Spain national football team

This article is about the men's team. For the women's team, see Spain women's national football team.

Spain

Nickname(s)	La Roja (The Red [One]) La Furia Roja (The Red Fury) L'equip d'or (Golden Team) La Azul Celeste (The Sky Blue)
Association	Royal Spanish Football Federation (Real Federación Española de Fútbol – RFEF)
Confederation	UEFA (Europe)
Head coach	Vicente del Bosque
Captain	Iker Casillas
Most caps	Iker Casillas (128)
Top scorer	David Villa (51)
FIFA code	ESP
FIFA ranking	1
Highest FIFA ranking	1 (July 2008 – June 2009, October 2009 – March 2010, July 2010 - July 2011, October 2011 - present)
Lowest FIFA ranking	25 (March 1998)
Elo ranking	1
Highest Elo ranking	1 (Sept 1920 – May 1924, Sept – Dec 1925, June 2002, June 2008 – June 2009, July 2010)
Lowest Elo ranking	20 (June 1969, June 1981, November 1991)
Home colours Away colours
First international
Spain 1–0 Denmark (Brussels, Belgium; 28 August 1920)
Biggest win
Spain 13–0 Bulgaria (Madrid, Spain; 21 May 1933)
Biggest defeat
Italy 7–1 Spain (Amsterdam, Netherlands; 4 June 1928) England 7–1 Spain (London, England; 9 December 1931)
World Cup
Appearances	13 (First in 1934)
Best result	Winners, 2010
European Championship
Appearances	8 (First in 1964)
Best result	Winners, 1964, 2008
Confederations Cup
Appearances	1 (First in 2009)
Best result	Third place, 2009
Honours Olympic medal record Men's Football Silver 1920 Antwerp Team Gold 1992 Barcelona Team Silver 2000 Sydney Team

The Spain national football team represents Spain in international association football and is controlled by the Royal Spanish Football Federation, the governing body for football in Spain. The current head coach is Vicente del Bosque. The Spanish side is commonly referred to as La Roja (The Red [One]) or La Furia Roja (The Red Fury).

Spain are the current reigning World and European champions, having won the 2010 FIFA World Cup and the 2008 UEFA European Football Championship. Spain also won the 1964 European Nations' Cup and reached the UEFA Euro 1984 Final. In July 2008 Spain rose to the top of the FIFA World Rankings for the first time in the team's history, becoming the sixth nation to top this ranking, and the first nation to top the ranking without previously having won the World Cup. Between November 2006 and June 2009 Spain went undefeated for a record-tying 35 consecutive matches before their loss to the United States, a record shared with Brazil, including a record 15-game winning streak and thus earning third place in the FIFA Confederations Cup.

Recently, the team has become known for using a style of play which involves roaming movement and positional interchange amongst midfielders, moving the ball in intricate patterns, and sharp, one- or two-touch passing; this style of play has been dubbed Tiki-taka (or Tiqui-taca). The success of Spain in recent times and their style of play, has helped the Spanish team become a dominant force in world football.

History

Early years and the effect of war

Spain Side from 1920

The Real Federación Española de Fútbol (English: Royal Spanish Football Federation) was founded in 1909 and became affiliated with FIFA in 1913. However, the national team did not play a full international match until 1920 when they beat Denmark 1–0 in the Olympic Games. Their first appearance at a major finals was the 1934 World Cup, for which they qualified after 9–0 and 2–1 wins over Portugal. They beat Brazil 3–1 in the first round, before losing 1–0 in a replay to hosts, and eventual champions Italy in Florence. On 3 May 1936 Spain beat Switzerland 2–0 in Bern, in what would prove to be their last game until after the Spanish Civil War in 1941. They would then play only against similarly politically-aligned countries, or Switzerland, Republic of Ireland and Portugal, neutral during World War II until 1949 when they drew 1–1 with Belgium and re-entered FIFA competition.

1950s

The Spanish Civil War and World War II prevented Spain from playing any competitive matches between the 1934 World Cup and the 1950 World Cup qualifiers, where they overcame Iberian rivals Portugal, who later declined an invitation to take part, with a 5–1 win and 2–2 draw. At the finals in Brazil, they topped their group against England, Chile and the United States to progress to the final round.For the first, and so far only time in the history of the FIFA World Cup, the winner was decided, not by a single championship match, but via a group format involving the four teams who had won their respective groups in the previous stage. The four teams in the final group were Uruguay, Brazil, Sweden and Spain. Spain failed to record a win (W0 D1 L2) and finished in fourth place. Until 2010, this had been Spain's highest finish in a FIFA World Cup finals, which had given them the name of the "underachievers." Spain's leading scorer during the 1950 World Cup was striker Estanislao Basora, who ended the tournament with five goals.

Under French-Argentine coach Helenio Herrera and Italian assistant coach Daniel Newlan, Spain came out of dormancy to qualify for the first European Championship in 1960. Spain beat Poland 7–2 on aggregate to progress to the quarterfinals. However, Spain forfeited its quarterfinal tie with the Soviet Union because of political disagreements between Spain's dictator Franco and the Soviets.

The Spaniards, led by Alfredo Di Stéfano, qualified for the 1962 World Cup, beating Wales 3–2 over two legs to advance to the UEFA/CAF play-off where they would beat Morocco 4–2 over two legs to advance to the finals.

1982 World Cup in Spain

In 1976, Spain was selected as host of the 1982 FIFA World Cup. This edition of the World Cup featured 24 teams for the first time. Expectations were high for Spain as the host nation under coach José Santamaría. In the group stages, Spain was drawn into Group 5, in which they could only manage a 1–1 draw with Honduras in the finals' opening match, after which they had a 2–1 victory over Yugoslavia, but were defeated 1–0 by Northern Ireland. These results were enough to secure progress to the second round where they were drawn into Group B, but defeat to West Germany and a goalless draw with England meant that Spain were knocked out, and Santamaría was sacked.

1984 to 1988

Former Real Madrid coach Miguel Muñoz, who had temporarily coached Spain in 1969, returned to coach the national team. Spain was in Euro 84 qualifying Group 7, against The Netherlands, Republic of Ireland, Iceland, and Malta. Entering the last match, Spain needed to defeat Malta by at least 11 goals to surpass the Netherlands for the top spot in the group, and after leading 3–1 at half time, Spain scored nine goals in the second half to win by 12–1 and win the group. In the final tournament, Spain was drawn into group B with Romania, Portugal, and West Germany. After 1–1 draws against their first two opponents, Spain topped the group by virtue of a 1–0 victory against West Germany. The semifinals saw Spain and Denmark drawn at 1–1 after extra time, before Spain proceeded by virtue of winning the penalty shootout 5–4 on penalties. Hosts and tournament favourites France defeated Spain 2–0 in the final after a goalless first half.

Spain qualified for the 1986 World Cup in Mexico having topped Group 7 with Scotland, Wales, and Iceland. Spain began the group stage by losing to Brazil 1–0, but progressed after beating Northern Ireland by 2–1 and Algeria by 3–0. Round 2 paired Spain with Denmark, who they overcame 5–1 with Emilio Butragueño scoring four goals, but in the quarterfinals a 1–1 draw with Belgium ended with Belgium winning 5–4 on penalties.

Muñoz was retained as coach for Euro 88. As in the several previous tournaments Spain qualified impressively in a group with Austria, Romania, and Albania. Spain were drawn into group A and began their tournament with a 3–2 victory over Denmark, but were nevertheless knocked out in the group stage after losing 1–0 and 2–0 to Italy and West Germany respectively.

1990 to 1992

For the 1990 World Cup in Italy, Spain had a new coach, Luis Suárez Miramontes. Having qualified from a group consisting of Republic of Ireland, Hungary, Northern Ireland, and Malta, Spain entered the competition on a good run of form, and after reaching the knock out stages through a 0–0 draw with Uruguay and wins over South Korea (3–1) and Belgium (2–1), fell to a 2–1 defeat to Yugoslavia in the second round.

Newly appointed coach Vicente Miera failed to gain qualification for Spain for Euro 92, after finishing third in a group behind France and Czechoslovakia. Vicente Miera did however lead Spain to the gold medal at the 1992 Olympics in Barcelona.

Clemente's reign from 1992 to 1998

Javier Clemente and the Spain team in a training session.

Javier Clemente was appointed as Spain's coach in 1992, and the qualification for the 1994 World Cup was achieved with eight wins and one loss in twelve matches. In the final tournament Spain were in Group C in which they drew with Korea Republic 2–2 and 1–1 with Germany, before qualifying for the second round with a 3–1 victory over Bolivia. Spain continued through the second round with a 3–0 victory over Switzerland, but their tournament ended with a controversial 2–1 defeat to Italy in the quarter-finals.

Spain qualified for Euro 96 from a group consisting of Denmark, Belgium, Cyprus, Republic of Macedonia, and Armenia. In the final tournament Spain faced group matches against Bulgaria, France and Romania. With 1–1 draws against the first two opponents, and a 2–1 win over Romania, Spain confirmed their place in the quarter-finals, with a match with hosts England, which finished goalless and Spain eventually fell 4–2 in the shootout.

In his second World Cup as Spain's coach, Clemente led his team undefeated through their qualifying group in which Yugoslavia and Czech Republic were the other contenders. Spain qualified with fourteen other European sides in the first ever thirty-two team World Cup, but were eliminated in the first round with four points after losing to Nigeria, drawing with Paraguay, and winning just one game, against Bulgaria.

Euro 2000 and World Cup 2002

After a 3–2 opening defeat to Cyprus in Euro 2000 qualifying, Clemente was fired and José Antonio Camacho was appointed as coach. Spain won the rest of their games to qualify for the final tournament, where they were drawn into Group C. A 1–0 defeat to Norway was followed by victories over Slovenia (2–1) and Yugoslavia (4–3), with Spain thus setting up a quarterfinal against 1998 World Cup champions, France, which was won 2–1 by France.

The qualifying tournament for the 2002 World Cup went as expected for Spain as Spain topped a group consisting of Austria, Israel, Bosnia and Herzegovina, and Liechtenstein. In the final tournament Spain won its three matches in group B, against Slovenia, Paraguay (both by 3–1), and South Africa (3–2). Spain beat Republic of Ireland on penalties in the second round, and faced co-hosts Korea Republic in the quarterfinals. Spain twice thought they had scored, but the efforts were disallowed and Korea was successful in the penalty shootout after a 0–0 draw.

Euro 2004

At Euro 2004 in Portugal, Spain was drawn into group A with hosts Portugal, Russia and Greece, behind whom they had finished second in qualifying. Spain defeated Russia 1–0 and drew 1–1 with Greece, but failed to get the draw they needed against Portugal to proceed to the knock out stages. Iñaki Sáez was sacked weeks later and replaced by Luis Aragonés.

UEFA Euro 2008 pre-match ceremonies involving Sweden and Spain.

The start of a golden era, 2006 World Cup and Euro 2008

Spain qualified for the 2006 World Cup only after a play-off against Slovakia, as they had finished behind Serbia and Montenegro in Group 7, which also included Bosnia and Herzegovina, Belgium, Lithuania, and San Marino. In Group H of the German hosted finals, Spain won all their matches, and beat Ukraine 4–0, Tunisia 3–1 and Saudi Arabia 1–0. However Spain fell 3–1 in the second round to France, with only the consolation of a share, with Brazil, of the 2006 FIFA Fair Play Award.

Spanish players celebrating their Euro 08 victory in Madrid.

After being eliminated from the competition, Luis Aragonés came to the decision that the team was not physical or tough enough to be able to out-muscle opponents, they therefore opted to start concentrating on monopolising the ball and thus started to employ the tiki-taka - a style characterised by short passing and movement, working the ball through various channels, and maintaining possession. Raphael Honigstein describes it as "a significant upgrade of the Dutch "total football", a system that relied on players changing positions." The tiki-taka style of play originates with Johan Cruyff's tenure as manager of Barcelona from 1988 to 1996.

Spain qualified for Euro 2008 at the top of Qualifying Group F with 28 points out of a possible 36, and were seeded 12th for the finals. They won all their games in Group D: 4–1 against Russia, and 2–1 against both Sweden and defending champions Greece.

Casillas (C) Ramos Puyol Marchena Capdevila Fabregas Senna Xavi Iniesta Silva Torres

UEFA Euro 2008 Final starting lineup on June 29, 2008, in Vienna (Ernst Happel Stadion).

Reigning World Cup holders Italy were the opponents in the quarter final match, and held Spain to a finished 0–0 draw resulting in a penalty shoot-out which Spain won 4–2. Spain met Russia again in the semi-final, again beating them, this time by 3-0.

In the final, played in Vienna's Ernst-Happel-Stadion, Spain defeated Germany 1–0, with a goal scored by Fernando Torres in the 33rd minute. This was Spain's first major title since the 1964 European Championship. Spain were the top scoring team, with 12 goals, and David Villa finished as the top scorer with four goals; Xavi was awarded the player of the tournament, and nine Spanish players were picked for the UEFA Euro 2008 Team of the Tournament.

Confederations Cup debut and 2010 World Cup qualification

Spain defeated Austria by a score of 5–1 in November 2009 in Ernst-Happel-Stadion, Vienna

Luis Aragonés left the manager's role after the Euro 2008 success, and was replaced by Vicente del Bosque.

2008 saw David Villa score 16 goals in 15 games, breaking the Spanish record of 10 goals in one year held by Raúl since 1999. On 11 February 2009, David Villa broke another Spanish record as his 36th-minute goal against England saw him become the first Spanish player to score in six consecutive games. By the start of the tournament, Del Bosque's had ten consecutive wins, making him the first international manager to do so from his debut, breaking Joao Saldanha's record, held since 1969, of nine consecutive wins with Brazil.

Spain won all three of its matches at the group stage, the 5–0 win over New Zealand including a Fernando Torres hat-trick that is the earliest and fastest hat-trick in the tournament's history. With further wins over Iraq (1–0) and South Africa (2–0) they earned not only qualification for the semifinals, but also obtained the world record for 15 consecutive wins and tied the record of 35 consecutive unbeaten games (with Brazil).

On 24 June 2009, Spain's undefeated record ended when the United States beat Spain 2–0 in the 2009 FIFA Confederations Cup semi-finals which sent Spain to the third place match. This was Spain's first defeat since 2006. Spain defeated hosts South Africa 3–2 after extra time in the 3rd-place playoff.

On 9 September 2009, Spain secured its place at the 2010 World Cup finals after beating Estonia 3–0 in Mérida. Spain went on to record a perfect World Cup qualifying record with 10 wins out of 10 in Group 5, finishing with a 5–2 victory over Bosnia and Herzegovina on 14 October 2009. The Spanish team entered the 2010 World Cup ranked number 2 on the FIFA rankings and as clear favorites to win the tournament.

2010 FIFA World Cup Winners

Casillas (C) Ramos Puyol Piqué Capdevila Xavi Busquets Alonso Pedro Iniesta Villa

2010 FIFA World Cup Final starting lineup on July 11, 2010, in Johannesburg (Soccer City).

World Cup champions parade, celebrate as they pass in front of the Air Force Headquarters in Madrid.

See Also: 2010 FIFA World Cup, 2010 FIFA World Cup Group H and 2010 FIFA World Cup Final

The 2010 World Cup draw, which took place on 4 December 2009, placed Spain in Group H, alongside Switzerland, Honduras, and Chile. Spain lost its first group stage match against Switzerland, 0–1. In their second match they defeated Honduras by 2 goals from David Villa. Their next match against Chile on 25 June was won 2–1. They advanced to the knock-out stage to defeat Portugal 1–0, reaching the quarter-finals, in which they defeated Paraguay 1-0, scoring off of a goal by David Villa who put the ball in the back of the net after struck the ball off the post, reaching the last four for the first time since 1950. They then advanced to the final for the first time ever by defeating the favoured Germany 1-0 via a headed goal from Carles Puyol.

Spain take a corner against Portugal in a Round of 16 match in the 2010 FIFA World Cup.

In the final four minutes of extra time during the World Cup final against the Netherlands, Andrés Iniesta scored a single goal from a pass given by Cesc Fàbregas, winning the World Cup for Spain for the first time in their history. In this physical match, Spain received 5 yellow cards, while "Oranje" received 9, as well as 1 red card, the highest total of cards for a World Cup final in history. Spain won the World Cup by only scoring 8 goals and conceding 2, which is the lowest by any World Cup winner in both cases. Also, they are the only team not to have conceded a goal in the last four games of the tournament. Spain are the only team that has won the World Cup title after losing its opening game. Spain are only the second team to win a World Cup outside their own continent, following Brazil's wins in Sweden and Korea-Japan, which also makes Spain the first European team to win the World Cup outside of Europe.

The 2010 FIFA World Cup squad won the FIFA fair play award while some of its players also won awards. Goalkeeper Iker Casillas won the golden glove for only conceding two goals during the tournament. David Villa won the bronze ball and silver boot, tied for top scorer of the tournament with a total of 5 goals and 1 assist.

Euro 2012

Spain were placed in Group I for UEFA Euro 2012 qualifying tournament, the finals of which are to be hosted jointly by Poland and Ukraine. A 6-0 victory over Liechtenstein on 6 September 2011 assured Spain a spot at the tournament. After their 3-1 victory over Scotland they completed their second consecutve qualifying campaign with a 100% winning record. As they won the previous tournament in 2008, they will be seeded in Pot 1 for the main draw. On December 2 the draw was held, Spain were placed in Group C along with rivals Italy and contenders Croatia and Republic of Ireland.

Colours

Spain's traditional kit is a red jersey with yellow trim, accompanied by dark blue shorts and socks while their traditional away kit is fully white with a red and yellow trim. The colour of the socks altered throughout the 1990s from black to the same colour as the blue shorts. Spain's kits have been produced by manufacturers including Adidas (from 1982 until 1984), Le Coq Sportif (from 1984 until 1992) and Adidas once again (since 1992).

Their current home kit designed by a team led by Daniel Newlan at Adidas, is a lighter red than usual along with light blue shorts and red socks, similar to the older 2006 kit. A third kit is sometimes used and is usually blue with red and yellow trim. Rather than displaying the logo of the Spanish football federation, Spain's jersey traditionally features the coat of arms of Spain over the left breast. After winning the 2010 FIFA World Cup, the World Cup winners badge was added to the right breast of the jersey and a golden star at the top of the Spanish coat of arms.

Players

Current squad

Match Date: 29 February 2012
Opposition: Venezuela
Caps and goals correct as of: 29 February 2012

0#0 Pos. Player Date of Birth (Age) Caps Goals Club 1 GK Iker Casillas (captain) 20 May 1981 (1981-05-20) 128 0 Real Madrid 12 GK Víctor Valdés 14 January 1982 (1982-01-14) 7 0 Barcelona 23 GK Pepe Reina 31 August 1982 (1982-08-31) 24 0 Liverpool 2 DF Andoni Iraola 22 June 1982 (1982-06-22) 7 0 Athletic Bilbao 3 DF Gerard Piqué 2 February 1987 (1987-02-02) 38 4 Barcelona 5 DF Carles Puyol 13 April 1978 (1978-04-13) 99 3 Barcelona 15 DF Sergio Ramos 30 March 1986 (1986-03-30) 83 6 Real Madrid 17 DF Álvaro Arbeloa 17 January 1983 (1983-01-17) 33 0 Real Madrid 24 DF Jordi Alba 21 March 1989 (1989-03-21) 3 0 Valencia 4 MF Thiago Alcântara 11 April 1991 (1991-04-11) 3 0 Barcelona 6 MF Andrés Iniesta 11 May 1984 (1984-05-11) 64 11 Barcelona 7 MF Iker Muniain 19 December 1992 (1992-12-19) 1 0 Athletic Bilbao 8 MF Xavi Hernández 25 January 1980 (1980-01-25) 108 10 Barcelona 10 MF Cesc Fàbregas 4 May 1987 (1987-05-04) 63 8 Barcelona 13 MF Juan Mata 28 April 1988 (1988-04-28) 16 5 Chelsea 14 MF Xabi Alonso 25 November 1981 (1981-11-25) 93 12 Real Madrid 16 MF Sergio Busquets 16 July 1988 (1988-07-16) 38 0 Barcelona 18 MF Javi Martínez 2 September 1988 (1988-09-02) 7 0 Athletic Bilbao 20 MF Santi Cazorla 13 December 1984 (1984-12-13) 40 4 Málaga 21 MF David Silva 8 January 1986 (1986-01-08) 55 15 Manchester City 22 MF Jesús Navas 21 November 1985 (1985-11-21) 15 1 Sevilla 9 FW Roberto Soldado 27 May 1985 (1985-05-27) 3 3 Valencia 19 FW Fernando Llorente 26 February 1985 (1985-02-26) 20 7 Athletic Bilbao

Recent callups

The following players have been called up for the team in the last twelve months.

Pos. Player Date of Birth (Age) Caps Goals Club Latest Call-up DF Raul Albiol 4 September 1985 (1985-09-04) 31 0 Real Madrid v. Costa Rica, November 15, 2011 DF Nacho Monreal 26 February 1986 (1986-02-26) 5 0 Málaga v. Costa Rica, November 15, 2011 DF Martín Montoya 14 April 1991 (1991-04-14) 0 0 Barcelona B v. Liechtenstein, September 6, 2011 DF Alberto Botía 27 January 1989 (1989-01-27) 0 0 Sporting de Gijón v. Liechtenstein, September 6, 2011 DF Álvaro Domínguez 15 May 1989 (1989-05-15) 0 0 Atlético Madrid v. Liechtenstein, September 6, 2011 DF Carlos Marchena 31 July 1979 (1979-07-31) 69 2 Villarreal v. Venezuela, June 7, 2011 DF Joan Capdevila 3 February 1978 (1978-02-03) 60 4 Benfica v. Venezuela, June 7, 2011 MF Bruno Soriano 12 June 1984 (1984-06-12) 2 0 Villarreal v. Venezuela, June 7, 2011 MF Borja Valero 12 January 1985 (1985-01-12) 1 0 Villarreal v. Venezuela, June 7, 2011 FW Álvaro Negredo 20 August 1985 (1985-08-20) 7 5 Sevilla v. Venezuela, February 29, 2012INJ FW Fernando Torres 20 March 1984 (1984-03-20) 91 27 Chelsea v. Costa Rica, November 15, 2011 FW David Villa 3 December 1981 (1981-12-03) 82 51 Barcelona v. Costa Rica, November 15, 2011 FW Pedro Rodríguez 28 July 1987 (1987-07-28) 15 2 Barcelona v. Scotland, October 11, 2011 FW Manu del Moral 25 February 1984 (1984-02-25) 1 0 Sevilla v. Venezuela, June 7, 2011

Previous squads

FIFA World Cup squads

• 2010 FIFA World Cup squad
• 2006 FIFA World Cup squad
• 2002 FIFA World Cup squad
• 1998 FIFA World Cup squad
• 1994 FIFA World Cup squad
• 1990 FIFA World Cup squad
• 1986 FIFA World Cup squad
• 1982 FIFA World Cup squad
• 1978 FIFA World Cup squad
• 1966 FIFA World Cup squad
• 1962 FIFA World Cup squad
• 1950 FIFA World Cup squad
• 1934 FIFA World Cup squad

UEFA European Football Championship squads

• UEFA Euro 2008 squad
• UEFA Euro 2004 squad
• UEFA Euro 2000 squad
• UEFA Euro 1996 squad
• UEFA Euro 1988 squad
• UEFA Euro 1984 squad
• UEFA Euro 1980 squad
• UEFA Euro 1964 squad

FIFA Confederations Cup squads

• 2009 FIFA Confederations Cup squad

Competitive record

Head to head

Main article: Spain national football team head to head

All time results

Main article: Spain national football team results

FIFA World Cup

Host nation(s) / Year	Round	Position	GP	W	D*	L	GS	GA
1930	Did Not Enter: Declined to participate
1934	Quarter-final	5	3	1	1	1	4	3
1938	Withdrew: Due to Civil War
1950	Fourth Place	4	6	3	1	2	10	12
1954	Did not qualify
1958
1962	Group Stage	12	3	1	0	2	2	3
1966	Group Stage	10	3	1	0	2	4	5
1970	Did not qualify
1974
1978	Group Stage	10	3	1	1	1	2	2
1982	Round 2	12	5	1	2	2	4	5
1986	Quarter-final	8	5	3	1	1	11	4
1990	Round of 16	14	4	2	1	1	6	4
1994	Quarter-final	6	5	2	2	1	10	6
1998	Group Stage	17	3	1	1	1	8	4
2002	Quarter-final	5	5	3	2	0	10	5
2006	Round of 16	9	4	3	0	1	9	4
2010	Champions	1	7	6	0	1	8	2
2014	To Be Determined
2018
2022
Total	14/19	1 title	56	28	12	16	88	59

*Denotes draws include knockout matches decided on penalty kicks.

**Gold background colour indicates that the tournament was won.

***Red border color indicates tournament was held on home soil.

European Championship

Year	Round	Position	GP	W	D*	L	GS	GA
1960	Withdrew: Spain decided not to play the Soviet Union
1964	Champions	1st	2	2	0	0	4	2
1968	Did Not Qualify
1972
1976
1980	Group Stage	7th	3	0	1	2	2	4
1984	Runners-up	2nd	5	1	3	1	4	5
1988	Group Stage	6th	3	1	0	2	3	5
1992	Did Not Qualify
1996	Quarter Final	6th	4	1	3	0	4	3
2000	Quarter Final	5th	4	2	0	2	7	7
2004	Group Stage	10th	3	1	1	1	2	2
2008	Champions	1st	6	5	1	0	12	3
2012	Qualified
2016	To Be Determined
Total	2 Titles	9/14	30	13	9	8	38	31

Olympic Games

Host nation(s) / Year	Result	GP	W	D*	L	GS	GA
1896	Spain national team did not exits
1908
1912
1920	Runners-up	5	4	0	1	9	5
1924	Round 1	1	0	0	1	0	1
1928	Quarter-final	3	1	1	1	9	9
1932	No football tournament was held
1936	Withdrew: Due to Civil War
1948	Did not qualify
1952
1956
1960
1964
1968	Quarter-final	4	2	1	1	4	2
1972	Did not qualify
1976	Group stage	2	0	0	2	1	3
1980	Group stage	3	0	3	0	2	2
1984	Did not qualify
1988
1992	Champions	6	6	0	0	14	2
1996	Quarter-final	4	2	1	1	5	7
2000	Runners-up	6	4	1	1	12	6
2004	Did not qualify
2008
2012	Qualified	-	-	-	-	-	-
Total	10/27	34	19	6	9	56	37

*Denotes draws including knockout matches decided on penalty kicks.

**Since 1968, Spain has sent its under 23 national team.

FIFA Confederations Cup

Year	Round	Position	GP	W	D*	L	GS	GA	Squad
1992	Did Not Qualify
1995
1997
1999
2001
2003	Did Not Enter: As 2nd in the FIFA World Rankings at the time
2005	Did Not Qualify
2009	Third Place	3rd	5	4	0	1	11	4	Squad
2013	Qualified	--	--	--	--	--	--	--	--
2017	To Be Determined
2021
Total	Third Place	2/9	5	4	0	1	11	4	-

FIFA Confederations Cup History
Year	Round	Score	Result
2009	Group Stage	Spain 5–0 New Zealand	Win
	Group Stage	Spain 1–0 Iraq	Win
	Group Stage	Spain 2–0 South Africa	Win
	Semi-finals	Spain 0–2 United States	Loss
	Third Place	Spain 3–2 South Africa	Win
2013	Group Stage	Spain - TBD	TBD
	Group Stage	Spain - TBD	TBD
	Group Stage	Spain - TBD	TBD

Schedule

Spain 2012 Record

Wins	Losses	Draws	GF	GA
1	0	0	5	0

Date	Competition	Venue	Home Team	Result	Away Team	Scorers
Results
29 February 2012	International Friendly	Málaga, Spain	Spain	5 – 0	Venezuela	Iniesta  37', Silva  42', Soldado  50', 52', 83'
Forthcoming Fixtures
26 May 2012	International Friendly	St.Gallen, Switzerland	Serbia	–	Spain
3 June 2012	International Friendly	Sevilla, Spain	Spain	–	China PR
10 June 2012	UEFA Euro 2012	Gdańsk, Poland	Spain	–	Italy
14 June 2012	UEFA Euro 2012	Gdańsk, Poland	Spain	–	Republic of Ireland
18 June 2012	UEFA Euro 2012	Gdańsk, Poland	Croatia	–	Spain
15 August 2012	International Friendly	Bayamón, Puerto Rico	Puerto Rico	–	Spain
11 September 2012	2014 W.C.Q	Tbilisi, Georgia	Georgia	–	Spain
12 October 2012	2014 W.C.Q	Minsk, Belarus	Belarus	–	Spain
16 October 2012	2014 W.C.Q	Madrid, Spain	Spain	–	France
22 March 2013	2014 W.C.Q	?, Spain	Spain	–	Finland
26 March 2013	2014 W.C.Q	Paris, France	France	–	Spain
June 2013	2013 FIFA Confederations Cup	TBD, Brazil	Spain	–	TBD
June 2013	2013 FIFA Confederations Cup	TBD, Brazil	TBD	–	Spain
June 2013	2013 FIFA Confederations Cup	TBD, Brazil	Spain	–	TBD
6 September 2013	2014 W.C.Q	Helsinki, Finland	Finland	–	Spain
11 October 2013	2014 W.C.Q	?, Spain	Spain	–	Belarus
15 October 2013	2014 W.C.Q	?, Spain	Spain	–	Georgia

• 1.^ The draw for the competition will be held in São Paulo, Brazil on 24 November 2012.

Honours

This is a list of honours for the senior Spanish national team

FIFA World Cup

• Winners (1): 2010
• Fourth place (1): 1950

UEFA European Championship

• Winner (2): 1964, 2008
• Runner-up (1): 1984

FIFA Confederations Cup

• Third place (1): 2009

Olympic football tournament

• Gold Medal (1): 1992
• Silver Medal (2): 1920, 2000

Other Awards

• FIFA Fair Play Trophy Winners

• Winner (2): 2006, 2010

• FIFA Team of the Year

• Winner (4): 2008, 2009, 2010, 2011

• Prince of Asturias Award for Sports

• Winner (1): 2010

• Laureus World Team of the Year

• Winner (1): 2011

Records

Worldwide

Most consecutive wins

15 (2008–2009)

Most consecutive games undefeated

35 (2007–2009) (shared with Brazil between 1993–1996)

Most consecutive wins achieved by an international coach from debut

13 – Vicente del Bosque

Most shootouts in one World Cup by one team

2 at the 2002 FIFA World Cup (shared with Argentina at the 1990 FIFA World Cup)

World record amount of points in World Cup qualification

30 out of 30 points (2008–2009)

Nationwide

Most international goals

51 - David Villa

Most international caps

127 – Iker Casillas

Most goals scored in one season

13 – David Villa (2008–2009)

Most consecutive games ended with at least one goal

6 – David Villa

Top scorer in World Cup finals

8 – David Villa

Most goals scored in one World Cup

5 – Emilio Butragueño (1986) & David Villa (2010)

Most goals scored in consecutive matches at World Cup

4 – David Villa (2010)

35-match undefeated streak (2007-2009)

Opponent	Type	Date	Result
England	Friendly match	2007-02-07	1–0
Denmark	2008 Euro Q	2007-03-24	2–1
Iceland	2008 Euro Q	2007-03-28	1–0
Latvia	2008 Euro Q	2007-06-02	2–0
Liechtenstein	2008 Euro Q	2007-06-06	2–0
Greece	Friendly match	2007-08-22	3–2
Iceland	2008 Euro Q	2007-09-08	1–1
Latvia	2008 Euro Q	2007-09-12	2–0
Denmark	2008 Euro Q	2007-10-13	3–1
Finland	Friendly match	2007-10-17	0-0
Sweden	2008 Euro Q	2007-11-17	3-0
Northern Ireland	2008 Euro Q	2007-11-21	1-0
France	Friendly match	2008-02-06	1-0
Italy	Friendly match	2008-03-26	1–0
Peru	Friendly match	2008-05-31	2–1
United States	Friendly match	2008-06-04	1-0
Russia	2008 Euro Cup GS	2008-06-10	4–1
Sweden	2008 Euro Cup GS	2008-06-14	2–1
Greece	2008 Euro Cup GS	2008-06-18	2-1
Italy	2008 Euro Cup QF	2008-06-22	0-0
Russia	2008 Euro Cup SF	2008-06-26	3-0
Germany	2008 Euro Cup F	2008-06-29	1-0
Denmark	Friendly match	2008-08-20	3-0
Bosnia and Herzegovina	2010 W.C. Q	2008-09-06	1-0
Armenia	2010 W.C. Q	2008-09-10	4–0
Estonia	2010 W.C. Q	2008-10-11	3–0
Belgium	2010 W.C. Q	2008-10-15	2–1
Chile	Friendly match	2008-11-19	3-0
England	Friendly match	2009-02-11	2-0
Turkey	2010 W.C. Q	2009-03-28	1-0
Turkey	2010 W.C. Q	2009-04-01	2-1
Azerbaijan	Friendly match	2009-06-09	6-0
New Zealand	2009 C.C. GS	2009-06-14	5-0
Iraq	2009 C.C. GS	2009-06-17	1-0
South Africa	2009 C.C. GS	2009-06-20	2-0

• Spain (7 Feb 2007 - 24 Jun 2009) shares with Brazil (16 Dec 1993 - 21 Jan 1996) the unbeaten record of 35 games. Brazil's loss at the 1996 CONCACAF Gold Cup was by the under-23 (Olympic) team, but is officially counted as a loss of the national team. Otherwise the Brazil national team wouldn't lose until 30 May 1997 (2:4 vs Norway), thus extending it to 45 games.
• Curiously both Brazil and Spain lost their undefeated streak to members of the CONCACAF region. Brazil losing it to Mexico, and Spain losing it to the United States.

Top goalscorers

David Villa is Spain all-time leading scorer with a tally of 51 goals. More than any other in the national teams history

As of 29 February 2012, the ten highest scorers for Spain are:

#	Player	Career	Goals (Caps)	Avg/game
1	David Villa	2005–	51 0(82)	0.621
2	Raúl González	1996–2006	44 0(102)	0.431
3	Fernando Hierro	1989–2002	29 0(89)	0.326
4	Fernando Morientes	1998–2007	27 0(47)	0.574
	Fernando Torres	2003–	27 0(91)	0.300
6	Emilio Butragueño	1984–1992	26 0(69)	0.377
7	Alfredo Di Stéfano	1957–1961	23 0(31)	0.742
	Julio Salinas	1986–1996	23 0(56)	0.411
9	Míchel	1985–1992	21 0(66)	0.318
10	Telmo Zarra	1945–1951	20 0(20)	1.000

• Bold denotes players still playing international football.

Most capped Spain players

Main article: List of Spain international footballers

Iker Casillas is the most cap player in the history of the national team, with a record of 128

As of 29 February 2012 the ten players with the most caps for Spain are:

#	Name	Career	Caps	Goals
1	Iker Casillas	2000–	128	0
2	Andoni Zubizarreta	1985–1998	126	0
3	Xavi Hernández	2000–	108	10
4	Raúl González	1996–2006	102	44
5	Carles Puyol	2000–	99	3
6	Xabi Alonso	2003–	93	12
7	Fernando Torres	2003–	91	27
8	Fernando Hierro	1989–2002	89	29
9	Sergio Ramos	2005–	83	6
10	David Villa	2005–	82	51

• Bold denotes players still playing international football.

Best results

Scores from 13-0 to 6-0

Spain best results
	Date	Match	Round	Result	Difference
1	May 21, 1933	Spain – Bulgaria	Friendly	13 – 0	+13
2	December 21, 1983	Spain – Malta	1984 EURO qualification	12 – 1	+11
3	March 11, 1934	Spain – Portugal	1934 World Cup qualification	9 – 0	+9
	December 19, 1990	Spain – Albania	1992 EURO qualification
	March 27, 1999	Spain – Austria	2000 EURO qualification
	June 5, 1999	Spain – San Marino	2000 EURO qualification
4	September 8, 1999	Spain – Cyprus	2000 EURO qualification	8 – 0	+8
5	April 14, 1929	Spain – France	Friendly	8 – 1	+7
	November 24, 1971	Spain – Cyprus	1972 EURO qualification	7 – 0
6	May 30, 1928	Spain – Mexico	1928 S.O. 1/8	7 – 1	+6
	June 1, 1952	Spain – Republic of Ireland	Friendly	6 – 0
	November 1, 1952	Spain – Romania	1964 European Nations' Cup Q	6 – 0
	October 15, 1969	Spain – Finland	1970 FIFA World Cup qualification Q	6 – 0
	September 6, 1995	Spain – Cyprus	UEFA Euro 1996 qualifying Q	6 – 0
	March 31, 1999	Spain – San Marino	UEFA Euro 2000 qualifying Q	6 – 0
	October 12, 2005	Spain – San Marino	2006 FIFA World Cup qualification – UEFA Group 7 Q	6 – 0
	June 9, 2009	Spain – Azerbaijan	Friendly	6 – 0
	June 8, 2010	Spain – Poland	Friendly	6 – 0
	September 6, 2011	Spain – Liechtenstein	UEFA Euro 2012 qualifying Group I	6 – 0

Worst results

All results as if Spain were the venue

Spain worst results
	Date	Match	Round	Venue	Result	Difference
1	June 4, 1928	Spain – Italy	1928 S. Olympics Quarter-Final replay	A	1 – 7	–6
	December 9, 1931	Spain – England	Friendly	A
2	July 13, 1950	Spain – Brazil	1950 FIFA World Cup Round 2	A	1 – 6	−5
3	June 13, 1963	Spain – Scotland	Friendly	H	2 – 6	–4
	April 19, 1942	Spain – Italy	Friendly	A	0 – 4
	November 17, 2010	Spain – Portugal	Friendly	A
4	January 26, 1947	Spain – Portugal	Friendly	A	1 – 4	–3
	November 30, 1955	Spain – England	Friendly	A
	August 16, 2000	Spain – Germany	Friendly	A
	September 7, 2010	Spain – Argentina	Friendly	A
5	February 28, 2001	Spain – England	Friendly	A	0 – 3
	April 15, 1981	Spain – Hungary	Friendly	H
	April 30, 1985	Spain – Wales	1986 World Cup qualification	A
	October 30, 1960	Spain – Austria	Friendly	A

FIFA World Ranking History

YR|M	January	February	March	April	May	June	July	August	September	October	November	December
1993	--	--	--	--	--	--	--	13º (50)	14º (52)	7º (55)	7º (57)	5º (57)
1994	--	6º (56)	6º (55)	7º (55)	9º (54)	5º (55)	6º (59)	--	6º (59)	6º (59)	5º (60)	2º (61)
1995	--	2º (61)	--	3º (61)	3º (61)	3º (60)	3º (58)	3º (58)	6º (59)	2º (60)	3º (61)	4º (59)
1996	4º (59)	4º (60)	--	6º (58)	6º (57)	--	8º (59)	7º (58)	10º (57)	10º (57)	8º (59)	8º (60)
1997	--	7º (60)	--	4º (61)	5º (61)	3º (62)	2º (63)	2º (63)	6º (61)	2º (65)	3º (62)	11º (59)
1998	--	23º (55)	25º (55)	9º (57)	15º (56)	--	14º (60)	14º (59)	14º (58)	16º (58)	15º (58)	15º (58)
1999	9º (703)	9º (706)	9º (704)	8º (720)	8º (724)	6º (732)	8º (714)	7º (713)	4º (757)	4º (767)	4º (758)	4º (753)
2000	4º (753)	4º (751)	4º (747)	4º (743)	4º (736)	4º (728)	4º (744)	5º (743)	5º (740)	5º (745)	6º (742)	7º (735)
2001	7º (734)	7º (732)	7º (727)	7º (725)	6º (724)	6º (733)	6º (715)	8º (716)	6º (730)	6º (730)	7º (731)	7º (730)
2002	7º (730)	7º (727)	7º (728)	8º (715)	8º (713)	--	4º (774)	3º (775)	3º (774)	3º (779)	3º (779)	3º (779)
2003	3º (780)	3º (783)	2º (780)	2º (785)	2º (784)	3º (762)	3º (755)	3º (748)	3º (767)	3º (777)	3º (785)	3º (798)
2004	3º (798)	3º (795)	3º (791)	3º (790)	3º (784)	3º (785)	3º (792)	3º (790)	3º (788)	4º (774)	4º (755)	5º (765)
2005	5º (764)	5º (764)	5º (759)	7º (755)	8º (752)	9º (747)	8º (744)	8º (739)	8º (750)	8º (764)	6º (771)	5º (768)
2006	5º (768)	6º (765)	6º (763)	5º (759)	5º (756)	--	7º (1.309)	7º (1.309)	10º (1.255)	10º (1.198)	12º (1.154)	12º (1.154)
2007	12º (1.154)	10º (1.161)	10º (1.161)	9º (1.237)	9º (1.238)	7º (1.273)	9º (1.144)	8º (1.165)	7º (1.178)	6º (1.226)	4º (1.349)	4º (1.349)
2008	4º (1.349)	4º (1.352)	4º (1.355)	4º (1.319)	4º (1.323)	4º (1.353)	1º (1.557)	1º (1.557)	1º (1.565)	1º (1.643)	1º (1.657)	1º (1.663)
2009	1º (1.663)	1º (1.693)	1º (1.666)	1º (1.729)	1º (1.729)	1º (1.761)	2º (1.590)	2º (1.590)	2º (1.588)	2º (1.629)	1º (1.622)	1º (1.627)
2010	1º (1.627)	1º (1.642)	1º (1.602)	2º (1.565)	2º (1.565)	--	1º (1.883)	1º (1.883)	1º (1.824)	1º (1.881)	1º (1.920)	1º (1.887)
2011	1º (1.887)	1º (1.887)	1º (1.880)	1º (1.857)	1º (1.857)	1º (1.871)	1º (1.855)	2º (1.563)	1º (1.605)	1º (1.624)	1º (1.564)	1º (1.564)
2012	1º (1.564)	1º (1.566)	1º (1.561)	--	--	--	--	--	--	--	--	--

Home stadium

Main article: Spain national football team results#Venues in Spain

Spain does not have a national stadium as such, though major qualifying matches are usually played at the Estadio Santiago Bernabéu in Madrid. Other large grounds used include the Estadio Vicente Calderón, also in Madrid, and the Mestalla in Valencia. Spain are unbeaten in competitive matches played at the Calderón. Some international friendlies are played in these larger stadia, as well as the Estadio Ramón Sánchez Pizjuán in Seville, which staged the 2009 friendly against England after the visitors refused to play in Madrid following racist abuse of their black and mixed-race players and their national anthem at the Bernabéu in a 2004 friendly.

Other friendly matches, as well as qualifying fixtures against less glamorous opponents are played in provincial stadia. Ground recently used include the Riazor in La Coruña, the Estadio Nueva Condomina in Murcia, the Estadio Carlos Belmonte in Albacete and the Estadio Romano in Mérida. Occasionally, matches are played off mainland Spain; their final UEFA Euro 2008 qualifying match against Northern Ireland was played at the Estadio Gran Canaria in Las Palmas, on the Canary Islands.

In their final Euro 2012 qualifier against Scotland, Alicante staged their first Spain International for 20 years.

Kits

• UEFA Euro 2012

Home kit	Away kit

Home kit (Goalkeeper)

Away kit (Goalkeeper)

• UEFA Euro 2012 Qualification

Home

Away

• 2010 FIFA World Cup

Home

Away

• 2009 FIFA Confederations Cup

Home

Away

• UEFA Euro 2008

Home

Away

• 2006 FIFA World Cup

Home

Away

Managers

See also: List of Spain national football team managers

Francisco Bru (1920) Julián Ruete (1921–1922) Pedro Parages (1923–1924) Fernando Gutiérrez Alzaga (1925) Ricardo Cabot Montalt (1925) Ezequiel Montero Román (1926–1927) Fred Pentland (1929)

José María Mateos (1929–1933) Amadeo García Salazar (1934–1936) Eduardo Teus López (1941–1942) Jacinto Quincoces (1945) Paulino Alcántara (1951) Ricardo Zamora (1952) Pedro Escartín Morán (1952–1961)

Helenio Herrera (1959–1962) José Villalonga (1962–1966) Domingo Balmanya (1966–1968) Luis Molowny (1969) Miguel Muñoz (1969), (1982–1988) Ladislao Kubala (1969–1980) José Santamaría (1980–1982)

Luis Suárez (1988–1991) Vicente Miera (1991–1992) Javier Clemente (1992–1998) José Antonio Camacho (1998–2002) Iñaki Sáez (2002–2004) Luis Aragonés (2004–2008) Vicente del Bosque (2008– )

Songs for competitions

Some Spanish groups or singers have made songs to encourage the national football team for a competition, usually for World Cups:

Series	Anthem / Song	Performer(s)	Writer(s) / Producer(s)
1998 FIFA World Cup	"Quiero Estar Contigo"	Carlos Domenech & Spanish team	Rosana Arbelo
2002 FIFA World Cup	"Vivimos La Selección"	Operación Triunfo	Kike Santander
UEFA Euro 2004	"Sírvame Una Copita"	Café Quijano	Warner Music
2006 FIFA World Cup	"Listos Para Ganar"	Indras	Vale Music
2010 FIFA World Cup	"Looking For Paradise"	Alejandro Sanz	Alejandro Sanz ft. Alicia Keys

See also

• Spain national under-23 football team
• Spain national under-21 football team
• Spain national under-20 football team
• Spain national under-19 football team
• Spain national under-18 football team
• Spain national under-17 football team
• Spain national under-16 football team
• Spain national youth football team
• Manolo el del bombo
• Tiki-taka

References

External links

• RFEF site
• RFEF on Facebook
• RFEF on Twitter
• Information about the Spain national football team
• RSSSF archive of results since 1920

Titles

Preceded by 1960 Soviet Union	European Champions 1964 (First title)	Succeeded by 1968 Italy
Preceded by 2004 Greece	European Champions 2008 (Second title)	Incumbent
Preceded by 2006 Italy	World Champions 2010 (First title)	Incumbent
Awards
Preceded by Argentina	FIFA Team of the Year 2008-2011	Succeeded by Incumbent
Preceded by Yelena Isinbayeva	Prince of Asturias Award for Sports 2010	Succeeded by Haile Gebrselassie
Preceded by Brawn F1 Team	Laureus World Team of the Year 2011	Succeeded by FC Barcelona