Spain national football team

From Simple English Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Spain
Nickname(s)La Furia Roja (The Red Fury)[1]
AssociationReal Federación Española de Fútbol (RFEF)
ConfederationUEFA (Europe)
Head coachLuis Enrique
CaptainSergio Busquets
Most capsSergio Ramos (180)
Top scorerDavid Villa (59)
Home stadiumVarious
FIFA codeESP
First colours
Second colours
FIFA ranking
Current 10 Decrease 3 (22 December 2022)[2]
Highest1 (July 2008 – June 2009, October 2009 – March 2010, July 2010 – July 2011, October 2011 – July 2014)
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
 Spain 1–7 Italy 
(Amsterdam, Netherlands; 4 June 1928)
 England 7–1 Spain 
(London, England; 9 December 1931)
World Cup
Appearances15 (first in 1934)
Best resultChampions (2010)
European Championship
Appearances10 (first in 1964)
Best resultChampions (1964, 2008, 2012)
Confederations Cup
Appearances2 (first in 2009)
Best resultRunners-up, 2013
Medal record

Spain national football team (Spanish: Selección de fútbol de España) is the national football team of Spain. The current head coach is Luis Enrique. The team is often called La Roja ("The Red [One]"), La Furia Roja ("The Red Fury"), La Furia Española ("The Spanish Fury") or just La Furia ("The Fury").

Team history[change | change source]

The Spanish team became a member of FIFA in 1904, even though the team was made in 1909. Spain had their first match on the 8th of August of 1920 against Denmark. Since the team's creation in 1909, they have been in 13 FIFA World Cups, and 9 UEFA European Football Championships.

Spain are three-time European champions, having won the UEFA Euro 2012, UEFA Euro 2008, and 1964 European Championship. From November 2006 through June 2009 Spain went undefeated for 35 matches, a record shared with Brazil. Spain are one of the eight national teams to have won the FIFA World Cup; they won their first at the 2010 World Cup in South Africa when they defeated the Netherlands 1–0 after extra time. Andrés Iniesta scored the winning goal in the 116th minute.

The team's achievements have led to many commentators and football experts naming them one of the best international sides in football history.

Most appearances[change | change source]

As of September 11th of 2022

# Player Period Caps Goals
1 Sergio Ramos 2005-2021 180 23
2 Casillas 2000-2016 167 0
3 Sergio Busquets 2009- 137 2
4 Xavi 2000-2014 133 12
5 Andres Iniesta 2006-2018 131 14
6 Andoni Zubizarreta 1985-1998 126 0
7 David Silva 2006-2018 125 35
8 Xabi Alonso 2003-2014 114 16
9= Cesc Fabregas 2006-2016 110 15
9= Fernando Torres 2003-2014 110 38
  • If a player's name is in bold, that means that they are still playing international football.

Top scorers[change | change source]

As of 27 June 2016
# Player Period Goals Caps Average
1 David Villa 2005–2014 59 97 0.61
2 Raúl 1996–2006 44 102 0.43
3 Fernando Torres 2003– 38 110 0.35
4 Fernando Hierro 1989–2002 29 89 0.33
5 Fernando Morientes 1998–2007 27 47 0.57
6 Emilio Butragueño 1984–1992 26 69 0.38
7 David Silva 2006–2016 24 103 0.23
8 Alfredo Di Stefano 1957–1961 23 31 0.74
9 Julio Salinas 1986–1996 22 56 0.39
10 Míchel 1985–1992 21 66 0.32

References[change | change source]

  1. ""La Roja"". 17 June 2010. Retrieved 30 June 2010.
  2. "The FIFA/Coca-Cola World Ranking". FIFA. 22 December 2022. Retrieved 22 December 2022.
  3. 3.0 3.1 Since 1992, squads for Football at the Summer Olympics have been restricted to three players over the age of 23, which Javier will play in 2016. The achievements of such teams are not usually included in the statistics of the international team.
  4. Elo rankings change compared to one year ago. "World Football Elo Ratings". eloratings.net. 3 March 2019. Retrieved 3 March 2019.