Fernando Torres is a former professional footballer who represented the Spain national team 110 times and scored 38 goals between his international debut in 2003 and his final match in 2014. He is currently the third-top scorer in the history of the national team, with only David Villa (59) and Raúl (44) having scored more goals for the country. Spain never lost a match in which Torres scored.

Having represented Spain at various youth levels, Torres made his senior debut on 6 September 2003 against Portugal, and scored his first goal in a friendly match against Italy on 28 April 2004. During qualification for the 2006 FIFA World Cup, Torres scored seven goals in eleven appearances to help Spain qualify for the tournament. At the tournament proper, he scored three goals, including a brace against Tunisia, as Spain were eliminated by France in the round of 16. Two years later at UEFA Euro 2008, Torres scored the winning goal in the 33rd minute of the final against Germany, ending Spain's run of 44 years without a trophy.

Spain's success at Euro 2008 saw the nation qualify as European champions for the 2009 FIFA Confederations Cup, the curtain-raiser for the 2010 FIFA World Cup to be held in South Africa. Torres scored three goals at the tournament, a hat-trick in Spain's 5–0 win over New Zealand on 14 June. His treble, which was scored within 11 minutes from kick-off, is the fastest hat-trick scored in the competition's history. He failed to score at the World Cup a year later but was part of the Spain squad which won the tournament, featuring as a late substitute in the final.

In 2012, Torres was selected for Spain's UEFA Euro 2012 squad and won the Golden Boot award for his three goals scored at the tournament. He scored twice against the Republic of Ireland in the group stage before converting the third goal in a 4–0 win over Italy in the final. Torres' goal against the Italians was his second in the final of a European Championship. The following year, Torres scored five goals at the 2013 FIFA Confederations Cup. His tally, which included a four-goal haul against Tahiti, earned him another Golden Boot award. He was then included in Spain's squad for the 2014 FIFA World Cup in Brazil, and scored against Australia in a 3–0 group stage victory. It was a dead rubber match for Spain, however, as their elimination from the competition had already been confirmed.

Of Torres' 38 international goals, ten were scored in friendlies, eight at the FIFA Confederations Cup, seven during FIFA World Cup qualifiers, five at the UEFA European Championship finals, and four in both the European Championship qualifiers and the World Cup finals.

International goals Spain score listed first, score column indicates score after each Torres goal.

+ International goals by date, venue, cap, opponent, score, result and competitionDateVenueCapOpponentScoreResultCompetition128 April 2004Stadio Luigi Ferraris, Genoa, Italy51–01–1Friendly29 February 2005Estadio de los Juegos Mediterráneos, Almería, Spain152–05–02006 FIFA World Cup qualification326 March 2005Helmántico, Villares de la Reina, Spain161–03–0Friendly48 October 2005King Baudouin Stadium, Brussels, Belgium231–02–02006 FIFA World Cup qualification52–06 12 October 2005Stadio Olimpico, Serravalle, San Marino24 2–06–02006 FIFA World Cup qualification7 5–08 6–0912 November 2005Vicente Calderón, Madrid, Spain253–1 5–12006 FIFA World Cup qualification10 7 June 2006Stade de Genève, Carouge, Switzerland302–12–1Friendly11 14 June 2006Zentralstadion, Leipzig, Germany314–04–02006 FIFA World Cup1219 June 2006Gottlieb-Daimler-Stadion, Stuttgart, Germany322–13–12006 FIFA World Cup133–114 2 September 2006Nuevo Vivero, Badajoz, Spain361–04–0UEFA Euro 2008 qualification1512 September 2007Carlos Tartiere, Oviedo, Spain452–02–0UEFA Euro 2008 qualification1614 June 2008Tivoli-Neu, Innsbruck, Austria511–02–1UEFA Euro 200817 29 June 2008Ernst-Happel-Stadion, Vienna, Austria541–01–0UEFA Euro 20081819 November 2008El Madrigal, Villarreal, Spain582–03–0Friendly199 June 2009Tofiq Bahramov Stadium, Baku, Azerbaijan626–06–0Friendly2014 June 2009Royal Bafokeng Stadium, Rustenburg, South Africa631–05–02009 FIFA Confederations Cup21 2–0223–02312 August 2009Philip II Arena, Skopje, Macedonia681–23–2Friendly248 June 2010Nueva Condomina, Murcia, Spain735–06–0 Friendly25 3 September 2010Rheinpark Stadion, Vaduz, Liechtenstein811–04–0UEFA Euro 2012 qualification263–0274 June 2011Gillette Stadium, Foxborough, United States854–04–0Friendly28 30 May 2012Stade de Suisse, Bern, Switzerland921–04–1Friendly29 14 June 2012Arena Gdańsk, Gdańsk, Poland951–04–0UEFA Euro 201230 3–031 1 July 2012Olimpiyskiy National Sports Complex, Kyiv, Ukraine983–04–0UEFA Euro 201232 20 June 2013Estádio do Maracanã, Rio de Janeiro, Brazil1031–010–02013 FIFA Confederations Cup333–0346–0359–03623 June 2013Estádio Castelão, Fortaleza, Brazil1042–03–02013 FIFA Confederations Cup3730 May 2014Ramón Sánchez Pizjuán, Seville, Spain1071–02–0Friendly3821 June 2014Arena da Baixada, Curitiba, Brazil1102–03–02014 FIFA World Cup

Hat-tricks

OpponentGoalsScoreVenueCompetitionDate 1 3 – (11', 78', 89' pen.) 6–0 Stadio Olimpico, Serravalle, San Marino 2006 FIFA World Cup qualification 12 October 2005 2 3 – (6', 14', 17') 5–0 Royal Bafokeng Stadium, Rustenburg, South Africa 2009 FIFA Confederations Cup 14 June 2009 3 4 – (5', 33', 57', 78') 10–0 Estádio do Maracanã, Rio de Janeiro, Brazil 2013 FIFA Confederations Cup 20 June 2013

Statistics

+ Appearances and goals by yearYearAppsGoals2003302004111200512820061352007612008133200913520101132011912012104201355201442Total11038

+ Appearances and goals by competition Competition Apps Goals Friendlies 43 10 FIFA Confederations Cup 9 8 FIFA World Cup qualification 19 7 UEFA European Championship 13 5 FIFA World Cup 14 4 UEFA European Championship qualification 12 4 Total 110 38

+ Goals by opponent Opponent Goals 4 4 3 3 2 2 2 2 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 Total 38

See also Spain national football team records and statistics FIFA Confederations Cup records List of Spain international footballers

References