |
| 5 June Friendly | Spain | 5–0 |  Andorra | Badajoz, Spain |
| 21:30 CET (UTC+01:00) | Report | Stadium: Nuevo Vivero Referee: Gustavo Correia (Portugal) |
| 8 June Friendly | Spain | 5–1 |  Northern Ireland | Palma, Spain |
| 21:30 CET (UTC+01:00) | Report |
|
Stadium: Estadi Mallorca Son Moix Referee: Bastien Dechepy (France) |
| 15 June Euro 2024 Group B | Spain | 3–0 | Croatia | Berlin, Germany |
| 18:00 UTC+2 | Report | Stadium: Olympiastadion Attendance: 68,844 Referee: Michael Oliver (England) |
