Spain national under-21 football team

Spain national under-21 football team
Medal record
U-21 European Championship

Spain U-21
Nickname	La Rojita (The Little Red One)
Association	Real Federación Española de Fútbol (RFEF)
Confederation	UEFA (Europe)
Head coach	David Gordo
Captain	Cristhian Mosquera
Most caps	Gerard Deulofeu (36)
Top scorer	Gerard Deulofeu (17)
FIFA code	ESP
First colours	Second colours
First international
	Yugoslavia 4–1 Spain ; (Zagreb, Yugoslavia; 9 October 1976)
Biggest win
	Spain 14–0 San Marino ; (El Ejido, Spain; 8 February 2005)
Biggest defeat
	Netherlands 5–0 Spain ; (Utrecht, Netherlands; 16 February 1983) Records for competitive matches only.
UEFA U-21 Championship
Appearances	17 (first in 1982)
Best result	Winners (1986, 1998, 2011, 2013, 2019)
Medal record
Medal record
U-21 European Championship

The Spain national under-21 football team is the national under-21 football team of Spain and is controlled by the Royal Spanish Football Federation. The team, nicknamed La Rojita (The Little Red),^[1] competes in the biennial UEFA European Under-21 Championship.

Following the realignment of UEFA's youth competitions in 1976, the Spain under-21 team was formed. Spain has a strong record (competition winners five times and runners-up twice); having consecutively won the 2011 and 2013 Championships. They hold the joint record with Italy for the most wins of the competition.

Since the under-21 competition rules insist that players must be 21 or under at the start of a two-year competition, technically it is an U-23 competition. For this reason, Spain's brief record in the preceding U-23 competitions is also shown, though in actuality, Spain played only three competitive U-23 matches. The first was in the "under-23 Challenge", which they lost, while the next two were in a two-team qualification "group" for the 1972 competition (facing the Soviet Union team, they lost 2–1 at home then drew 1–1 away and failed to qualify. Spain did not enter a team in the other two U-23 competitions, but have been ever present in under-21 competitions).

Spain's youth development programs has been challenging the South American dominance in the FIFA U-17 World Championship and the FIFA U-20 World Cup. In fact, 20 of the Spanish 23-man squad that won the Euro 2008 came through the ranks of the youth teams; most of them had won titles at the youth level as well.

Competitive record

UEFA European Under-21 Championship record

Year	Round	GP	W	D*	L	GS	GA
1978	Qualifying Stage	4	2	0	2	5	8
1980	Qualifying Stage	4	1	2	1	4	2
1982	Quarter-finals	6	5	0	1	14	5
1984	Runners-up	10	5	2	3	11	11
1986	Champions	10	7	1	2	18	9
1988	Quarter-finals	8	4	2	2	10	4
1990	Quarter-finals	6	4	0	2	5	4
1992	Qualifying Stage	7	3	2	2	6	5
1994	Third Place	12	9	2	1	21	9
1996	Runners-up	14	10	3	1	34	14
1998	Champions	11	10	1	0	21	6
2000	Third Place	14	11	3	0	31	7
2002	Qualification Playoffs	10	6	1	3	15	9
2004	Qualification Playoffs	10	6	2	2	17	5
2006	Qualifying Stage	10	6	2	2	37	8
2007	Qualification Playoffs	4	2	1	1	8	4
2009	Group Stage	13	10	1	2	27	7
2011	Champions	15	12	2	1	31	8
2013	Champions	15	14	1	0	47	5
2015	Qualification Playoffs	10	7	2	1	25	8
2017	Runners-up	15	11	2	2	43	12
2019	Champions	15	13	0	2	45	16
2021	Semifinals	15	12	2	1	27	3
2023	Runners-up	13	12	1	1	50	10
2025	Quarter-finals	14	11	2	1	35	12
Total	17/25	252	181	36	35	537	181

*Denotes draws including knockout matches decided on penalty kicks.

Gold background color indicates first-place finish. Silver background color indicates second-place finish. Bronze background color indicates third-place finish.
Red border color indicates tournament was held on home soil.

Individual awards

Spanish players have won individual awards at UEFA European Under-21 Football Championship.

Year	Golden Player	Golden Boot
1986	Manolo Sanchís
1998	Francesc Arnau
2011	Juan Mata	Adrián
2013	Thiago	Álvaro Morata
2017	Dani Ceballos	Saúl
2019	Fabián Ruiz
2023		Sergio Gómez

Player records

Top appearances

Rank	Player	Club(s)	Year(s)	U-21 Caps
1	Gerard Deulofeu	Barcelona, Everton, Sevilla, Milan	2012–2017	36
2	Borja Mayoral	Real Madrid, VfL Wolfsburg, Levante	2015–2019	31
	Jorge Meré	Sporting Gijón, FC Köln	2015–2019	31
	Iker Muniain	Athletic Bilbao	2011–2014	31
5	Dani Ceballos	Betis, Real Madrid	2015–2019	29
	Beñat Turrientes	Real Sociedad	2021–2025	29
7	Santi Denia	Albacete, Atlético Madrid	1992–1996	27
	David de Gea	Atlético Madrid, Manchester United	2009–2013	27
	Abel Ruiz	Barcelona, Sporting Braga	2019–2023	27
10	Diego Capel	Sevilla	2007–2011	25
	Mikel Oyarzabal	Real Sociedad	2017–2019	25
	Saúl	Atlético Madrid, Rayo Vallecano	2013–2017	25
	Xavi	Barcelona	1998–2001	25

Note: Club(s) represents all the clubs that players played in at the time they did it too in the Under-21s.

Top goalscorers

Rank	Player	Club(s)	Year(s)	U-21 Goals
1	Gerard Deulofeu	Barcelona, Everton, Sevilla, Milan	2012–2017	17
2	Borja Mayoral	Real Madrid, VfL Wolfsburg, Levante	2015–2019	16
3	Rodrigo	Benfica	2011–2013	15
4	Isco	Málaga, Real Madrid	2011–2014	14
5	Álvaro Morata	Real Madrid, Juventus	2013–2014	13
	Abel Ruiz	Barcelona, Sporting Braga	2019–2023	13
7	Óscar	Barcelona, Albacete	1992–1996	12
8	Munir	Barcelona	2014–2016	10
9	Pablo Couñago	Celta, Recreativo, Ipswich Town	1999–2001	9
	Adrián	Deportivo, Alavés, Málaga, Atlético Madrid	2007–2011	9
	Saúl	Atlético Madrid, Rayo Vallecano	2013–2017	9

Note: Club(s) represents all the clubs that players played in at the time they did it too in the Under-21s.

Caps and goals correct as of 21 June 2025.

Recent results

Date	Competition	Location	Opponent	Result	Scorers
8 September 2023	2025 UEFA U-21 qualification	Paola, Malta	Malta	6–0	Diego López 5', Gabri Veiga 14', 18', Ilias 49', Pablo Torre 70', Turrientes 88'
11 September 2023	2025 UEFA U-21 qualification	Jaén, Spain	Scotland	1–0	Turrientes 83'
13 October 2023	Friendly	Tashkent, Uzbekistan	Uzbekistan	0–0
17 October 2023	2025 UEFA U-21 qualification	Astana, Kazakhstan	Kazakhstan	4–0	Fermín López 11', Diego López 54', Fran Pérez 56', Omorodion 90'
17 November 2023	2025 UEFA U-21 qualification	Huelva, Spain	Hungary	2–0	Carlos Martín 36', Pablo Torre 67'
21 November 2023	2025 UEFA U-21 qualification	Leuven, Belgium	Belgium	1–1	Omorodion 66'
21 March 2024	Friendly	Jerez, Spain	Slovakia	0–2
26 March 2024	2025 UEFA U-21 qualification	Almería, Spain	Belgium	1–0	Joseph 88'
6 September 2024	2025 UEFA U-21 qualification	Edinburgh, Scotland	Scotland	2–1	Huijsen 59', Joseph 69'
10 September 2024	2025 UEFA U-21 qualification	Szeged, Hungary	Hungary	1–0	Navarro 20'
10 October 2024	2025 UEFA U-21 qualification	La Línea, Spain	Kazakhstan	4–3	Joseph 15', 23', 44', Turrientes 20'
15 October 2024	2025 UEFA U-21 qualification	Algeciras, Spain	Malta	6–0	Omorodion 5', 37', 39', 45+1', Peque 56', Fernández 76'
15 November 2024	Friendly	La Línea, Spain	England	0–0
19 November 2024	Friendly	Albacete, Spain	Denmark	2–1	Javi Guerra 13', Joseph 26'
21 March 2025	Friendly	Lorca, Spain	Czech Republic	2–2	Joseph 10', Tárrega 81'
25 March 2025	Friendly	Darmstadt, Germany	Germany	1–3	Gabri Veiga 19'
6 June 2025	Friendly	Alcorcón, Spain	Ukraine	0–1
11 June 2025	2025 UEFA U-21	Bratislava, Slovakia	Slovakia	3–2	Pubill 10', Joseph 18', Tárrega 90'
14 June 2025	2025 UEFA U-21	Bratislava, Slovakia	Romania	2–1	Jauregizar 85', Fernández 88'
17 June 2025	2025 UEFA U-21	Trnava, Slovakia	Italy	1–1	Jesús Rodríguez 53'
21 June 2025	2025 UEFA U-21	Trnava, Slovakia	England	1–3	Javi Guerra 39' (pen.)
5 September 2025	2027 UEFA U-21 qualification	Soria, Spain	Cyprus	3–0	Obrador 45+1', Yarek 74', Pablo García 85'
9 September 2025	2027 UEFA U-21 qualification	Pristina, Kosovo	Kosovo	3–0	Joel Roca 11', Iker Bravo 70', Adrián Niño 90+5'
10 October 2025	Friendly	Guadalajara, Spain	Norway	4–1	Simo 16', Ángel Ortiz 31', Gonzalo 44', Miguel Carvalho 61'
14 October 2025	2027 UEFA U-21 qualification	Castellón, Spain	Finland	2–1	Mayenda 90', Gonzalo 90+3'
14 November 2025	2027 UEFA U-21 qualification	Lugo, Spain	San Marino	7–0	Virgili 19', 52', Miguel Carvalho 45', Iker Bravo 68', Guiu 76', Jesús Rodríguez 79', Pablo García 87'
18 November 2025	2027 UEFA U-21 qualification	Sibiu, Romania	Romania	2–0	Gonzalo 17', Fresneda 53'

Forthcoming fixtures

Date	Competition	Location	Opponent

2027 UEFA European Under-21 Championship

Group phase

Pos	Team v t e	Pld	W	D	L	GF	GA	GD	Pts	Qualification
1	Spain	5	5	0	0	17	2	+15	15	Final tournament	—	2–1	31 Mar '26	6 Oct '26	3–0	7–0
2	Finland	5	3	1	1	15	2	+13	10	Play-offs	25 Sep '26	—	0–0	2–0	31 Mar '26	7–0
3	Kosovo	5	2	2	1	12	3	+9	8		1–3	6 Oct '26	—	27 Mar '26	30 Sep '26	7–0
4	Romania	5	2	1	2	4	4	0	7		0–2	30 Sep '26	0–0	—	2–0	31 Mar '26
5	Cyprus	5	1	0	4	5	14	−9	3		27 Mar '26	0–5	0–4	25 Sep '26	—	6 Oct '26
6	San Marino	5	0	0	5	0	28	−28	0		30 Sep '26	26 Mar '26	25 Sep '26	0–2	0–5	—

Updated to match(es) played on 18 November 2025. Source: UEFA
Rules for classification: Tiebreakers

Players

Players born in 2004 or later are eligible for the 2027 UEFA European Under-21 Championship. Players in bold have been already capped with the senior team.

Current squad

The following players were named in the squad for the 2027 UEFA European Under-21 Championship qualification match against San Marino and Romania on 14 and 18 November 2025, respectively.^[2]

Caps and goals as of 18 November 2025, after the match against Romania.

Pos.	Player	Date of birth (age)	Caps	Goals	Club
1GK	Salvi Esquivel	(2005-09-30) 30 September 2005 (age 20)	2	0	Atlético Madrid
1GK	Fran González	(2005-06-24) 24 June 2005 (age 20)	2	0	Real Madrid
1GK	Bruno Iribarne	(2004-08-18) 18 August 2004 (age 21)	1	0	Almería

2DF	Cristhian Mosquera (captain)	(2004-06-27) 27 June 2004 (age 21)	15	0	Arsenal
2DF	Rafael Obrador	(2004-02-24) 24 February 2004 (age 21)	5	1	Benfica
2DF	Álex Valle	(2004-04-25) 25 April 2004 (age 21)	5	0	Como
2DF	Yarek Gasiorowski	(2005-01-12) 12 January 2005 (age 20)	4	1	PSV
2DF	Iván Fresneda	(2004-09-28) 28 September 2004 (age 21)	3	1	Sporting
2DF	Jacobo Ramón	(2005-01-06) 6 January 2005 (age 20)	3	0	Como
2DF	Jon Martín	(2006-04-23) 23 April 2006 (age 19)	2	0	Real Sociedad

3MF	Chema Andrés	(2005-04-25) 25 April 2005 (age 20)	5	0	Stuttgart
3MF	Peio Canales	(2005-01-17) 17 January 2005 (age 20)	4	0	Racing Santander
3MF	Mario Martín	(2004-03-05) 5 March 2004 (age 21)	4	0	Getafe
3MF	Rodri Mendoza	(2005-03-15) 15 March 2005 (age 20)	4	0	Elche
3MF	Miguel Carvalho	(2005-03-09) 9 March 2005 (age 20)	3	2	Al-Hazem

4FW	Eliezer Mayenda	(2005-05-08) 8 May 2005 (age 20)	8	1	Sunderland
4FW	Jesús Rodríguez	(2005-11-21) 21 November 2005 (age 20)	8	2	Como
4FW	Iker Bravo	(2005-01-13) 13 January 2005 (age 20)	6	2	Udinese
4FW	Gonzalo García	(2004-03-24) 24 March 2004 (age 21)	6	3	Real Madrid
4FW	Pablo García	(2006-06-13) 13 June 2006 (age 19)	4	2	Real Betis
4FW	Marc Guiu	(2006-01-04) 4 January 2006 (age 19)	2	1	Chelsea
4FW	Jan Virgili	(2006-07-26) 26 July 2006 (age 19)	2	2	Mallorca

Recent call-ups

The following players have been called up within the last twelve months are still eligible for selection.

Pos.	Player	Date of birth (age)	Caps	Goals	Club	Latest call-up
GK	Ander Astralaga	(2004-03-03) 3 March 2004 (age 21)	2	0	Granada	v. Finland, 14 October 2025

DF	Álex Jiménez	(2005-05-08) 8 May 2005 (age 20)	3	0	Bournemouth	v. Romania, 18 November 2025 ^INJ
DF	Simo Keddari	(2005-02-03) 3 February 2005 (age 20)	3	1	Al-Arabi	v. Finland, 14 October 2025
DF	Juanma Herzog	(2004-05-13) 13 May 2004 (age 21)	4	0	Las Palmas	v. England, 21 June 2025
DF	Dean Huijsen	(2005-04-14) 14 April 2005 (age 20)	7	1	Real Madrid	v. Czech Republic, 21 March 2025

MF	Gerard Hernández	(2005-05-31) 31 May 2005 (age 20)	4	0	Al-Arabi	v. Finland, 14 October 2025
MF	Fer López	(2004-05-24) 24 May 2004 (age 21)	3	0	Wolverhampton	v. Finland, 14 October 2025
MF	Pau Prim	(2006-02-22) 22 February 2006 (age 19)	1	0	Al-Sadd	v. Finland, 14 October 2025
MF	Marc Bernal	(2007-05-26) 26 May 2007 (age 18)	0	0	Barcelona	v. Norway, 10 October 2025 ^INJ
MF	Stefan Bajčetić	(2004-10-22) 22 October 2004 (age 21)	5	0	Liverpool	v. Germany, 25 March 2025

FW	Ángel Ortiz	(2004-07-25) 25 July 2004 (age 21)	3	1	Real Betis	v. Finland, 14 October 2025
FW	Dani Rodríguez	(2005-08-09) 9 August 2005 (age 20)	2	0	Barcelona B	v. Finland, 14 October 2025
FW	Sergio Rodelas	(2004-12-01) 1 December 2004 (age 21)	2	0	Granada	v. Finland, 14 October 2025
FW	Matias Fernandez-Pardo	(2005-02-03) 3 February 2005 (age 20)	0	0	Lille	v. Norway, 10 October 2025 ^INJ
FW	Adrián Niño	(2004-06-19) 19 June 2004 (age 21)	1	1	Málaga	v. Kosovo, 9 September 2025
FW	Joel Roca	(2005-06-07) 7 June 2005 (age 20)	2	1	Girona	v. Kosovo, 9 September 2025

Honours

Titles

UEFA European Under-21 Championship
- Champions (5): 1986, 1998, 2011, 2013, 2019. (Shared Record)
- Runners-up (4): 1984, 1996, 2017, 2023.
- Third place (3): 1994, 2000, 2021

Former squads

Notes

References

^ "La sub 21 regresa al lugar donde nació el 'tiqui-taca'" [The under-21 team returns to the birthplace of tiki-taka] (in Spanish). Marca. 9 June 2011.
^ "Esta es la lista de David Gordo para los compromisos de Noviembre" (in Spanish). Royal Spanish Football Federation. 7 November 2025.

External links

[1] "La sub 21 regresa al lugar donde nació el 'tiqui-taca'" [The under-21 team returns to the birthplace of tiki-taka] (in Spanish). Marca. 9 June 2011.

[2] "Esta es la lista de David Gordo para los compromisos de Noviembre" (in Spanish). Royal Spanish Football Federation. 7 November 2025.

[1]

[2]

v t e Spain national football team
General	History Managers Kits
Venues	Ciudad del Fútbol Home venues
Statistics	Results and fixtures Head-to-head Records and statistics Hat-tricks
Results	1920–39 1940–49 1950–59 1960–69 1970–79 1980–89 1990–99 2000–09 2010–19 2020–29 Unofficial matches
Players	20+ caps Captains Championships squads Naturalized
Goals	David Villa (1) Raúl (2) Fernando Torres (3) Alfredo Di Stéfano
World Cup Finals	Summary 1934 1950 1962 1966 1978 1982 1986 1990 1994 1998 2002 2006 2010 2014 2018 2022
UEFA Euro Finals	Summary 1964 1980 1984 1988 1996 2000 2004 2008 2012 2016 2020 2024
Other tournaments	Olympics Nations League Confederations Cup
Rivalries	France Italy Portugal
Culture	Tiki-taka Manolo el del bombo Spain 12–1 Malta
Youth teams	B team U-23 U-21 U-20 U-19 U-18 U-17 U-16 U-15