Spain national football team

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The Spain national football team, commonly referred to as la Selección (Spanish for "The Selection"), is the national football team of Spain and is controlled by the Real Federación Española de Fútbol.

Spain has underachieved in the World Cup, with their best finish being fourth place in 1950 (while at the end of World War II, international interest in the tournament was lacking and only 13 teams participated, with a final group stage, rather than knock-out finals, deciding the top four placings) despite often being among the pre-tournament favorites. Their current FIFA ranking is 7th. They did win the gold medal when they hosted the 1992 Summer Olympics in Barcelona, and in the 1999 World Youth Championship in Nigeria.

History

Early Years

Spain made their international debut in 1920 at the Olympic Games in Belgium and came away with the silver medal. They played their first home international in 1921, beating Belgium 2-0 in Bilbao. They also became the first non-British side to beat England when they won a friendly in Madrid 4-3 in 1929.

European Champions

In 1962 José Villalonga was appointed coach of Spain and in 1964 they won the European Championship. With a squad that included Luis Suárez, Francisco Gento, Josep Fuste and José Ángel Iribar, Spain beat Romania, Northern Ireland and the Republic of Ireland in the qualifying rounds before hosting the semi-finals and final. In the semi-final Spain beat Hungary 2-1. In the final beat the USSR 2-1 in front of a crowd of 125,000 at the Bernabéu. Jesus María Pereda put Spain ahead after just six minutes but they needed a late Marcelino Martínez header to win it after Galimzian Khusainov equalised with a free-kick.

Euro 2004

At Euro 2004, Spain were drawn into group A with Portugal, Russia and Greece. The Spanish team were touted as heavy favorites for the 2004 crown by the European media. They were also expected heavy favorites to qualify from their group. On June 12th, Spain expectedly defeated Russia, 1-0. Four days later Spain faced Greece. Determined to win, Spain led the match until Greece scored an equalizer and the match ended 1-1. In their last game against Portugal, Spain needed to win to qualify for the quarterfinals. However a goal from Nuno Gomes faded Spain's hopes of advancing. The same day Greece were defeated 2-1 by Russia but moved ahead to claim second place on goal difference. As a result Spain were eliminated from Euro 2004. Portugal and Greece both went all the way to the final in which Greece beat Portugal to claim the title.

World Cup record

• 1930 - Did not enter
• 1934 - Quarterfinals
• 1938 - Withdrew due to civil war
• 1950 - Semifinals (Fourth place)
• 1954 - Did not qualify
• 1958 - Did not qualify
• 1962 - Round 1
• 1966 - Round 1
• 1970 - Did not qualify
• 1974 - Did not qualify
• 1978 - Round 1
• 1982 - Round 2
• 1986 - Quarterfinals
• 1990 - Round 2
• 1994 - Quarterfinals
• 1998 - Round 1
• 2002 - Quarterfinals
• 2006 - Round 2

European Championship record

• 1960 - Withdrew during qualifying
• 1964 - Champions
• 1968 to 1976 - Did not qualify
• 1980 - Round 1
• 1984 - Runners-up
• 1988 - Round 1
• 1992 - Did not qualify
• 1996 - Quarterfinals
• 2000 - Quarterfinals
• 2004 - Round 1

Forthcoming fixtures

• Friendly: Spain 0-0 Russia, May 27 at Carlos Belmonte Stadium, Albacete
• Friendly: Spain 2-0 Egypt, June 3 at Manuel Martínez Valero Stadium, Elche
• Friendly: Spain 2-1 Croatia, June 7 at Stade de Genève, Geneva
• 2006 World Cup Group H:
• *Spain 4-0 Ukraine, 14 June at Zentralstadion, Leipzig (15:00 UTC)
• *Spain 3-1 Tunisia, 19 June at Gottlieb-Daimler-Stadion, Stuttgart (21:00 UTC)
• *Saudi Arabia 0-1 Spain , 23 June at Fritz Walter Stadion, Kaiserslautern (16:00 UTC)
• *Round of 16: Spain 1-3 France, 27 June at AWD-Arena, Hanover (19:00 UTC)
• Friendly: Iceland v Spain, August 16
• Euro 2008 Qualifying Group F:
• *Spain v Liechtenstein, September 2
• *Northern Ireland v Spain, September 6
• *Sweden v Spain, October 7
• *Spain v Denmark, March 24, 2007
• *Spain v Iceland, March 28
• *Latvia v Spain, June 2
• *Liechtenstein v Spain, June 6
• *Iceland v Spain, September 8
• *Spain v Latvia, September 12
• *Denmark v Spain, October 13
• *Spain v Sweden, November 17
• *Spain v Northern Ireland, November 21

Famous past players

• Paulino Alcántara (also played for the Philippines)
• Amancio Amaro
• Emilio Butragueño
• José Antonio Camacho
• Alfredo Di Stefano (also played for Argentina and Colombia)
• Francisco Gento
• Fernando Hierro
• Luis Enrique
• Pep Guardiola
• Ladislao Kubala (also played for Hungary and Czechoslovakia)
• Michel
• Agustín Gaínza
• Miguel Ángel Nadal
• Ferenc Puskás (also played for Hungary)
• José Santamaria (also played for Uruguay)
• Luis Suarez
• Ricardo Zamora
• Zarra
• Andoni Zubizarreta
• Luis Arconada
• Jesus Maria Satrustegui

Current players

WC06 indicates player included in 2006 World Cup squad.

Goalkeepers

• Santiago Cañizares WC06
• Íker Casillas WC06
• Pepe Reina WC06
• Víctor Valdés

Defenders

• Antonio López Guerrero WC06
• Raúl Bravo
• Joan Capdevila
• Asier del Horno
• Juanito Gutiérrez WC06
• Carlos Marchena WC06
• Pablo Ibáñez WC06
• Mariano Pernía WC06
• Carles Puyol WC06
• Michel Salgado WC06
• Sergio Ramos García WC06
• Javi Venta

Midfielders

• Davil Albelda WC06
• Xabi Alonso WC06
• Miguel Ángel '''Angulo
• Rubén Baraja
• Cani, Rubén Gracia Calmache
• Iván de la Peña
• Joseba Etxeberría
• Cesc Fàbregas WC06
• Guti, José María Gutiérrez
• Andrés Iniesta WC06
• Joaquín Sánchez WC06
• Luis Javier García Sanz WC06
• Pablo Orbaiz
• José Antonio Reyes WC06
• Marcos Senna WC06
• Vicente Rodríguez
• Xavi Hernández WC06
• Francisco Yeste

Strikers

• Mista, Miguel Ángel Ferrer Martínez
• Fernando Morientes WC06
• Raúl González WC06
• Iván Riki, Iván Sánchez Rico Soto
• Fernando Torres WC06
• Diego Tristán
• Davil Villa WC06

For squad, see 2006 FIFA World Cup (squads).

Spain won their opening game of group H over Ukraine in a comfortable 4-0 result. 2 goals from David Villa and one each for Fernando Torres and Xabi Alonso made up Spain's 4. The first penalty of the tournament was awarded after Vladislav Vaschuk was sent off for pulling on Torres. Spain won their second game against Tunisia 3-1. A goal in the 12th minute through Mnari Jaouhar put Tunisia ahead, but Spain finally scored through Raúl in the 71st min and Fernando Torres in the 76th min. Fernando Torres scored from the penalty spot in injury time to get his second goal in the game. Spain beat Saudi Arabia by 1-0 in Kaiserslautern on the 23 June. However Spain lost 3-1 in the Round of 16 to France. Spain and Brazil shares the 2006 FIFA Fair Play Award.

Starting Line-Up and Formation

• 4-3-3 formation
• June 14, 2006 vs. Ukraine

Player records

Most capped Spain players

As of June 19, 2006, the ten players with the most caps for Spain are:

#	Name	Career	Caps	Goals
1	Andoni Zubizarreta	1985-1998	126	100 (Conceded)
2	Raul González*	1996-	99	44
3	Fernando Hierro	1989-2002	89	29
4	José Antonio Camacho	1975-1988	81	0
5	Rafael Gordillo Vázquez	1978-1988	75	3
6	Emilio Butragueño	1984-1992	69	26
7	Luis Arconada	1977-1985	68	62 (Conceded)
8	José Miguel González Martín	1985-1992	66	21
9	Luis Enrique	1991-2002	62	12
10	Miguel Ángel Nadal	1991-2002	62	3

Top Spain goalscorers

#	Player	Career	Goals (Caps)
1	Raul González	1996-	44 (99)
2	Fernando Hierro	1989-2002	29 (89)
3	Fernando Morientes	1998-	26 (43)
4	Emilio Butragueño	1984-1992	26 (89)
5	Alfredo Di Stéfano	1957-1961	23 (31)
6	Julio Salinas	1986-1996	23 (56)
7	José Miguel González Martín	1985-1992	21 (66)
8	Telmo Zarraonaindía	1945-1951	20 (20)
9	Isidro Lángara	1932-1936	17 (12)
10	Luis Regueiro	1927-1936	16 (25)
11	José Martínez Sánchez	1966-1978	16 (41)
12	Carlos Alonso González	1975-1985	15 (56)
13	Luis Suárez	1957-1972	14 (23)
14	Estanislao Basora	1949-1957	13 (22)
15	Fernando Torres	2004-	13 (34)
16	Julen Guerrero	1993-	13 (41)
17	Joseba Etxeberría	1997-	12 (53)
18	Luis Enrique	1991-2002	12 (62)
19	Ladislao Kubala	1953-1961	11 (19)
20	Alfonso Pérez Muñoz	1992-2000	11 (38)
21	Amancio Amaro	1962-1974	11 (42)

Selected Managers

• Pedro Parages, 1923-1924
• Paulino Alcántara,1951
• Ricardo Zamora, 1952
• Pedro Escartín Morán, 1952-1961
• José Villalonga, 1962-1966
• Domingo Balmanya, 1966-1968
• Luis Molowny, 1969
• Miguel Muñoz, 1969, 1982-1988
• Ladislao Kubala, 1969-1980
• José Santamaria, 1980-1982
• Luis Suárez, 1988-1991
• Javier Clemente, 1992-1998
• José Antonio Camacho, 1998-2002
• Iñaki Sáez, 2002-2004
• Luis Aragonés, 2004-present

• see also List of Spain national football team managers and

External links

• [World cup spain]
• [RFEF site]
• [RSSSF archive of results 1920-]
• [RSSSF archive of player records]
• [The confirmation of Luis Aragonés' preliminary squad]

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