The Spain national football team, nicknamed La Roja, represents Spain in men's international football competitions since 1920, and is governed by the Royal Spanish Football Federation. They are the reigning World and European champions, having won the most recent FIFA World Cup in 2026 and the latest UEFA European Championship in 2024. Spain also won the World Cup in 2010, and won the UEFA Nations League in 2023. They have competed in 12 of the 17 UEFA European Championships and have won a record four titles. They are one of two European national teams, the other being France, to have won all three available major titles: the World Cup, the European Championship, and the Nations League.
The achievements of Spain's team from 2008 to 2012 have led many experts and commentators to consider them one of the best squads in football history. During this period, Spain became the first national team to win three consecutive major titles, including the World Cup in 2010 and back-to-back European Championships in 2008 and 2012. Spain has won the FIFA Team of the Year award seven times, including every year from 2008 to 2013.
Spain holds the world record of the longest undefeated streak in men's international football, having played 42 consecutive matches since March 2024 without a loss. This streak gave them the highest ever Elo rating, surpassing the 1954 Golden Team from Hungary. Following their 2026 World Cup victory, Spain became the first national team to hold the men’s and women’s World Cup titles simultaneously and the first national team to win multiple World Cup titles in the 21st century.
History
Spain has been a member of FIFA since its founding in 1904, although the Spanish Football Federation was not established until 1909. The first Spain national football team was created in 1920 to compete the 1920 Summer Olympics in Belgium. Spain made their debut at the tournament on 28 August 1920 against Denmark, silver medalists at the last two Olympic tournaments. Spain won the match 1–0 and eventually finished with the silver medal.
Spain qualified for their first FIFA World Cup in 1934. They defeated Brazil in their first game before losing in the quarter-finals to eventual champions Italy. 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. At the 1950 World Cup in Brazil, Spain topped their group and finished fourth in the tournament. Until 2010, this was Spain's highest finish at the World Cup.
Spain won its first major international title when it hosted the 1964 European Nations' Cup, defeating the Soviet Union 2–1 in the final at the Santiago Bernabéu Stadium. The victory would stand as Spain's lone major title for 44 years. Spain was selected as host of the 1982 FIFA World Cup, reaching the second round and four years later they reached the quarter-finals before a penalty shootout defeat to Belgium. At UEFA Euro 1984, they lost the final against France. Spain reached the quarter-finals of the 1994 World Cup. The match became controversial when Italian defender Mauro Tassotti struck Luis Enrique with his elbow inside Italy's penalty area, causing Luis Enrique to bleed profusely from his nose and mouth, but it was not noticed nor sanctioned by referee Sándor Puhl. Had the official awarded a foul, Spain would have received a penalty kick. In the 2002 World Cup, Spain won its three group play matches, then defeated the Republic of Ireland on penalties in the second round. They faced co-hosts South Korea in the quarter-finals, losing in a shootout after having two goals controversially called back for alleged infractions during regular and extra time.
At UEFA Euro 2008, Spain won all their games in Group D. Italy were the opponents in the quarter-finals, where Spain won 4–2 on penalties. They then met Russia again in the semi-finals, beating them 3–0. In the final, Spain defeated Germany 1–0, with Fernando Torres scoring the only goal of the game, as Spain won their first major title since the 1964 European Championship. Xavi was awarded the player of the tournament. The following year the side finished third at the 2009 FIFA Confederations Cup breaking their 35-match unbeaten streak that began in November 2006 after a loss to the United States. In the 2010 World Cup, Spain advanced to the final for the first time ever by defeating Germany 1–0. In the decisive match against the Netherlands, Andrés Iniesta scored the match's only goal, coming in extra time. Spain became the third team to win a World Cup outside their own continent, and the first European team to do so. They then qualified for UEFA Euro 2012, finishing on top of Group I with a perfect 100% record. They became the first team to retain the European Championship, winning the final 4–0 against Italy, while Fernando Torres won the Golden Boot for top scorer of the tournament.
Spain advanced to the final of the 2013 FIFA Confederations Cup, losing to hosts Brazil, and the following year they were eliminated from the group stage of the 2014 World Cup. At Euro 2016 and the 2018 World Cup, the side were eliminated in the round of 16 in both tournaments, losing to Italy 2–0 and Russia 4–3 on penalties after a 1–1 draw. In the UEFA Euro 2020, held in 2021 after the COVID-19 pandemic caused delays, Spain made a breakthrough, reaching the last four of a major tournament for the first time since 2012, before losing to eventual champions Italy 4–2 on penalties after a 1–1 draw. The team finished the tournament with two wins and four draws (including two penalty shootouts). The same year they managed to reach the Nations League final, losing against France. In the 2022 World Cup, Spain finished second in their group before losing to Morocco 3–0 on penalties after a 0–0 draw, their third consecutive elimination from a major tournament in penalty shootouts.
Spain finished first in their group in UEFA Euro 2024 without conceding a goal, and went on to defeat Georgia in the round of 16 by a score of 4–1. They eventually eliminated hosts Germany in the quarter-finals with a 2–1 win and defeated France in the semi-finals with the same result, qualifying for their fifth European Championship final, where they won their record-breaking fourth European title by defeating England 2–1. Spain became the first team to win all seven matches in a single European Championship tournament, while setting a new record of 15 goals scored in a single European Championship.
Spain continued its success during the 2024–25 UEFA Nations League, where they defeated Netherlands in the quarter-finals and then France in the semi-finals, thus reaching their second consecutive UEFA Nations League final and their third overall appearance, with some commentators drawing similarities to Spain's previous "golden age". With their victory over France, Spain extended their undefeated record to 23 matches.
Spain qualified for the 2026 FIFA World Cup after placing first in their group. During their 1–0 victory over Portugal in the round of 16, Spain's goalkeeper Unai Simón achieved a record sixth consecutive match without conceding a goal, surpassing the previous record of five matches set by Walter Zenga in 1990. The victory matched the country's previous record of 36th consecutive undefeated streak, having last lost against Colombia in a friendly match in March 2024. After defeating Belgium 2–1 in the quarter-finals, Spain advanced to the semi-finals for the second time in their history, and the first time since achieving their World Cup title in 2010. Spain achieved a 2–0 victory over France in the semi-finals, advancing to the World Cup final for the second time in their history. They defeated Argentina 1–0 in the final with a goal from Ferran Torres in the 106th minute, claiming their second World Cup title.
Team image Nicknames Spain's team was known in the past by some fans as "La Furia Española", ; this nickname was originally given by a Dutch newspaper, recalling the "Sack of Antwerp" – an episode in the military history of Spain. More modernly, the team is called "La Roja" (). It's called "La Furia Roja" (), only by foreign journalists.
Style of play
Between 2008 and 2012, the team played a style of football dubbed 'tiki-taka', a systems approach to football founded upon the ideal of team unity and a comprehensive understanding in the geometry of space on a football field.
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", a "short passing style in which the ball is worked carefully through various channels", and a "nonsensical phrase that has come to mean short passing, patience and possession above all else". The style involves roaming movement and positional interchange amongst midfielders, moving the ball in intricate patterns, and sharp, one or two-touch passing. 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. Commentators have contrasted tiki-taka with "Route One physicality" and with the higher-tempo passing of Barcelona and Arsène Wenger's 2007–08 Arsenal side, which employed Cesc Fàbregas as the only channel between defence and attack. Tiki-taka is associated with flair, creativity, and touch, but can also be taken to a "slow, directionless extreme" that sacrifices effectiveness for aesthetics.
Tiki-taka was successfully employed by Spain to win Euro 2008, the 2010 World Cup and Euro 2012. The 2008–12 teams are regarded as being among the greatest of international teams in football history.
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. 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 Olympic team the nickname La furia española () and the tiki-taka style of the contemporary Spain's team, which focused on a collective, short-passing, technical and possession-based game.
Analyzing Spain's semi-final victory over Germany at the 2010 World Cup, Raphael Honigstein described Spain'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 the Netherlands' 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".
Spain held possession of ball more than their opponents in all matches from 2008 to 2024, a record of 136 games.
Kits and crest