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Spain national football team

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

Spain
Shirt badge/Association crest
Nickname(s)
  • La Furia Roja (The Red Fury)[1][2]
  • La Furia (The Fury)
  • La Furia Española (The Spanish Fury)
  • La Roja (The Red [One])
AssociationReal Federación Española de Fútbol (RFEF)
ConfederationUEFA (Europe)
Head coachVicente del Bosque
CaptainIker Casillas
Most capsIker Casillas (151)
Top scorerDavid Villa (56)
FIFA codeESP
First colours
Second colours
FIFA ranking
Current1
Highest1 (July 2008 – June 2009, October 2009 – March 2010, July 2010 – July 2011, October 2011 – present)
Lowest25 (March 1998)
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
Appearances13 (first in 1934)
Best resultWinners, 2010
European Championship
Appearances9 (first in 1964)
Best resultWinners, 1964, 2008, 2012
Summer Olympics
Appearances10 (first in 1920)
Best resultWinners, 1992
FIFA Confederations Cup
Appearances2 (first in 2009)
Best resultRunners-Up, 2013
Medal record
Olympic medal record
Men's Football
Silver medal – second place 1920 Antwerp Team
Gold medal – first place 1992 Barcelona Team[3]
Silver medal – second place 2000 Sydney Team[3]

The Spain national football team (Spanish: Selección de fútbol de España)[a] 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] Error: {{Lang}}: text has italic markup (help) ("The Red [One]"), [La Furia Roja] Error: {{Lang}}: text has italic markup (help) ("The Red Fury"), [La Furia Española] Error: {{Lang}}: text has italic markup (help) ("The Spanish Fury") or simply [La Furia] Error: {{Lang}}: text has italic markup (help) ("The Fury").[4][5] Spain became a member of FIFA in 1904 even though the Spanish Football Federation was first established in 1909. Spain's national team debuted in 1920. Since then the Spanish national team have participated in a total of thirteen of nineteen FIFA World Cup and nine of fourteen European Championships. It has a total of 73 international titles in senior and youth teams.

Spain are the reigning World and European champions, having won the 2010 World Cup and Euro 2012. The national team are currently ranked number 2 in the World Football Elo Ratings[6] and 1 in the FIFA World Ranking. They also won Euro 2008, making them the only national team so far with three consecutive wins of either the applicable continental championship or the World Cup. Spain currently holds the record for the most consecutive competitive matches unbeaten with 29. A feat that went from the 2010 FIFA World Cup to the 2013 FIFA Confederations Cup These achievements have led many commentators, experts and former players to consider the current Spanish side among the best ever international sides in world football.[7][8][9][10][11]

Between November 2006 and June 2009 Spain went undefeated for a record-equaling 35 consecutive matches before their loss to the United States in the Confederations Cup, a record shared with Brazil, and included a record 15-game winning streak. In the 2010 FIFA World Cup, Spain became the first European national team to lift the World Cup trophy outside of Europe; along with Argentina and Brazil, Spain is one of three national teams to have won the FIFA World Cup outside of its home continent.

First Decades (1920–1950)

Beginnings and early success

The Spain national Football team was created in 1920, with the main objective of finding a team that would represent Spain at the Summer Olympics held in Belgium in that same year.

Spain made their much anticipated debut at the tournament on August 28, 1920 against the national team of Denmark (runners-up in the last 2 previous Olympic tournament). The match took place at the Stade Joseph Marien in Brussels, Belgium. The Spanish managed to win that match by a scoreline of 1–0 thanks to a goal from Patricio Arabolaza, who became the author of Spain's first international goal. This match would also make Spain at that time the 28th nation to play a football match. In their next match stage, Spain were set to play their next game against the host themselves Belgium, in that match Spain couldn't come up with the victory and lost 1–3.

The host Belgium ended up winning the tournament after the Czechoslovakians were disqualified for leaving the pitch in the middle of the final game, thus Spain and another 3 national team were giving the chance to play a small consolation tournament were the winner would win either the silver or bronze medal. Their first match in this new Quarter-finals was played against Sweden in which the Spanish came from a goal behind to win 2–1 at the very end. José María Belauste and Domingo Acedo were the scores of that game. The following match was played against Italy. Félix Sesúmaga managed to score the two fabulous goals that would give the Spanish a 2–0, eliminating the Italians and giving them the victory to send them to the semi-finals of the tournament (Until Euro 2012, this had only been the only time Spain had beaten Italy in an official match). The final four teams were Spain, Netherlands, France, and Czechoslovakia. But only the Netherlands advance to final match against Spain due to France not showing up and the Czechs being disqualified previously. In the final match, Spain defeated the Dutch 3–1 with two goals from Félix Sesúmaga and one from Pichichi. With this, Spain won the silver medal at the Olympics and their first international silverware at any tournament.

The medalist at that Olympic tournament were: Domingo Gómez-Acedo, Patricio Arabolaza, Mariano Arrate, Juan Artola, Joaquín Vázquez, José María Belauste, Sabino Bilbao, Ramón Eguiazábal, Ramón "Moncho" Gil, Ricardo Zamora, Silverio Izaguirre, Rafael Moreno "Pichichi", Luis Otero, Francisco Pagazaurtundúa, José Samitier, Agustín Sancho, Félix Sesúmaga and Pedro Vallana with the coach at that time Paco Bru.

A very successful event for the national team, although it would take many years later to achieve that success again.

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, 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 final.

1964 European Championship

Spain won its first major international title after winning the 1964 European Championship held in Spain. Spain was able to defeat a highly favored Hungary side 2–1 to advance to the final against the Soviet Union, which General Francisco Franco refused to play four years earlier. Spain would go on to win the final played in Madrid by the exact score of 2–1 after Marcelino broke the 1–1 tie in the 84th minute. The victory would stand as Spain's lone major title for 44 years.

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[3] 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. In what is considered a highly controversial match, Spain eventually lost in a penalty shootout after having two goals called back for alleged infractions during regular and extra time.[12]

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.

2006 World Cup, Golden Generation 2007–

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

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.

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."[13]

Spanish players celebrating their victory in Madrid.

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.

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.[14]

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.[15] 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.[16]

Confederations Cup debut and 2010 World Cup qualification

Austria lost to Spain 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.[17]

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.[18] 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.[19] 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.[20]

On 9 September 2009, Spain secured its place at the 2010 World Cup finals after beating Estonia 3–0 in Mérida.[21] 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.[22] 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

2010 FIFA World Cup Final starting lineup on 11 July 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, with another goal by David Villa, reaching the last four for the first time since 1950. They then advanced to the final for the first time ever by defeating 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 Holland 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 only European team to win the World Cup outside of Europe. It is also the only European champion to not have at least one championship won in home soil (Italy, West Germany, England and France have all won at least one or their sole final on home soil).

The 2010 FIFA World Cup squad won the FIFA fair play award while some of its players also won awards.[23] 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.

Road to Euro 2012 glory: Champions of Europe again

Main article: UEFA Euro 2012 qualifying
Spain national team after winning the Euro 2012 with the trophy.

Like the previous qualification tournament, Spain qualified top of Group I in qualification for UEFA Euro 2012 with a perfect 100% record. Spain defeated Czech Republic, Scotland, Lithuania, and Liechtenstein to advance to the main tournament, where they became the first team to retain the European championship. Spain were drawn in Group C in the group stage, alongside Italy, Croatia, and Republic of Ireland. Spain opened their group stage match against Italy on 10 June 2012. Italy took the lead in the second half of the match, through substitute and Italian striker Antonio Di Natale in the 61st minute, who had come on to replace another striker, Mario Balotelli.[24] Three minutes later, Spain found an equalizer, in which midfielder David Silva assisted another midfielder, Cesc Fábregas, who in turn slotted the ball past goalkeeper Gianluigi Buffon.[24] Spain's next match was on 14 June, against Republic of Ireland. Spain striker Fernando Torres opened the goalscoring, early in the fourth minute, retaining the ball, after Republic of Ireland defender Richard Dunne's unsuccessful tackle, before scoring the goal from 10 yards, past chanceless goalkeeper Shay Given.[25] It did not take until the second half, in the 49th minute, where David Silva extended the lead for Spain, nutmegging three defenders in the process, Stephen Ward, Sean St Ledger, and Dunne, after Given blocked Iniesta's shot.[25] With 20 minutes of the match remaining, Torres scored his second goal, after a successful assist from Silva, as he chipped the ball past Given.[25] The final goal was scored by Fábregas, in which he received the ball after a Silva corner, and scored from a difficult angle.[25] Their third and final group stage match against Croatia on 18 June, proved to be more difficult than expected, as Croatia had several goalscoring chances, notably from Croatian players Ivan Strinić and Ivan Perišić, which Spain goalkeeper Iker Casillas had no problems dealing with.[26] The match looked like it was heading for a draw, until the 88th minute, in which substitute Jesús Navas struck the winning goal, after a beautiful chip from Cesc Fabregas allowed Iniesta a simple assist.[26]

The captain Iker Casillas, lifting the Euro 2012 trophy, the third consecutive major title for Spain, achieving a historic treble.

In the quarter-finals, on 23 June 2012, Spain took on France. Spain opened the goalscoring, after defender Jordi Alba's assist, which midfielder Xabi Alonso scored with a header past France goalkeeper Hugo Lloris.[27] Spain completed their win, late in the second half, with Alonso stepping up to score the penalty kick, after France defender Anthony Réveillère brought down Spain striker Pedro inside the penalty area.[27]

Spain faced Portugal on 27 June in the semi-finals, who had previously beaten Czech Republic in the quarter-finals, courtesy of a late Cristiano Ronaldo goal.[28] The decisive match proved to be more difficult than expected, with Portugal having numerous goalscoring chances.[29] However, Spain managed to hold on, which required the match to go into extra time.[29] Spain showed signs of improvement, but nevertheless, failed to score over both halves.[29] A penalty shoot-out was then ensued.[29] Alonso, who had previously taken an penalty kick against France, had his spot kick saved by Portugal goalkeeper Rui Patrício.[29] Portugal looked to take the advantage, with midfielder João Moutinho as the next penalty taker, however, Casillas produced a tremendous diving save to prevent Portugal from taking the lead.[29] Iniesta stepped up to take the second penalty, which was successfully taken.[29] Defender Pepe's effort proved to be successful as well, as he struck the ball just past Casillas.[29] Defender Gerard Piqué showed no sign of nerves as he struck the ball past Rui Patrício, identically to Pepe's spot kick.[29] Defender Bruno Alves stepped up to take the third penalty for Portugal, however, midfielder Nani encouraged Alves to let him take the penalty, which Nani struck high in the left corner of the goal and sending Casillas to the wrong side of the goal.[29] The fourth penalty was taken by defender Sergio Ramos, who produced a Panenka-like penalty, chipping the ball past Rui Patrício.[29] The turn finally arrived to Alves, who missed the spot kick and hit the right post.[29] Fábregas scored Spain's fifth goal, as the ball went in via the left post.[29] Spain emerged victorious, and were in a UEFA European Football Championship final for the fourth time, since 1964, 1984 and 2008.[29]

In the final match, Spain won the tournament by a score of 4–0 over Italy.[30] Spain quickly took control in the first half, with goals in the 14th minute from a header by David Silva, and in the 41st minute from Jordi Alba. In the second half, Italy used the last of their three substitutions, putting Antonio Di Natale and Thiago Motta into the game. Thiago Motta injured his hamstring shortly after entering the match, and had to leave the pitch, forcing Italy to play with ten men for the remainder of the match.[30] Spain were able to increase their lead to 4–0 in the second half, with goals from Fernando Torres in the 84th minute, and from Juan Mata in the 88th minute, helping them to win their second straight European Championship, and their third straight major tournament title (Euro 2008 and 2010 World Cup).[30] Fernando Torres finished as the top goalscorer of the tournament with 3 goals. Gerard Piqué for Spain and Andrea Barzagli for Italy both received yellow cards in the match.[30]

UEFA Euro 2012 Final starting lineup on 1 July 2012, in Kiev (Olympic Stadium).

Given the final victory Spain broke many barriers and beat several records:

  • Spain became the first team since the founding of the FIFA World Cup in 1930 to win three consecutive major titles (UEFA European Championship 2008, FIFA World Cup 2010, UEFA European Championship 2012). West Germany came close by winning the UEFA European Championship in 1972 and the FIFA World Cup in 1974, but they lost the final match of the UEFA European Championship in 1976 on penalties after extra time. Before 1930, when the first FIFA World Cup was held, Uruguay had won the South American Championship in 1923, the Olympic Games in June 1924 (then regarded as an unofficial FIFA world championship) and the South American Championship in November 1924.
  • Spain became the first team to make the final as the reigning European champion since Germany did in 1976.
  • Spain won a final by the greatest goal margin ever (4–0), one goal better than West Germany's victory over the Soviet Union in 1972 (3–0).
  • Spain became the joint most successful team in the European Championship history, alongside Germany with three titles each.
  • Spain is the first national team to have won the FIFA World Cup and retain their continental championship. No South American national team has retained the Copa América while World Cup holders.
  • Spain is the country with the best goal difference in a championship tournament, 12–1. This is true partly because the Quarterfinals was added to Euro Cup in 1996, and therefore there were fewer matches. France has the second best goal difference of 12–3 in 1984, but with a game in hand.
  • In addition, Vicente del Bosque became the second manager, after Germany manager Helmut Schön, to lead a national side to a UEFA European Football Championship and a FIFA World Cup trophy,[31] and the first to have also won the UEFA Champions League.[32]

2013 FIFA Confederations Cup

Before the start of the tournament, La Roja played two international friendlies in the United States, winning both games by a score of 2–1 and 2–0 respectively. Spain started the 2013 FIFA Confederations Cup campaign with a 2–1 win over Uruguay, in a match that Spain dominated throughout all the match. Managing to make 9 shots on target, while Uruguay only had 1 and that being the only goal by them. At the second group stage match, against Tahiti, Spain broke the record for the largest margin of victory in a senior FIFA match, winning 10–0. Then they beat Nigeria 3–0 in the last group match. In their semi-final match against Italy, the game went 0–0 all the way to penalties, which Spain then won 7–6. This put them through to their first Confederations Cup Final, which they lost 0-3 against Brazil. Fernando Torres was once again the top goalscorer of the tournament with 5 goals.

2014 FIFA World Cup

On 30 July 2011 at the 2014 FIFA World Cup preliminary draw, Spain were placed in Group I. They commence their qualifying campaign in late 2012 in a group that features France, Belarus, Georgia and Finland[33] They started their World Cup campaign with a hard fought away victory over Georgia in which Roberto Soldado scored in the 85th minute after the Georgians defended with 11 players in all 90 minutes of the game and hit the post in the beginning of the second half.

These are the results of Group I so far:

Template:2014 FIFA World Cup qualification – UEFA Group I

Style of play

Main article: Tiki-taka

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)[34]

Tiki-taka is above all, a systems approach to football founded upon team unity and a comprehensive understanding in the geometry of space on a football field.[35]

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,"[36] a "short passing style in which the ball is worked carefully through various channels,"[37] and a "nonsensical phrase that has come to mean short passing, patience and possession above all else."[38] The style involves roaming movement and positional interchange amongst midfielders, moving the ball in intricate patterns,[39] and sharp, one or two-touch passing.[34] 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.[40] Commentators have contrasted tiki-taka with "route one physicality"[36] and with the higher-tempo passing of Arsène Wenger's 2007–08 Arsenal side, which employed Cesc Fàbregas as the only channel between defence and attack.[37] Tiki-taka is associated with flair, creativity, and touch,[41] but can also be taken to a "slow, directionless extreme" that sacrifices effectiveness for aesthetics.[38]

Notable successes

Tiki-taka has been used successfully by the Spanish national team to win UEFA Euro 2008, 2010 FIFA World Cup and UEFA Euro 2012.

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.[38] 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 Olympics team the nickname La Furia Roja ("The Red Fury"), and the tiki-taka style of the contemporary Spanish team, which focused on a collective, short-passing, technical and possession-based game.[42]

Analyzing Spain's semi-final victory over Germany at the 2010 World Cup, Honigstein described the Spanish team'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 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."[40]

Colours

Spain's traditional kit is a red jersey with yellow trim, accompanied by dark blue shorts and socks while their current away kit is a sky blue shirt with a stripe in the chest area and navy trim accompanied by white shorts with navy 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.[43] 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

The following players were called for the 2014 FIFA World Cup qualification matches against Belarus on October 11 and Georgia on 15 October 2013.

Caps and goals are correct as of 15 October 2013.

No. Pos. Player Date of birth (age) Caps Goals Club
1 1GK Iker Casillas Template:Fb captain (1981-05-20) 20 May 1981 (age 43) 151 0 Spain Real Madrid
12 1GK Víctor Valdés (1982-01-14) 14 January 1982 (age 42) 18 0 Spain Barcelona
23 1GK Pepe Reina (1982-08-31) 31 August 1982 (age 41) 29 0 Italy Napoli
2 2DF Iñigo Martínez (1991-05-17) 17 May 1991 (age 33) 1 0 Spain Real Sociedad
3 2DF Gerard Piqué (1987-02-02) 2 February 1987 (age 37) 59 4 Spain Barcelona
15 2DF Sergio Ramos (1986-03-30) 30 March 1986 (age 38) 113 9 Spain Real Madrid
17 2DF Álvaro Arbeloa (1983-01-17) 17 January 1983 (age 41) 55 0 Spain Real Madrid
18 2DF Alberto Moreno (1992-07-05) 5 July 1992 (age 32) 1 0 Spain Sevilla
19 2DF Nacho Monreal (1986-02-26) 26 February 1986 (age 38) 15 0 England Arsenal
20 2DF Juanfran (1985-01-09) 9 January 1985 (age 39) 6 0 Spain Atlético Madrid
4 3MF Mario Suárez (1987-02-24) 24 February 1987 (age 37) 2 0 Spain Atlético Madrid
5 3MF Koke (1992-01-08) 8 January 1992 (age 32) 5 0 Spain Atlético Madrid
6 3MF Andrés Iniesta (1984-05-11) 11 May 1984 (age 40) 92 11 Spain Barcelona
8 3MF Xavi Hernández (1980-01-25) 25 January 1980 (age 44) 130 13 Spain Barcelona
10 3MF Cesc Fàbregas (1987-05-04) 4 May 1987 (age 37) 86 13 Spain Barcelona
13 3MF Juan Mata (1988-04-28) 28 April 1988 (age 36) 30 9 England Chelsea
14 3MF Isco (1992-04-21) 21 April 1992 (age 32) 2 0 Spain Real Madrid
16 3MF Sergio Busquets (1988-07-16) 16 July 1988 (age 35) 61 0 Spain Barcelona
21 3MF David Silva (1986-01-08) 8 January 1986 (age 38) 77 20 England Manchester City
22 3MF Jesús Navas (1985-11-21) 21 November 1985 (age 38) 32 3 England Manchester City
9 4FW Álvaro Negredo (1985-08-20) 20 August 1985 (age 38) 19 10 England Manchester City
11 4FW Pedro Rodríguez (1987-07-28) 28 July 1987 (age 36) 35 13 Spain Barcelona

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
GK David de Gea (1990-11-07) 7 November 1990 (age 33) 0 0 England Manchester United v.  France, 27 March 2013
DF Raúl Albiol (1985-09-04) 4 September 1985 (age 38) 43 0 Italy Napoli v.  Chile, 10 September 2013
DF Jordi Alba (1989-03-21) 21 March 1989 (age 35) 24 5 Spain Barcelona v.  Chile, 10 September 2013
DF Nacho Fernández (1990-01-18) 18 January 1990 (age 34) 1 0 Spain Real Madrid v.  Chile, 10 September 2013
DF César Azpilicueta (1989-08-28) 28 August 1989 (age 34) 4 0 England Chelsea v.  Ecuador, 14 August 2013
DF Carles Puyol (1978-04-13) 13 April 1978 (age 46) 100 3 Spain Barcelona v.  Uruguay, 6 February 2013
MF Santi Cazorla (1984-12-13) 13 December 1984 (age 39) 59 10 England Arsenal v.  Chile, 10 September 2013
MF Javi García (1987-02-08) 8 February 1987 (age 37) 3 0 England Manchester City v.  Chile, 10 September 2013
MF Javi Martínez (1988-09-02) 2 September 1988 (age 35) 14 0 Germany Bayern Munich v.  Ecuador, 14 August 2013
MF Thiago Alcântara (1991-04-11) 11 April 1991 (age 33) 4 0 Germany Bayern Munich v.  Ecuador, 14 August 2013
MF Xabi Alonso (1981-11-25) 25 November 1981 (age 42) 107 15 Spain Real Madrid 2013 Confederations Cup provisional squad, 2 June
MF Beñat (1987-02-19) 19 February 1987 (age 37) 4 0 Spain Athletic Bilbao 2013 Confederations Cup provisional squad, 2 June
MF Markel Susaeta (1987-12-14) 14 December 1987 (age 36) 1 1 Spain Athletic Bilbao v.  Panama, 14 November 2012
FW David Villa (1981-12-03) 3 December 1981 (age 42) 93 56 Spain Atlético Madrid v.  Chile, 10 September 2013
FW Roberto Soldado (1985-05-27) 27 May 1985 (age 39) 12 7 England Tottenham Hotspur v.  Chile, 10 September 2013
FW Fernando Llorente (1985-02-26) 26 February 1985 (age 39) 22 7 Italy Juventus v.  Ecuador, 14 August 2013
FW Cristian Tello (1991-08-11) 11 August 1991 (age 32) 1 0 Spain Barcelona v.  Ecuador, 14 August 2013
FW Fernando Torres (1984-03-20) 20 March 1984 (age 40) 106 36 England Chelsea 2013 Confederations Cup
FW Michu (1986-03-21) 21 March 1986 (age 38) 1 0 Wales Swansea v.  Belarus, 11 October 2013[44][45]

Previous squads

Honours

Competition 1st place, gold medalist(s) 2nd place, silver medalist(s) 3rd place, bronze medalist(s) Total
Olympic Games 1 2 0 3
Confederations Cup 0 1 1 2
World Championship 1 0 0 1
European Championship 3 1 0 4
Universiade 1 0 0 1
Mediterranean Games 2 1 2 5
Total 8 5 3 16

Competitive record

  Champions    Runners-up    Third place    Fourth place

FIFA World Cup

The Spanish national team won in the year 2010, their first FIFA World Cup held in South Africa. It was only the third time that a team won outside its continent.
South African president Jacob Zuma and other dignitaries shaking hands with the lined-up teams before kick-off.
FIFA World Cup Record
Year Round Position Pld W D L GF GA
Uruguay 1930 Did Not Enter
Italy 1934 Quarter-Finals 5th 3 1 1 1 4 3
France 1938 Withdrew
Brazil 1950 Fourth Place 4th 6 3 1 2 10 12
Switzerland 1954 Did Not Qualify
Sweden 1958
Chile 1962 Group Stage 13th 3 1 0 2 2 3
England 1966 Group Stage 10th 3 1 0 2 4 5
Mexico 1970 Did Not Qualify
West Germany 1974
Argentina 1978 Group Stage 10th 3 1 1 1 2 2
Spain 1982 Round 2 12th 5 1 2 2 4 5
Mexico 1986 Quarter-Finals 7th 5 3 1 1 11 4
Italy 1990 Round of 16 10th 4 2 1 1 6 4
United States 1994 Quarter-Finals 8th 5 2 2 1 10 6
France 1998 Group Stage 17th 3 1 1 1 8 4
South Korea Japan 2002 Quarter-Finals 5th 5 3 2 0 10 5
Germany 2006 Round of 16 9th 4 3 0 1 9 4
South Africa 2010 Champions 1st 7 6 0 1 8 2
Total 13/19 6th Place 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.

UEFA European Championship

Spanish victory at the UEFA Euro 2012 Final.
Line-up from the final against Italy.
UEFA European Championship Record
Year Round Position Pld W D L GF GA
France 1960 Withdrew
Spain 1964 Champions 1st 2 2 0 0 4 2
Italy 1968 Did Not Qualify
Belgium 1972
Socialist Federal Republic of Yugoslavia 1976
Italy 1980 Group Stage 7th 3 0 1 2 2 4
France 1984 Runners-up 2nd 5 1 3 1 4 5
West Germany 1988 Group Stage 6th 3 1 0 2 3 5
Sweden 1992 Did Not Qualify
England 1996 Quarter-Finals 6th 4 1 3 0 4 3
Belgium Netherlands 2000 Quarter-Finals 5th 4 2 0 2 7 7
Portugal 2004 Group Stage 10th 3 1 1 1 2 2
Austria Switzerland 2008 Champions 1st 6 5 1 0 12 3
Poland Ukraine 2012 Champions 1st 6 4 2 0 12 1
Total 9/14 1st Place 36 17 11 8 50 32

Summer Olympics

  Gold    Silver    Bronze  

Summer Olympics Record
Year Round Position Pld W D L GF GA
Belgium 1920 Runners-up 2nd 5 4 0 1 9 5
France 1924 Round 1 10th 1 0 0 1 0 1
Netherlands 1928 Quarter-Finals 6th 3 1 1 1 9 9
Nazi Germany 1936 Did Not Enter
United Kingdom 1948
Finland 1952
Australia 1956
Italy 1960
Japan 1964
Mexico 1968 Quarter-Finals 5th 4 2 1 1 4 2
West Germany 1972 Did Not Qualify
Canada 1976 Group Stage 13th 2 0 0 2 1 3
Soviet Union 1980 Group Stage 12th 3 0 3 0 2 2
United States 1984 Did Not Qualify
South Korea 1988
Spain 1992 Champions 1st 6 6 0 0 14 2
United States 1996 Quarter-Finals 5th 4 2 1 1 5 7
Australia 2000 Runners-up 2nd 6 4 1 1 12 6
Greece 2004 Did Not Qualify
China 2008
United Kingdom 2012 Group Stage 14th 3 0 1 2 0 2
Total 10/21 8th Place 37 19 8 10 56 39
  • Since 1968 Spain has been represented by its Under-23/21 squad, nonetheless their Olympic records are still included here.

FIFA Confederations Cup

FIFA Confederations Cup Record
Year Round Position Pld W D L GF GA
Saudi Arabia 1992 Did Not Qualify
Saudi Arabia 1995
Saudi Arabia 1997
Mexico 1999
South Korea Japan 2001
France 2003
Germany 2005
South Africa 2009 Third Place 3rd 5 4 0 1 11 4
Brazil 2013 Runners-up 2nd 5 3 1 1 15 4
Total 2/9 7th Place 10 7 1 2 26 8

Mediterranean Games

Mediterranean Games Record
Year Round Position Pld W D L GF GA
Egypt 1951 Did Not Qualify
Spain 1955 Runners-Up 2nd 3 2 1 0 6 2
Lebanon 1959 Did Not Qualify
Italy 1963 Third Place 3rd 5 3 2 0 15 5
Tunisia 1967 Third Place 3rd 5 2 2 1 7 5
Turkey 1971 Did Not Enter[46]
Algeria 1975
Socialist Federal Republic of Yugoslavia 1979
Morocco 1983
Syria 1987
Greece 1991
France 1993
Italy 1997 Fourth Place 4th 4 1 1 2 2 4
Tunisia 2001 Did Not Qualify
Spain 2005 Champions 1st 4 3 1 0 9 1
Italy 2009 Champions 1st 4 3 1 0 9 4
Turkey 2013 Did Not Qualify
Spain 2017 Host TBD -- -- -- -- -- --
Total 7/19 2nd Place 35 22 9 4 72 27

Resource: The Rec.Sport.Soccer Statistics Foundation

Recent Results and Forthcoming Fixtures (2012–2013)

Main article: Spain national football team head to head
Main article: Spain national football team results

2012

29 February 2012 Friendly Spain  5–0  Venezuela Málaga, Spain
20:30 GMT Iniesta 37'
Silva 40'
Soldado 50', 53', 84'		 Report Stadium: La Rosaleda
Attendance: 25,000
Referee: Andris Treimanis
26 May 2012 Friendly Spain  2–0  Serbia St. Gallen, Switzerland
17:00 GMT Adrián 64'
Cazorla 74' (pen.)		 Report Stadium: AFG Arena
Attendance: 15,625
Referee: Cyril Zimmermann
30 May 2012 Friendly Spain  4–1  South Korea Bern, Switzerland
19:00 GMT Torres 11'
Alonso 52' (pen.)
Cazorla 56'
Negredo 79'		 Report Kim Do-Heon 43' Stadium: Stade de Suisse
Attendance: 10,220
Referee: Alain Bieri
3 June 2012 Friendly Spain  1–0  China Seville, Spain
19:00 GMT Silva 84' Report Stadium: Estadio de La Cartuja
Attendance: 60,000
Referee: Bas Nijhuis
10 June 2012 UEFA Euro 2012 Spain  1–1  Italy Gdansk, Poland
17:00 GMT Fabregas 64' Report Di Natale 60' Stadium: PGE Arena
Attendance: 43,614
Referee: Viktor Kassai
14 June 2012 UEFA Euro 2012 Spain  4–0  Republic of Ireland Gdansk, Poland
19:45 GMT Torres 4', 70'
Silva 49'
Fàbregas 83'		 Report Stadium: PGE Arena
Attendance: 39,896
Referee: Pedro Proença
18 June 2012 UEFA Euro 2012 Croatia  0–1  Spain Gdansk, Poland
19:45 GMT Report Navas 88' Stadium: PGE Arena
Attendance: 39,076
Referee: Wolfgang Stark
23 June 2012 UEFA Euro 2012 Quarter-Final Spain  2–0  France Donetsk, Ukraine
18:45 GMT Alonso 19', 90+1' (pen.) Report Stadium: Donbass Arena
Attendance: 47,000
Referee: Nicola Rizzoli
27 June 2012 UEFA Euro 2012 Semi-Final Portugal  0–0
(2–4 p)		  Spain Donetsk, Ukraine
18:45 GMT Report Stadium: Donbass Arena
Attendance: 48,000
Referee: Cüneyt Çakır
Penalties
Moutinho soccer ball with red X
Pepe soccer ball with check mark
Nani soccer ball with check mark
Alves soccer ball with red X		 soccer ball with red X Alonso
soccer ball with check mark Iniesta
soccer ball with check mark Piqué
soccer ball with check mark Ramos
soccer ball with check mark Fàbregas
Note: Despite Spain win on penalties the match officially counts as a draw.
1 July 2012 UEFA Euro 2012 Final Spain  4–0  Italy Kiev, Ukraine
20:45 GMT Silva 14'
Alba 41'
Torres 84'
Mata 88'		 Report Stadium: Olympic Stadium
Attendance: 63,170
Referee: Pedro Proenca
15 August 2012 Friendly Puerto Rico  1–2  Spain Bayamón, Puerto Rico
Cintron 65' Report Cazorla 42'
Fàbregas 45'		 Stadium: Juan Ramón Loubriel Stadium
Attendance: 15,000
Referee: Javier Santos
7 September 2012 Friendly Spain  5–0  Saudi Arabia Pontevedra, Spain
19:00 GMT Cazorla 22'
Pedro 28', 73'
Xavi 45+2'
Villa 64' (pen.)		 Report Stadium: Estadio Municipal de Pasarón
Attendance: 11,850
Referee: Anar Salmanov
11 September 2012 2014 FIFA World Cup Q Georgia  0–1  Spain Tbilisi, Georgia
18:30 GMT Report Soldado 86' Stadium: Dinamo Arena
Attendance: 54,598
Referee: Svein Oddvar Moen
12 October 2012 2014 FIFA World Cup Q Belarus  0–4  Spain Minsk, Belarus
19:00 GMT Report Alba 12'
Pedro 21', 69', 79'		 Stadium: Dynama Stadium
Attendance: 28,800
Referee: Serge Gumienny
16 October 2012 2014 FIFA World Cup Q Spain  1–1  France Madrid, Spain
20:00 GMT Ramos 25' Report Giroud 90+4' Stadium: Vicente Calderón
Attendance: 46,825
Referee: Felix Brych
14 November 2012 Friendly Panama  1–5  Spain Panama City, Panama
Gómez 87' Report Pedro 16', 43'
Villa 30'
Ramos 82'
Susaeta 84'		 Stadium: Estadio Rommel Fernández
Attendance: 26,000
Referee: Mauricio Morales

2013

6 February 2013 Friendly Spain  3–1  Uruguay Doha, Qatar
18:00 GMT Fàbregas 16'
Pedro 51', 74'		 Report Rodríguez 32' Stadium: Khalifa Stadium
Attendance: 48,000
Referee: Fahad Jaber Al Marri (Qatar)
22 March 2013 2014 FIFA World Cup Q Spain  1–1  Finland Gijón, Spain
20:45 GMT Ramos 49' Report Pukki 79' Stadium: El Molinón
Attendance: 28,000
Referee: Ovidiu Haţegan
26 March 2013 2014 FIFA World Cup Q France  0–1  Spain Saint-Denis, France
21:00 GMT Report Pedro 58' Stadium: Stade de France
Attendance: 80,000
Referee: Viktor Kassai (Hungary)
8 June 2013 Friendly Spain  2–1  Haiti Miami, United States
21:00 GMT Cazorla 8'
Fàbregas 19'		 Report Guerrier 75' Stadium: Sun Life Stadium
Attendance: 36,535
Referee: Juan Guzman[disambiguation needed] (United States)
11 June 2013 Friendly Spain  2–0  Republic of Ireland New York, United States
Soldado 68'
Mata 88'		 Stadium: Yankee Stadium
Attendance: 39,368
Referee: Jair Marrufo
16 June 2013 2013 FIFA Confederations Cup Spain  2–1  Uruguay Recife, Brazil
19:00 Pedro 20'
Soldado 32'		 Report Suárez 88' Stadium: Arena Cidade da Copa
Attendance: 41,705
Referee: Yuichi Nishimura (Japan)
20 June 2013 2013 FIFA Confederations Cup Spain  10–0  Tahiti Rio de Janeiro, Brazil
16:00 Torres 5', 33', 57', 78'
Silva 31', 89'
Villa 39', 49', 64'
Mata 66'		 Report Stadium: Estádio do Maracanã
Attendance: 71,806
Referee: Djamel Haimoudi (Algeria)
23 June 2013 2013 FIFA Confederations Cup Nigeria  0–3  Spain Fortaleza, Brazil
16:00 Report Alba 3', 88'
Torres 62'		 Stadium: Estádio Castelão,
Attendance: 51,263
Referee: Joel Aguilar (El Salvador)
27 June 2013 2013 FIFA Confederations Cup Spain  0–0 (a.e.t.)
(7–6 p)		  Italy Fortaleza, Brazil
16:00 Report Stadium: Estádio Castelão
Attendance: 56,083
Referee: Howard Webb (England)
Penalties
Xavi soccer ball with check mark
Iniesta soccer ball with check mark
Piqué soccer ball with check mark
Ramos soccer ball with check mark
Mata soccer ball with check mark
Busquets soccer ball with check mark
Navas soccer ball with check mark		 soccer ball with check mark Candreva
soccer ball with check mark Aquilani
soccer ball with check mark De Rossi
soccer ball with check mark Giovinco
soccer ball with check mark Pirlo
soccer ball with check mark Montolivo
soccer ball with red X Bonucci
30 June 2013 2013 FIFA Confederations Cup Brazil  3–0  Spain Rio de Janeiro, Brazil
19:00 Fred 2', 47'
Neymar 44'		 Report Stadium: Estádio do Maracanã
Attendance: 73,531
Referee: Björn Kuipers (Netherlands)
14 August 2013 Friendly Ecuador  0–2  Spain Guayaquil, Ecuador
Negredo 25'
Cazorla 63'		 Stadium: Estadio Monumental
Referee: Wilmar Roldán (Colombia)
6 September 2013 2014 FIFA World Cup Q Finland  0–2  Spain Helsinki, Finland
20:00 Alba 19'
Negredo 86'		 Stadium: Helsinki Olympic Stadium
Referee: Ivan Bebek (Croatia)
10 September 2013 Friendly Spain  2–2  Chile Geneva, Switzerland
Soldado 38'
Navas 90+2'		 Vargas 5', 44' Stadium: Stade de Genève, Switzerland
Referee: Adrien Jaccottet (Switzerland)
11 October 2013 2014 FIFA World Cup Q Spain  2–1  Belarus Palma de Mallorca, Spain
Xavi 61'
Negredo 78'		 Report Kornilenko 89' Stadium: Iberostar Stadium
Attendance: 21000
Referee: Bas Nijhuis (Netherlands)
15 October 2013 2014 FIFA World Cup Q Spain  2–0  Georgia Albacete, Spain
Negredo 26'
Mata 61'		 Report Stadium: Estadio Carlos Belmonte
Attendance: 16400
Referee: Florian Meyer (Germany)
15 November 2013 Friendly Angola  –  Spain Luanda, Angola
Stadium: Estádio da Cidadela
19 November 2013 Friendly South Africa  –  Spain Johannesburg, South Africa
Stadium: Soccer City

2014

5 March 2014 Friendly Spain  v  Italy

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

FIFA Confederations Cup

  • Runner-up (1): 2013
  • Third place (1): 2009

Summer Olympics

Other Awards

  • Winners (1): 2010
  • Winners (1): 2011
Unofficial Awards
  • Winners (3): 2008, 2010, 2012
  • Winners (1): 2010
  • Winners (1): 2012
  • Holders (5): 11 June 1961 – 31 May 1962, 12 January 1972 – 2 May 1973, 18 June 1986 – 22 June 1986, 28 March 2001 – 27 March 2002, 11 July 2010 – 7 September 2010

Records

Worldwide

Most consecutive games undefeated
35 (2007–2009) (shared with  Brazil between 1993–1996)
Most consecutive wins including friendlies
15 (2008–2009)
Most consecutive competitive games undefeated
29 (2010–2013)
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)
Highest number of points in World Cup qualification
30 out of 30 points (2008–2009)

Nationwide

Most international caps
151 – Iker Casillas
Most international goals
56 – David Villa
Most goals scored in one season
13 – David Villa (2008–2009)
Most hat-tricks scored
3 – Fernando Torres & David Villa
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)
Top scorer in European Championship finals
5 – Fernando Torres
Most goals scored in one European Championship
4 – David Villa (2008)
Top scorer in Confederations Cup finals
8 – Fernando Torres
Most goals scored in one Confederations Cup
5 – Fernando Torres (2013)

Top goalscorers

David Villa is Spain all-time leading scorer with a tally of 56 goals.

As of October 15, 2013, the ten highest scorers for Spain are:

# Player Career Goals Caps Average
1 David Villa 2005– 56 0 93 0.602
2 Raúl González 1996–2006 44 0 102 0.431
3 Fernando Torres 2003– 36 0 106 0.339
4 Fernando Hierro 1989–2002 29 0 89 0.326
5 Fernando Morientes 1998–2007 27 0 47 0.574
6 Emilio Butragueño 1984–1992 26 0 69 0.377
7 Alfredo Di Stéfano 1957–1961 23 0 31 0.742
8 Julio Salinas 1986–1996 22 0 56 0.411
9 Míchel 1985–1992 21 0 66 0.318
10 Telmo Zarra 1945–1951 20 0 20 1.000
= David Silva 2006– 20 0 77 0.260
  • Bold denotes players still playing international football.

Most capped Spain players

Main article: List of Spain international footballers
Iker Casillas is the most capped player in the history of the national team, with a record of 151

As of October 15, 2013, the players with the most caps for Spain are:

# Name Career Caps Goals
1 Iker Casillas 2000– 151 0
2 Xavi Hernández 2000– 130 13
3 Andoni Zubizarreta 1985–1998 126 0
4 Sergio Ramos 2005– 113 9
5 Xabi Alonso 2003– 107 15
6 Fernando Torres 2003– 106 36
7 Raúl González 1996–2006 102 44
8 Carles Puyol 2000– 100 3
9 David Villa 2005– 93 56
10 Andrés Iniesta 2006– 92 11
  • Bold denotes players still playing international football.

Top Penalty Scorers

As of 20 June 2013.

# Player Penalties
1 Fernando Hierro 9
= Míchel 9
2 David Villa 7
3 Xabi Alonso 5
4 Fernando Torres 4
= Daniel Ruiz 4
5 Raúl González 3
= Pep Guardiola 3
= Emilio Butragueno 3
= Pirri 3
= Agustín Gaínza 3
6 Gaizka Mendieta 2
= Francisco José Carrasco 2
= Andoni Goicoechea 2
= Juan Gómez González 2
= László Kubala 2
= César Rodríguez Álvarez 2
7 Santi Cazorla 1
= Vicente Rodríguez 1
= Donato Gama da Silva 1
= Aitor Beguiristain 1
= Toni Muñoz 1
= Manolo 1
= Quini 1
= Roberto López Ufarte 1
= Jesús María Satrústegui 1
= Enrique Collar 1
= Luis Suárez 1
= Isidro Lángara 1
= José Iraragorri 1
= Gaspar Rubio 1
= Félix Quesada 1
  • Bold denotes players still playing international football.

Hat-tricks

As of 20 June 2013.

Player Competition Against Home/Away Result Date
David Villa 2013 FIFA Confederations Cup French Polynesia Tahiti Home 10–0 20 June 2013
Fernando Torres 4 2013 FIFA Confederations Cup French Polynesia Tahiti Home 10–0 20 June 2013
Pedro Rodríguez 2014 World Cup qualification Belarus Belarus Away 0–4 12 October 2012
Roberto Soldado International Friendly Venezuela Venezuela Home 5–0 29 February 2012
Fernando Torres 2009 FIFA Confederations Cup New Zealand New Zealand Away 0–5 14 June 2009
David Villa International Friendly Azerbaijan Azerbaijan Away 0–6 9 June 2009
David Villa UEFA Euro 2008 Russia Russia Home 4–1 10 June 2008
Luis García 2006 World Cup qualification Slovakia Slovakia Home 5–1 12 November 2005
Fernando Torres 2006 World Cup qualification San Marino San Marino Away 0–5 12 October 2005
Fernando Morientes International Friendly Ecuador Ecuador Home 4–0 30 April 2003
Ismael Urzaiz Euro 2000 qualifying Cyprus Cyprus Home 8–0 8 September 1999
Julen Guerrero Euro 2000 qualifying Cyprus Cyprus Home 8–0 8 September 1999
Luis Enrique Euro 2000 qualifying San Marino San Marino Home 9–0 5 June 1999
Raúl González 4 Euro 2000 qualifying San Marino San Marino Away 9–0 31 March 1999
Raúl González 4 Euro 2000 qualifying Austria Austria Home 9–0 27 March 1999
Julen Guerrero 1998 World Cup qualification Malta Malta Away 0–3 18 December 1996
Alfonso Pérez 1998 World Cup qualification Faroe Islands Faroe Islands Away 2–6 4 September 1996
Julio Salinas 1994 World Cup qualification Albania Albania Away 1–5 22 September 1993
Emilio Butragueño 4 Euro 1992 qualifying Albania Albania Home 9–0 19 December 1990
Míchel 1990 FIFA World Cup South Korea South Korea Away 1–3 17 June 1990
José María Bakero Euro 1988 qualifying Albania Albania Home 5–0 18 November 1987
Emilio Butragueño 4 1986 FIFA World Cup Denmark Denmark Away 1–5 18 June 1986
Carlos Alonso 4 Euro 1984 qualifying Malta Malta Home 12–1 21 December 1983
Hipólito Rincón 4 Euro 1984 qualifying Malta Malta Home 12–1 21 December 1983
Jesús María Pereda 1966 World Cup qualification Republic of Ireland Republic of Ireland Home 4–1 27 October 1965
Vicente Guillot 1964 European Nations' Cup qualifying Romania Romania Home 6–0 1 November 1962
Justo Tejada 4 International Friendly Northern Ireland Northern Ireland Home 6–2 15 October 1958
László Kubala International Friendly Turkey Turkey Home 3–0 16 November 1957
Alfredo Di Stéfano International Friendly Netherlands Netherlands Home 5–1 30 January 1957
Telmo Zarra 4 International Friendly Switzerland Switzerland Home 6–3 18 February 1951
Estanislau Basora International Friendly France France Away 1–5 19 June 1949
Isidro Lángara 5 1934 World Cup qualification Portugal Portugal Home 9–0 11 March 1934
Isidro Lángara 4 International Friendly France France Home 8–1 14 April 1929
Gaspar Rubio International Friendly Portugal Portugal Home 5–0 17 March 1929
  • 4 Player scored 4 goals
  • 5 Player scored 5 goals

Biggest wins

Scores from 6–0 and up

Best Results by Spain
Date Opponent Round Result Difference
1 21 May 1933  Bulgaria Friendly 13 – 0 +13
2 21 December 1983  Malta France 1984 EURO qualification 12 – 1 +11
3 20 June 2013  Tahiti Brazil 2013 FIFA Confederations Cup 10 – 0 +10
4 11 March 1934  Portugal Italy 1934 World Cup qualification 9 – 0 +9
19 December 1990  Albania Sweden 1992 EURO qualification
27 March 1999  Austria BelgiumNetherlands 2000 EURO qualification
5 June 1999  San Marino BelgiumNetherlands 2000 EURO qualification
8 8 September 1999  Cyprus BelgiumNetherlands 2000 EURO qualification 8 – 0 +8
9 14 April 1929  France Friendly 8 – 1 +7
24 November 1971  Cyprus Belgium 1972 EURO qualification 7 – 0
11 30 May 1928  Mexico Netherlands1928 S.O. 1/8 7 – 1 +6
1 June 1952  Republic of Ireland Friendly 6 – 0
1 November 1952  Romania 1964 European Nations' Cup Q 6 – 0
15 October 1969  Finland 1970 FIFA World Cup qualification Q 6 – 0
6 September 1995  Cyprus UEFA Euro 1996 qualifying Q 6 – 0
31 March 1999  San Marino UEFA Euro 2000 qualifying Q 6 – 0
12 October 2005  San Marino 2006 FIFA World Cup qualification – UEFA Group 7 Q 6 – 0
9 June 2009  Azerbaijan Friendly 6 – 0
8 June 2010  Poland Friendly 6 – 0
6 September 2011  Liechtenstein UEFA Euro 2012 qualifying Group I 6 – 0

Heaviest defeats

Scores from 4–0 and up

Worst Results by Spain
Date Opponent Round Venue Result Difference
1 4 June 1928  Italy Netherlands 1928 S. Olympics quarter-final replay Netherlands  A  1–7 –6
9 December 1931  England Friendly England  A 
2 13 July 1950  Brazil Brazil 1950 FIFA World Cup final round Brazil  A  1–6 −5
3 13 June 1963  Scotland Friendly Spain  H  2 – 6 –4
19 April 1942  Italy Friendly Italy  A  0 – 4
17 November 2010  Portugal Friendly Portugal  A 

FIFA World Ranking history

YR|M January February March April May June July August September October November December
1993 -- -- -- -- -- -- -- 13th (50) 14th (52) 7th (55) 7th (57) 5th (57)
1994 -- 6th (56) 6th (55) 7th (55) 9th (54) 5th (55) 6th (59) -- 6th (59) 6th (59) 5th (60) 2nd (61)
1995 -- 2nd (61) -- 3rd (61) 3rd (61) 3rd (60) 3rd (58) 3rd (58) 6th (59) 2nd (60) 3rd (61) 4th (59)
1996 4th (59) 4th (60) -- 6th (58) 6th (57) -- 8th (59) 7th (58) 10th (57) 10th (57) 8th (59) 8th (60)
1997 -- 7th (60) -- 4th (61) 5th (61) 3rd (62) 2nd (63) 2nd (63) 6th (61) 2nd (65) 3rd (62) 11th (59)
1998 -- 23rd (55) 25th (55) 9th (57) 15th (56) -- 14th (60) 14th (59) 14th (58) 16th (58) 15th (58) 15th (58)
1999 9th (703) 9th (706) 9th (704) 8th (720) 8th (724) 6th (732) 8th (714) 7th (713) 4th (757) 4th (767) 4th (758) 4th (753)
2000 4th (753) 4th (751) 4th (747) 4th (743) 4th (736) 4th (728) 4th (744) 5th (743) 5th (740) 5th (745) 6th (742) 7th (735)
2001 7th (734) 7th (732) 7th (727) 7th (725) 6th (724) 6th (733) 6th (715) 8th (716) 6th (730) 6th (730) 7th (731) 7th (730)
2002 7th (730) 7th (727) 7th (728) 8th (715) 8th (713) -- 4th (774) 3rd (775) 3rd (774) 3rd (779) 3rd (779) 3rd (779)
2003 3rd (780) 3rd (783) 2nd (780) 2nd (785) 2nd (784) 3rd (762) 3rd (755) 3rd (748) 3rd (767) 3rd (777) 3rd (785) 3rd (798)
2004 3rd (798) 3rd (795) 3rd (791) 3rd (790) 3rd (784) 3rd (785) 3rd (792) 3rd (790) 3rd (788) 4th (774) 4th (755) 5th (765)
2005 5th (764) 5th (764) 5th (759) 7th (755) 8th (752) 9th (747) 8th (744) 8th (739) 8th (750) 8th (764) 6th (771) 5th (768)
2006 5th (768) 6th (765) 6th (763) 5th (759) 5th (756) -- 7th (1,309) 7th (1,309) 10th (1,255) 10th (1,198) 12th (1,154) 12th (1,154)
2007 12th (1,154) 10th (1,161) 10th (1,161) 9th (1,237) 9th (1,238) 7th (1,273) 9th (1,144) 8th (1,165) 7th (1,178) 6th (1,226) 4º (1,349) 4th (1,349)
2008 4th (1,349) 4th (1,352) 4th (1,355) 4th (1,319) 4th (1,323) 4th (1,353) 1st (1,557) 1st (1,557) 1st (1,565) 1st (1,643) 1st (1,657) 1st (1,663)
2009 1st (1,663) 1st (1,693) 1st (1,666) 1st (1,729) 1st (1,729) 1st (1,761) 2nd (1,590) 2nd (1,590) 2nd (1,588) 2nd (1,629) 1st (1,622) 1st (1,627)
2010 1st (1,627) 1st (1,642) 1st (1,602) 2nd (1,565) 2nd (1,565) -- 1st (1,883) 1st (1,883) 1st (1,824) 1st (1,881) 1st (1,920) 1st (1,887)
2011 1st (1,887) 1st (1,887) 1st (1,880) 1st (1,857) 1st (1,857) 1st (1,871) 1st (1,855) 2nd (1,563) 1st (1,605) 1st (1,624) 1st (1,564) 1st (1,564)
2012 1st (1,564) 1st (1,566) 1st (1,561) 1st (1,442) 1st (1,442) 1st (1,456) 1st (1,691) 1st (1,605) 1st (1,617) 1st (1,611) 1st (1,564) 1st (1,606)
2013 1st (1,606) 1st (1,590) 1st (1,610) 1st (1,538) 1st (1,538) 1st (1,614) 1st (1,532) 1st (1,484) 1st (1,514) -- -- --
█ FIFA World Ranking #1

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.

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.

Spain's historical kits

Collections of kits used by La Furia Roja

1920–21
1921–22
1922–36
1924
1936–38
1938–47
1947–59
1959–79
1979–81
1981–83
1984–86
1986–89
1990–91
1994–95
1994–95
1996–97
1998–99
2000–02
2002–04
2004–06
2006–08
2008–09
2008–09 (away)
2009–10
2010–11
2010–11 (away)
2011–12
Euro 2012
2012– (away)
2012–

Media coverage

Spain's qualifying matches and friendlies are currently televised by TVE & Telecinco.

Managers

See also: List of Spain national football team managers
Dates Name
1920 Spain Francisco Bru
1921 Spain Manuel Castro & Spain Julián Ruete & Spain José Ángel Berraondo
1921 Spain Manuel Castro & Spain Julián Ruete
1922 Spain Manuel Castro & Spain Salvador Díaz & Spain José María Mateos
1922 Spain Manuel Castro & Spain Julián Ruete
1923 Spain David Ormaechea & Spain Joaquín Heredia & Spain Luis Argüello
1923-24 Spain Pedro Parages & Spain José García-Cernuda
1924 Spain Pedro Parages
1924 Spain Luis Colina & Spain Julián Olave & Spain José Rosich
1925 Spain Luis Colina & Spain Julián Olave & Spain Fernando Gutiérrez
1925 Spain Manuel Castro & Spain José María Mateos & Spain Ricardo Cabot
1926-27 Spain Manuel Castro & Spain José María Mateos & Spain Ezequiel Montero
1928 Spain José Ángel Berraondo
1929-33 Spain José María Mateos
1934-36 Spain Amadeo García Salazar
1941-42 Philippines Eduardo Teus
1945 Spain Jacinto Quincoces
1946 Spain Luis Pasarín
1947 Spain Pablo Hernández Coronado
1948-50 Spain Guillermo Eizaguirre
1951 Philippines Paulino Alcántara & Spain Luis Iceta & Spain Félix Quesada
1952 Spain Ricardo Zamora
1952-53 Spain Pedro Escartín
Dates Name
1953-54 Spain Luis Iribarren
1955 Spain Ramón Melcón
1955 Spain Pablo Hernández Coronado & Spain Juan Touzón & Spain José Luis del Valle & Spain Emilio Jiménez Millas
1955-56 Spain Guillermo Eizaguirre
1957-59 Spain Manuel Meana
1959-60 Spain José Luis Costa & Spain Ramón Gabilondo & Spain José Luis Lasplazas
1961 Spain Pedro Escartín
1962 Spain Pablo Hernández Coronado
1962-66 Spain José Villalonga
1966-68 Spain Domingo Balmanya
1968-69 Spain Eduardo Toba
1969 Spain Miguel Muñoz & Spain Salvador Artigas & Spain Luis Molowny
1969-80 Hungary László Kubala
1980-82 Uruguay José Emilio Santamaría
1982-88 Spain Miguel Muñoz
1988-91 Spain Luis Suárez
1991-92 Spain Vicente Miera
1992-98 Spain Javier Clemente
1998-02 Spain José Antonio Camacho
2002-04 Spain Iñaki Sáez
2004-08 Spain Luis Aragonés
2008- Spain Vicente del Bosque

Songs for competitions

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

Series Anthem / Song Performer(s) Writer(s) /
Producer(s)
2002 FIFA World Cup "Vivimos La Selección" Operación Triunfo Kike Santander
UEFA Euro 2004 "Sírvame una Copita" Café Quijano Warner Music
UEFA Euro 2008 "Pasar de cuartos" Pignoise Warner Music
UEFA Euro 2012 "No hay 2 sin 3" Cali & El Dandee ft. David Bisbal Universal Music

See also

Notes

  1. ^ Spanish pronunciation:
    [Selección de fútbol de España] Error: [undefined] Error: {{Lang}}: no text (help): text has italic markup (help) [seleɣˈθjon de ˈfuðβol de esˈpaɲa]
    [La Roja] Error: [undefined] Error: {{Lang}}: no text (help): text has italic markup (help) [la ˈroxa]
    [La Furia Roja] Error: [undefined] Error: {{Lang}}: no text (help): text has italic markup (help) [la ˈfuɾja ˈroxa]
    [La Furia] Error: [undefined] Error: {{Lang}}: no text (help): text has italic markup (help) [la ˈfuɾja]
    [La Furia Española] Error: [undefined] Error: {{Lang}}: no text (help): text has italic markup (help) [la ˈfuɾja espaˈɲola]

References

  1. ^ BBC (17 June 2010). ""La Roja" from Miguel, Spain". Retrieved 30 June 2010.
  2. ^ "La Roja lean to the left". FIFA. 16 June 2009. Retrieved 4 January 2012.
  3. ^ a b c Since 1992, squads for Football at the Summer Olympics have been restricted to three players over the age of 23. The achievements of such teams are not usually included in the statistics of the international team.
  4. ^ "La red social de aficionados de la Selección Española". Juegalaroja.com. Retrieved 24 June 2012.
  5. ^ "Otro junio de ilusión: todos con la Roja". Notas de fútbol. 8 June 2009. Retrieved 4 January 2012. Template:Es icon
  6. ^ "World Football Elo Ratings". Eloratings.net. 16 October 2013. Retrieved 25 October 2013.
  7. ^ Pitt-Brooke, Jack (3 July 2012). "The greatest team of all time: Brazil 1970 v Spain 2012". The Independent. London: The Independent. Retrieved 1 July 2013.
  8. ^ "Euro 2012: Are Spain the best team of all time?". BBC Sport. BBC. Retrieved 14 July 2012.
  9. ^ Klinsmann, Jurgen. "Klinsmann: Spain win over Italy would make them team of century". BBC. Retrieved 14 July 2012.
  10. ^ Carlisle, Jeff. "Why this Spain side is all-time best". ESPN. Retrieved 14 July 2012.
  11. ^ "Spain vs. Italy: Euro 2012 Final Not Enough to Crown Spain Best Ever". Bleacher Report. Retrieved 30 June 2013. {{cite web}}: |first= missing |last= (help)
  12. ^ Hayward, Paul (23 June 2002). "Korean miracle spoilt by refereeing farce". London: Telegraph. Retrieved 24 June 2012.
  13. ^ "Why Spain were anything but boring". CBC.ca. 8 July 2010. Retrieved 4 January 2012. {{cite news}}: Unknown parameter |deadurl= ignored (|url-status= suggested) (help) [dead link]
  14. ^ "Euro 2008 Final Preview: Germany vs Spain". 29 June 2008. Retrieved 13 January 2012.
  15. ^ McNulty, Phil (29 June 2008). "Germany 0–1 Spain". BBC Sport. London. Retrieved 20 August 2009.
  16. ^ Spanish players named in the team of the tournament were: goalkeeper and captain Iker Casillas, defenders Carles Puyol, Carlos Marchena, midfielders Xavi, Cesc Fàbregas, Andrés Iniesta, Marcos Senna and strikers David Villa and Fernando Torres.
  17. ^ "Spain appoint Del Bosque". Sky Sports. 15 July 2008. Retrieved 4 January 2012.
  18. ^ "Villa, mejor goleador de la selección en un año natural" (in Spanish). Marca.com. Retrieved 24 June 2012.
  19. ^ "Spain Hotshot David Villa Delighted With Goal Against England". Goal.com. 12 February 2009. Retrieved 4 January 2012.
  20. ^ "Spain Finish Third in Confederations Cup After Thrilling Finale Against South Africa". Goal.com. 28 June 2009. Retrieved 4 January 2012.
  21. ^ "South Africa place secured". ESPN. 9 September 2009. Retrieved 15 October 2009.
  22. ^ "Perfect record intact". ESPN. 14 October 2009. Retrieved 15 October 2009.
  23. ^ "Forlan and Muller strike gold". FIFA. 11 July 2010. Retrieved 14 July 2010.
  24. ^ a b Smith, Ben (10 June 2012). "Euro 2012: Spain 1–1 Italy". BBC Sport. British Broadcasting Corporation. Retrieved 30 June 2012.
  25. ^ a b c d Chase, Graham (14 June 2012). "Spain 4–0 Republic of Ireland". BBC Sport. British Broadcasting Corporation. Retrieved 30 June 2012.
  26. ^ a b Smith, Ben (18 June 2012). "Croatia 0–1 Spain". BBC Sport. British Broadcasting Corporation. Retrieved 30 June 2012.
  27. ^ a b Sanghera, Mandeep (23 June 2012). "Spain 2–0 France". BBC Sport. British Broadcasting Corporation. Retrieved 30 June 2012.
  28. ^ Rostance, Tom (21 June 2012). "Czech Republic 1–0 Portugal". BBC Sport. British Broadcasting Corporation. Retrieved 30 June 2012.
  29. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n Smith, Ben (27 June 2012). "Portugal 0–0 Spain". BBC Sport. British Broadcasting Corporation. Retrieved 30 June 2012.
  30. ^ a b c d "Spain claim historic win". ESPN Soccernet. ESPN. 1 July 2012. Retrieved 1 July 2012.
  31. ^ Atkin, John (1 July 2012). "Double-winning Del Bosque matches Schön feat". UEFA.com. Union of European Football Associations. Retrieved 1 July 2012.
  32. ^ Atkin, John (2 July 2012). "Del Bosque reflects on 'historic win' for Spain". UEFA.com. Union of European Football Associations. Retrieved 2 July 2012.
  33. ^ "The Preliminary Draw results in full". FIFA. 30 July 2011. Retrieved 5 January 2012.
  34. ^ a b Ladyman, Ian (8 July 2010). "Beat Spain? It's hard enough to get the ball back, say defeated Germany". London: Mail Online. Retrieved 13 July 2010.
  35. ^ Davies, Jed C. (16 July 2012). "Systems Football: The Basics – Tiki-Taka / Totaal-Voetball". EPLindex. London. Retrieved 31 July 2012.
  36. ^ a b Marcotti, Gabriele (14 April 2008). "New coaching breed gives heart to Spain". The Times. London. Retrieved 18 October 2010.
  37. ^ a b Hynter, David (10 June 2008). "Fábregas takes positive view, from the bench". The Guardian. London. Retrieved 13 July 2010.
  38. ^ a b c Lowe, Sid (2 July 2008). "The definitive story of how Aragonés led Spain to Euro 2008 glory". The Guardian. London. Retrieved 13 July 2010.
  39. ^ Pearce, Jonathan (29 June 2008). "If Spain can reign it will be so good for the old game". Sunday Mirror. Retrieved 13 July 2010.
  40. ^ a b Honigstein, Raphael (8 July 2010). "Why Spain were anything but boring". CBC.ca. Retrieved 13 July 2010. {{cite news}}: Unknown parameter |deadurl= ignored (|url-status= suggested) (help) [dead link]
  41. ^ Clegg, Jonathan; Espinoza, Javier (31 March 2010). "Fantasy football comes alive". The Wall Street Journal. Retrieved 13 July 2010.
  42. ^ Lowe, Sid (9 July 2010). "Spain's "Tiki-taka" style dominates". SI.com. Retrieved 13 July 2010.
  43. ^ Royal Spanish Football Federation Home Jersey[dead link]
  44. ^ "Swansea's Michu earns first Spain call-up for final World Cup qualifiers | Football News". Sky Sports. Retrieved 25 October 2013.
  45. ^ "España-Bielorrusia: resumen, goles y resultado". MARCA.com. Retrieved 25 October 2013.
  46. ^ From 1963 to 1993 Spain participated with its amateur team

Squads

Titles

Preceded by European Champions
1964 (First title) 		Succeeded by
Preceded by European Champions
2008 (Second title)
2012 (Third title) 		Incumbent
Preceded by World Champions
2010 (First title) 		Incumbent
Awards
Preceded by FIFA Team of the Year
2008–2012 		Succeeded by
Incumbent
Preceded by Prince of Asturias Award for Sports
2010 		Succeeded by
Preceded by Laureus World Team of the Year
2011 		Succeeded by

External links

Template:FIFA Worldcup Host nations

Template:Link FA

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