Spanish national soccer team / world championships

Spain
Reino de España

World Cup record goalscorer:	David Villa (8)
World Cup record players:	Iker Casillas and Sergio Ramos (17 each)
Rank :	7th
Organizer:	1982
Balance sheet
63 World Cup games 30 wins 15 draws 18 defeats 99:72 goals
statistics
First World Cup game Spain 3-1 Brazil Genoa ( ITA ); May 27, 1934
Biggest World Cup victory Spain 6: 1 Bulgaria Lens ( FRA ); June 24, 1998
Biggest World Cup defeat Spain 1: 6 Brazil Rio de Janeiro ( BRA ); July 13, 1950
successes
World Championship
Participation in the finals	15 ( first : 1934 )
Best results	World Champion 2010
Best placements in the countries that host the FIFA World Cup
(As of July 1, 2018 )

The article contains a detailed description of the Spanish national soccer team at world championships .

overview

Spain have taken part in a World Cup finals fifteen times so far , including once as hosts. The Spanish team has always participated since 1978, but could only reach the quarter-finals until 2010. The Spanish team became world champions for the first time at the 2010 soccer world championship in South Africa.

year	Host country	Participation until ...	Last opponents	Result	Trainer	Comments and special features
1930	Uruguay	not participated	---	---	---
1934	Italy	Quarter finals	Italy	5.	Amadeo García	Eliminated after a replay against the eventual world champion
1938	France	not allowed	-	-	-	-
1950	Brazil	Final round	Brazil , Uruguay , Sweden	4th	Guillermo Eizaguirre
1954	Switzerland	not qualified	-	-	-	Turkey failed in qualifying by drawing lots
1958	Sweden	not qualified	-	-	-	Failed in qualifying against Scotland
1962	Chile	Preliminary round	Czechoslovakia , Mexico , Brazil	13.	Pablo Hernández Coronado
1966	England	Preliminary round	Argentina , Switzerland , Germany	10.	José Villalonga
1970	Mexico	not qualified	-	-	-	Failed in qualification against Belgium
1974	BR Germany	not qualified	-	-	-	In the qualification after the play-off against Yugoslavia failed
1978	Argentina	1. Final round	Austria Brazil , Sweden	10.	László Kubala
1982	Spain	2nd final round	Germany , England	12.	José Santamaría
1986	Mexico	Quarter finals	Belgium	7th	Miguel Muñoz	Eliminated on penalties
1990	Italy	Round of 16	Yugoslavia	10.	Luis Suarez
1994	United States	Quarter finals	Italy	8th.	Javier Clemente
1998	France	Preliminary round	Nigeria , Paraguay , Bulgaria	17th	Javier Clemente
2002	South Korea and Japan	Quarter finals	South Korea	5.	José Antonio Camacho	Eliminated on penalties
2006	Germany	Round of 16	France	9.	Luis Aragonés
2010	South Africa	final	Netherlands	World Champion	Vicente del Bosque	Win in extra time
2014	Brazil	Preliminary round	Netherlands , Chile , Australia	23.	Vicente del Bosque	Biggest defeat of a defending champion.
2018	Russia	Round of 16	Russia	10.	Fernando Hierro	Defeat on penalties (third time)

Statistics (data including 2018: 21 World Championships; percentages are rounded)

• Not qualified: 4 × (19%; 1954, 1958, 1970, 1974)
• Participation waiver: 1 × (5%; 1930)
• Not permitted: 1 × (5%; 1938)
• Sports qualification: 14 × (67% or 78% of the attempts)
• Participated without qualification (qualification as host): 1 × (5%; 1982)
  • Preliminary round / 1. Final round: 5 times (25%; 1962, 1966, 1978, 1998 and 2014)
  • Round of 16: 3 × (14%; 1990, 2006 and 2018)
  • Last twelve: 1 × (5%; 1982)
  • Quarter-finals: 4 × (19%; 1934, 1986, 1994 and 2002)
  • Final round of the last four: 1 × (5% 1950)
  • Final: 1 × (5%; 2010)
    • World champion: 1 × (5%; 2010)

Most frequent last opponents: Italy twice each (1934 and 1994 in the quarter-finals) and Sweden (1950 and 1978 in group matches)

World Cup tournaments

World Championship 1930

Like most European countries, Spain did not take part in the first World Cup.

World Championship 1934

For the first World Cup in Italy , Spain qualified with a 9-0 and a 2-1 win against their Iberian neighbor Portugal . At the World Cup in Italy, Spain met Brazil in the first game and reached the quarter-finals with a 3-1 win, with José Iraragorri scoring Spain's first World Cup goal with a penalty and Spanish goalkeeper Ricardo Zamora holding a penalty when the score was 3-1 could. Against Italy there was then in the quarter-finals a game that was sometimes brutal, which also suffered from the tensions between republican Spain and fascist Italy. Zamora had to be treated several times. Since substitutions were not yet possible, he played until the end and kept the 1-1 for his team. In the first replay in World Cup history, the doctors and six other Spaniards did not allow him to play and Spain lost 1-0 to the eventual world champions, with the Spaniards not recognizing two regular goals and denying two penalties. In addition, three Spaniards were injured.

World Championship 1938

The registration of the Spanish federation for the first World Cup in neighboring France was not accepted as it was assumed that due to the Spanish civil war they would not be able to host all qualifying matches.

World Championship 1950

For the first World Cup in Brazil , Spain qualified with a 5: 1 and a 2: 2 against their Iberian neighbor Portugal. In Brazil, Spain was able to prevail in the preliminary round with three wins against England , Chile and the USA and reached the final round of the best four teams, which was only held at this World Cup. After a 2-2 draw against eventual world champions Uruguay , Spain lost 6-1 against hosts Brazil and also the de facto game for 3rd place against Sweden 1-3. Fourth place remained the Spanish team's best ranking until 2010.

World Championship 1954

For the World Cup in Switzerland , the Spanish team against which had to Turkey qualify . The home game was won 4-1, the second leg was lost 0-1. Since the goal difference did not count, there was a play-off that ended 2-2 afterwards and made a drawing of lots necessary. Turkey qualified through this.

World Championship 1958

In qualifying for the World Cup in Sweden , Spain met Switzerland and Scotland . While the Scots won both games against Switzerland, the Spaniards could only win against Switzerland once, the other game ended in a draw. And since Spain and Scotland won their home games against each other, this draw was ultimately responsible for the unsuccessful qualification.

World Championship 1962

In qualifying for the World Cup in Chile , Spain should first play against Denmark. As the Danes withdrew, the Spaniards were qualified for the second round without a fight. In this Spain should play against Wales and Austria, but since Austria also withdrew, only had to be played against Wales. In Wales they won 2-1, so that 1-1 in the second leg was enough to then face the winners of the Africa qualifying Morocco. Both games were won, so that Spain was back at the third World Cup in South America after two missed World Cup finals. Here Spain met defending champions Brazil in the preliminary round , the later second finalists Czechoslovakia and Mexico , against which they won their only victory. Since the two games were lost to the eventual finalists, Spain was eliminated as bottom of the group.

World Championship 1966

Spain traveled to the World Cup in England as European champions. The Spaniards qualified through three games against Ireland . After a 1-0 defeat in Ireland and a 4-1 home win, a play-off was necessary, which Spain won 1-0. In England, the European champions met Argentina in their first game and lost 2-1. After a 2-1 win against Switzerland , there was still a chance to qualify for the quarter-finals in the last game against Germany . Spain also took the lead after 24 minutes through José Fusté , but then had to accept an equalizer in the 38th minute from Lothar Emmerich , who scored the goal almost from the baseline. In the 84th minute, Uwe Seeler scored the 2-1 winner for the German team and Spain was eliminated as third in the group.

World Championship 1970

Spain could not qualify for the first World Cup in Central America . With two wins, two draws and two defeats, Belgium , Yugoslavia and Finland only took third place in a group .

1974 World Cup

Yugoslavia was again the opponent in qualifying for the first World Cup in Germany and Greece as well . Since both won both games against Greece, but drew against each other and at the end had a goal difference of +3 with the same number of points, a play-off had to be played. The Yugoslavs won in Frankfurt am Main in front of around 61,000 spectators - mostly Yugoslav and Spanish guest workers - 1-0 and Spain was again, but not qualified for the last time.

World Championship 1978

Four years later, the Spaniards were able to turn the tables and in a group with Yugoslavia and Romania for the World Cup in Argentina qualify , both games against Yugoslavia with 1: were 0. In Argentina, Spain met ex-world champions Brazil , Austria and Sweden . After the surprising opening defeat against Austria and a goalless draw against Brazil, the last group game against Sweden was won 1-0, but it was only enough for third place.

World Championship 1982

At the home World Cup , after many European Cup triumphs by Spanish teams, the first World Cup title should finally be achieved. As a host, you were automatically qualified for the final tournament in your own country . But already in the opening game against newcomer Honduras only a 1-1 draw. They won against Yugoslavia 2-1 in the second game, but the last group game against Northern Ireland was lost 0-1. Due to the more goals scored, Spain finished second in the group with the same number of points and goal difference and advanced to the second final round. This was played once at this World Cup in groups of three. After England and Germany split goalless in the first group game, Spain lost 2-1 to Germany. Since Germany had three points, Spain could not win the group even if they beat England, whereas England needed a win by two goals against Spain to be group winners. Since the English did not score a goal against the Spaniards who fought sacrificially in front of their own audience, both were eliminated after the 0-0.

1986 World Championship

For the second World Cup in Mexico , Spain qualified with four wins in two defeats against Scotland , Wales and Iceland , benefiting from the fact that Wales lost in Iceland and the two British teams played one draw against each other. As several times before, Spain met ex-world champions Brazil, Northern Ireland and Algeria in the preliminary round in Mexico . After the opening defeat against Brazil, the other two group opponents were defeated and in the round of 16 Spain met World Cup newcomers Denmark . The Danes had won all three games against Scotland, Uruguay and Germany in their group and were considered favorites. They also took the lead 1-0, but then failed in the second half due to their own nerves after Spain scored 1-1 shortly before the break and had to accept four more goals. Emilio Butragueño scored four goals . Belgium were the opponents in the quarter-finals and after the score was 1: 1 after 120 minutes, Spain had to go to penalties for the first time at a World Cup. With Belgian goalkeeper Jean-Marie Pfaff able to hold on to Eloy , the Spaniard's youngest player, while all other shooters were successful, Spain were eliminated.

World Cup 1990

For the second World Cup in Italy to Spain had been through six wins, one draw and just one defeat to Ireland , which was also qualified, Hungary , Northern Ireland and Malta qualifies . In Italy, Spain met Belgium, the quarter-final opponent of the previous World Cup, ex-world champions Uruguay and South Korea. After a goalless opening game against Uruguay, the other two games were won and reached the round of 16 as group winners. Here the Spaniards lost to the Yugoslavs 1: 2 after extra time.

World Championship 1994

After the collapse of the Eastern bloc, the number of UEFA members had increased significantly, so that the qualification in Europe was played in groups of 5, 6 and 7, and Spain faced six opponents. With eight wins, three draws and only one defeat, Spain prevailed ahead of Ireland, which qualified for the first time, Denmark, Northern Ireland, Lithuania , Latvia and Albania . In the opening game of the World Cup in the USA , Spain met South Korea (2-2), then defending champion Germany (0-0) and finally Bolivia , which had qualified for the first time since 1950. With a 3-1 win against the South Americans, Spain qualified as second in the group for the round of 16 against Switzerland , which made it back to the World Cup for the first time since 1966. The quarter-finals were reached with a 3-0 win, in which they lost 2-1 to the eventual vice world champions Italy .

World Championship 1998

For the second World Cup in neighboring France , Spain qualified with eight wins and two draws , leaving the Federal Republic of Yugoslavia , which was also able to participate, as well as the Czech Republic , Slovakia , the Faroe Islands and Malta behind. The World Cup finals went badly for Spain. After a 2: 3 opening defeat against Nigeria and a goalless draw against Paraguay , Bulgaria could be defeated 6: 1, but third place was not enough this time to advance.

World Championship 2002

For the first World Cup in Asia , Spain easily qualified with six wins and two draws and relegated Austria , which failed in the playoffs of the group runners-up to Turkey , Israel , Bosnia-Herzegovina and Liechtenstein to the places. In Asia, three wins against Paraguay, South Africa and Slovenia in the preliminary round, which means that the group winners reached the round of 16. There was Ireland the opponents and after Ireland in the 90th minute through a penalty to 1: able to offset 1, and after 120 minutes still 1: score 1, it went to penalties with the better end for the Spaniard, although two Spaniards fired . Co-hosts South Korea were the opponents in the quarter-finals . Neither of them managed to score in 120 minutes and again the decision had to be made on penalties, in which the Spaniards were left behind this time.

Spanish fans in Leipzig before the game against Ukraine

World Championship 2006

After Spain was able to qualify as group winners in the end, qualifying for the second World Cup in Germany required the detour via the playoff games of the group runners-up. After a 5-1 win against Slovakia in the first leg , a 1-1 draw in Slovakia was enough for qualification. Previously, Spain had to give way to Serbia & Montenegro , although no game was lost , as they scored two points more. Only Bosnia-Herzegovina, Belgium , Lithuania and San Marino were relegated to the places.

In Germany, the preliminary round ended with three wins against Ukraine , Tunisia and Saudi Arabia as group winners. This made Spain the favorite against France in the round of 16 , who had only reached the knockout round with a win against Togo and two draws against Switzerland and South Korea as second in the group. By the 83rd minute it was 1-1 and there was a threat of extra time, then the referee fell for a play by Thierry Henry and gave France a free kick. Xabi Alonso unintentionally extended it towards his own goal and Patrick Vieira accepted the gift. In stoppage time, Zinédine Zidane then scored another goal for the eventual runner-up.

World Championship 2010

Reception of the Spanish team in Spain by Prime Minister Zapatero

Lineups in the final

The newly crowned European champion qualified for the first World Cup in Africa with 10 victories against Bosnia-Herzegovina , Turkey , Belgium, Estonia and Armenia , which no team had achieved before. In South Africa, however, the World Cup started badly: In the opening game against Switzerland, they lost 0: 1 despite oppressive superiority. With wins against Honduras (2: 0) and Chile (2: 1) the group was won and reached the round of 16 against the Iberian neighbor Portugal . The quarterfinals were reached by a 1-0 win, in which Paraguay was also defeated 1-0. In the semifinals, there was the remake of the European Championship final of 2008 against Germany and again the Spaniards retained the upper hand 1-0, so that the World Cup final was reached for the first time. Here the Spaniards met the Dutch , who were in the final for the third time after 1974 and 1978. Both had never won a World Cup final before. In an extremely tough game, neither scored a goal in regular time, and Andrés Iniesta only scored the decisive goal to make it 1-0 for Spain in extra time . Spain became the first European team outside of Europe to become world champions and the first team to win four 1-0 in the knockout round. David Villa received the bronze ball as the third best player and Iker Casillas was named best goalkeeper. Spain also received the FIFA Fair Play trophy for the fairest team.

World Championship 2014

Spanish fan in Rio de Janeiro , still enthusiastic

For the second World Cup in Brazil, Spain could - after the European Championship title was defended in 2012 - with six wins and two draws against France , which also qualified through the playoffs against Ukraine, Finland , Georgia and Belarus qualify . During the draw, the two final opponents from 2010 were drawn into one group, so that for the first time in World Cup history there was a new edition of the final already in the group phase. After the Spaniards took the lead 1-0 and largely dominated the game in the first half, but couldn't make it 2-0, they had to accept the 1-1 draw with a diving header from Robin van Persie shortly before half-time . In the second half they were countered several times and lost 5-1, the highest defeat by a defending champion in World Cup history. Iker Casillas in particular, who was named the best goalkeeper in 2010, looked bad in several scenes. The second group game against Chile was also lost 2-0, with the Spanish defense in particular having a black day. The final 3-0 against Australia was then only for the statistics, since after the first two defeats the preliminary round was certain.

World Championship 2018

In qualifying for the first World Cup in Eastern Europe, Italy , Albania , Israel , Macedonia and Liechtenstein were the opponents. The Spaniards, who have been coached by Julen Lopetegui since the last 16 defeat at the Euro 2016 against qualifying opponents Italy , won nine of the ten qualifying games and only lost a point in the second game in the 1-1 draw in Italy. So they qualified ahead of time for the final round before the last game. Italy finished second in the group but failed in the playoff against Sweden.

At the 2018 World Cup finals in Russia, Spain met Portugal, Iran and Morocco in the preliminary round. Two days before their first game, the Spanish federation sacked national coach Julen Lopetegui , who had recently announced that he would be head coach of Real Madrid after the World Cup. The new national coach was the sports director of the Spanish Football Association, Fernando Hierro . In their opening game, the Spaniards fell behind in the fourth minute with a penalty converted by Cristiano Ronaldo . After Diego Costa was able to equalize twenty minutes later, Ronaldo brought the neighbors back into the lead shortly before the break, which Diego Costa was able to equalize in the 55th minute. After Nacho gave the Spaniards the lead three minutes later, it looked like a win for a long time until Ronaldo scored the goal with a directly converted free kick two minutes from time to make it 3: 3. In the second game against Iran, Costa scored the only goal of the game with his third World Cup goal. The last group game against Morocco was another roller coaster when Isco equalized five minutes later after falling behind in the 14th minute . Nine minutes before the end of the official season, Morocco, which already had no chance of reaching the round of 16, took the lead again, which Iago Aspas, who was substituted on in the 74th minute , was able to equalize in the first minute of stoppage time. Since Portugal only won 1-0 against Morocco and only played a draw against Iran, the two neighbors were equal on points and goal differences. Due to the one more goal scored, the Spaniards were group winners and met hosts Russia in the round of 16. Spain took the lead in the 11th minute with an own goal by the Russian record international player Ignaschewitsch and then celebrated "possession football" without being able to expand the result, while the Russian team continued to limit themselves to counterattacks. Shortly before half-time, Artyom Dsjuba was able to use a hand penalty to equalize. Since neither team scored another goal and overtime remained goalless, it came to penalties, in which the Russian goalkeeper Igor Akinfejew was able to save two penalties, while his Spanish counterpart failed to do so and Spain were eliminated. After the game, Andres Iniesta ended his national team career and Hierro's tenure as national coach also ended with the World Cup.

player

Ranking of the Spanish World Cup players with the most appearances

01. Iker Casillas and Sergio Ramos - 17 games each in 4 tournaments

03. Andoni Zubizarreta - 16 games in 4 tournaments

04. Xavi - 15 games in 4 tournaments

05. Andrés Iniesta , Carles Puyol and Fernando Torres - 14 games each in 3 and 4 (Iniesta) tournaments

08. Xabi Alonso and Sergio Busquets - 13 games each in 3 tournaments

10. Luis Enrique , Fernando Hierro , Gerard Piqué Julio Salinas and David Villa - 12 games each in 3 tournaments

15. Raul - 11 games in 3 tournaments

16. José Antonio Camacho and Cesc Fàbregas - 10 games each in 2 (Camacho) and 3 tournaments respectively

Ranking of the Spanish World Cup players with the most goals

1. David Villa - 8 goals

2. Emilio Butragueño , Fernando Hierro , Fernando Morientes and Raúl - 5 goals each

6. Estanislao Basora , Míchel and Zarra - 4 goals each

World Cup captains

• 1934: Ricardo Zamora
• 1950: Agustín Gaínza , Eizaguirre (in the 1st game), Zarra (in the last game)
• 1962, 1966: Francisco Gento , Segarra (in the 1st game)
• 1978: Pirri
• 1982: Luis Arconada
• 1986: José Antonio Camacho
• 1990: Emilio Butragueño
• 1994, 1998: Andoni Zubizarreta
• 2002: Fernando Hierro
• 2006: Raúl
• 2010, 2014: Iker Casillas , Sergio Ramos (2014 in the 3rd game)
• 2018: Sergio Ramos

Share of players playing abroad in the World Cup squad

No legionaries were used in the first two participations . In 1962, Luis Suárez, who played for Inter Milan , became the first legionnaire. Then again together with two other Italian legionaries, before no players working abroad were appointed to the squad for a long time. It was not until 2002 that a legionnaire was appointed again. Overall, however, legionnaires were always the minority in the Spanish squad and in 2014 of all places, with the most legionnaires, Spain was eliminated as defending champions in the preliminary round.

Year (games)	Number (countries)	Players (stakes)
1934 (3)	0
1950 (6)	0
1962 (3)	1 (Italy)	Luis Suarez (2)
1966 (3)	3 (Italy)	Joaquín Peiró (2), Luis del Sol (3), Luis Suárez (3)
1978 (3)	0
1982 (5)	0
1986 (5)	0)
1990 (4)	0
1994 (5)	0
1998 (3)	0
2002 (5)	1 (Italy)	Gaizka Mendieta (3)
2006 (4)	5 (England)	Xabi Alonso (3), Cesc Fàbregas (4), Luis García (3), Pepe Reina (0), José Antonio Reyes (1)
2010 (7)	3 (England)	Cesc Fàbregas (4), Pepe Reina (0); Fernando Torres (7)
2014 (3)	9 (1 in Germany, 6 in England, 2 in Italy)	Javi Martinez (1); César Azpilicueta (2), Santi Cazorla (2), David de Gea (0), Juan Mata (1), David Silva (3), Fernando Torres (3); Raúl Albiol (1), Pepe Reina (1)
2018 (4)	6 (1 in Germany, 4 in England, 1 in Italy)	Thiago (2); César Azpilicueta , David de Gea (4), Nacho Monreal , David Silva (3); Pepe Reina

Players banned from World Championships

• 1986 Andoni Goikoetxea received the second yellow card in the round of 16 against Denmark and was suspended for the quarter-finals against Belgium .
• In 1994, captain Miguel Ángel Nadal was the only Spaniard to receive the red card in the first group match against South Korea in the 25th minute due to an emergency brake and was suspended for the following two games. In the following games Andoni Zubizarreta was captain and remained so after Nadal's return. José Luis Caminero received the second yellow card in the last group match against Bolivia and was suspended for the round of 16 against Switzerland . In the quarter-finals, which were lost to Italy , he received a third yellow card, which, like the second against Abelardo, had no further effect due to the defeat.
• In 2006, Carles Puyol received the second yellow card in the round of 16 against France after an act by Thierry Henry and would have been suspended for the quarter-finals. Since the subsequent free kick led to 1: 2 and France added the 1: 3, Spain was eliminated, so the yellow card had no further effect.

Games

Spain has played 63 World Cup games so far. 30 games were won, 18 lost and 15 ended in a draw. Draw games had to be extended seven times, as a winner had to be determined, against no country several times. It was only possible to win one game in extra time, plus one game on penalties. Three games were lost on penalties, one game in overtime and one was then repeated and then lost. Spain never took part in the opening game of the World Cup. So far, the Spanish team has played five home games at world championships and had to play five times against the hosts, three times in the quarter-finals (1934, twice and 2002) and once each in the final round (1950) and in the second round (2018), but could not play against win the host.

Spain played twice against the defending champions: in 1962 against Brazil in the preliminary round and in 1994 against Germany in the preliminary round. No game could be won. Spain have played four times against the eventual world champions: in 1934 in the quarter-finals against Italy twice, in 1950 against Uruguay in the final round and in 1962 against Brazil in the preliminary round.

Spain met only five newcomers to the World Cup: 1934 (when you were a newcomer yourself) / Italy, 1950 / England, 1982 / Honduras, 2002 / Slovenia and 2006 / Ukraine.

The Spaniards have played in 40 World Cup cities so far, most often in Rio de Janeiro (4 ×).

All World Cup games
No.	date	Result	opponent		venue	occasion	Remarks
1	May 27, 1934	3: 1	Brazil	*	Genoa ( ITA )	Round of 16	First game against Brazil; First game at a soccer World Cup
2	05/31/1934	1: 1 a.d.	Italy	A.	Florence ( ITA )	Quarter finals
3	06/01/1934	0: 1	Italy	A.	Florence ( ITA )	Quarter-Finals - Replay
4th	06/25/1950	3: 1	United States	*	Curitiba ( BRA )	Preliminary round	First game against the United States
5	06/29/1950	2-0	Chile	*	Rio de Janeiro ( BRA )	Preliminary round	First game against Chile
6th	07/02/1950	1-0	England	*	Rio de Janeiro ( BRA )	Preliminary round
7th	07/09/1950	2: 2	Uruguay	*	Sao Paulo ( BRA )	Final round	First game against Uruguay
8th	07/13/1950	1: 6	Brazil	A.	Rio de Janeiro ( BRA )	Final round	Biggest defeat in a World Cup game
9	07/16/1950	1: 3	Sweden	*	Sao Paulo ( BRA )	Final round
10	05/31/1962	0: 1	Czechoslovakia	*	Viña del Mar ( CHI )	Preliminary round
11	06/03/1962	1-0	Mexico	*	Viña del Mar ( CHI )	Preliminary round
12	06/06/1962	1: 2	Brazil	*	Viña del Mar ( CHI )	Preliminary round
13	07/13/1966	1: 2	Argentina	*	Birmingham ( ENG )	Preliminary round
14th	07/15/1966	2: 1	Switzerland	*	Sheffield ( ENG )	Preliminary round
15th	07/20/1966	1: 2	FRG	*	Birmingham ( ENG )	Preliminary round
16	06/03/1978	1: 2	Austria	*	Buenos Aires ( ARG )	1. Final round
17th	06/07/1978	0-0	Brazil	*	Mar del Plata ( ARG )	1. Final round
18th	06/11/1978	1-0	Sweden	*	Buenos Aires ( ARG )	1. Final round
19th	06/16/1982	1: 1	Honduras	H	Valencia	1. Final round	First game against Honduras
20th	06/20/1982	2: 1	Yugoslavia	H	Valencia	1. Final round
21st	06/25/1982	0: 1	Northern Ireland	H	Valencia	1. Final round
22nd	07/02/1982	1: 2	FRG	H	Madrid	2nd final round
23	07/05/1982	0-0	England	H	Madrid	2nd final round
24	06/01/1986	0: 1	Brazil	*	Guadalajara ( MEX )	Preliminary round
25th	06/07/1986	2: 1	Northern Ireland	*	Guadalajara ( MEX )	Preliminary round
26th	06/12/1986	3-0	Algeria	*	Monterrey ( MEX )	Preliminary round	First game against Algeria
27	06/18/1986	5: 1	Denmark	*	Querétaro ( MEX )	Round of 16
28	06/22/1986	1: 1 n.V., 4: 5 i. E.	Belgium	*	Puebla ( MEX )	Quarter finals
29	06/13/1990	0-0	Uruguay	*	Udine ( ITA )	Preliminary round
30th	06/17/1990	3: 1	South Korea	*	Udine ( ITA )	Preliminary round	First game against South Korea
31	06/21/1990	2: 1	Belgium	*	Verona ( ITA )	Preliminary round
32	06/26/1990	1: 2 nV	Yugoslavia	*	Verona ( ITA )	Round of 16
33	06/17/1994	2: 2	South Korea	*	Dallas ( USA )	Preliminary round
34	06/21/1994	1: 1	Germany	*	Chicago ( USA )	Preliminary round
35	06/27/1994	3: 1	Bolivia	*	Chicago ( USA )	Preliminary round	First game against Bolivia
36	07/02/1994	3-0	Switzerland	*	Washington ( USA )	Round of 16
37	07/09/1994	1: 2	Italy	*	Boston ( USA )	Quarter finals
38	06/13/1998	2: 3	Nigeria	*	Nantes ( FRA )	Preliminary round	First game against Nigeria
39	06/19/1998	0-0	Paraguay	*	Saint-Etienne ( FRA )	Preliminary round	First game against Paraguay
40	06/24/1998	6: 1	Bulgaria	*	Lens ( FRA )	Preliminary round
41	06/02/2002	3: 1	Slovenia	*	Gwangju ( KOR )	Preliminary round
42	06/07/2002	3: 1	Paraguay	*	Jeonju ( KOR )	Preliminary round
43	06/12/2002	3: 2	South Africa	*	Daejeon ( KOR )	Preliminary round	First game against South Africa
44	06/16/2002	1: 1 n.V., 3: 2 i. E.	Ireland	*	Suwon ( KOR )	Round of 16
45	06/22/2002	0: 0 a.d., 3: 5 i. E.	South Korea	A.	Gwangju ( KOR )	Quarter finals
46	06/14/2006	4-0	Ukraine	*	Leipzig ( GER )	Preliminary round
47	06/19/2006	3: 1	Tunisia	*	Stuttgart ( GER )	Preliminary round	First game against Tunisia
48	06/23/2006	1-0	Saudi Arabia	*	Kaiserslautern ( GER )	Preliminary round	First game against Saudi Arabia
49	06/27/2006	1: 3	France	*	Hanover ( GER )	Round of 16
50	06/16/2010	0: 1	Switzerland	*	Durban ( RSA )	Preliminary round	First defeat against Switzerland
51	06/21/2010	2-0	Honduras	*	Johannesburg ( RSA )	Preliminary round
52	06/25/2010	2: 1	Chile	*	Pretoria ( RSA )	Preliminary round
53	06/29/2010	1-0	Portugal	*	Cape Town ( RSA )	Round of 16
54	07/03/2010	1-0	Paraguay	*	Johannesburg ( RSA )	Quarter finals
55	07/07/2010	1-0	Germany	*	Durban ( RSA )	Semifinals
56	07/11/2010	1: 0 a.d.	Netherlands	*	Johannesburg ( RSA )	final	First world title for Spain
57	06/13/2014	1: 5	Netherlands	*	Salvador da Bahia ( BRA )	Preliminary round	Biggest World Cup defeat by a defending champion
58	06/18/2014	0: 2	Chile	*	Rio de Janeiro ( BRA )	Preliminary round	First loss to Chile
59	06/23/2014	3-0	Australia	*	Curitiba ( BRA )	Preliminary round	First international match against Australia
60	June 15, 2018	3: 3	Portugal	*	Sochi ( RUS )	Preliminary round
61	June 20, 2018	1-0	Iran	*	Kazan ( RUS )	Preliminary round	First game against Iran
62	June 25, 2018	2: 2	Morocco	*	Kaliningrad ( RUS )	Preliminary round
63	07/01/2018	1: 1 a.d., 3: 4 i. E.	Russia	A.	Moscow ( RUS )	Round of 16

The Spanish team achieved their highest victories against the following countries in World Cup tournaments:

•  Algeria - preliminary round 1986 3-0 (only game against Algeria)
•  Australia - preliminary round 2014 3-0 (only game against Australia)
•  Bolivia - preliminary round 1994 3-1 (also a 2-0 in a friendly match)
•  Denmark - Round of 16 1986 5-1
•  Honduras - preliminary round 2010 2-0 (only win against Honduras)
•  Iran - Preliminary round 2018 1-0 (only game against Iran)
•  Paraguay - preliminary round 2002 3-1
•  Slovenia - preliminary round 2002 3-1
•  Tunisia - preliminary round 2006 3-1 (only game against Tunisia)
•  Ukraine - preliminary round 2006 4-0

The Spanish team suffered their biggest defeats in World Cup tournaments against the following countries:

•  Brazil - finals 1950 1-6
•  Chile - preliminary round 2014 0-2 (only defeat against Chile)
•  France - Round of 16 2006 1: 3 (also a 1: 3 in the 1992 European Championship qualification and a 2: 2 in the 1984 European Championship final)
•  Netherlands - preliminary round 2014 1-5
•  Nigeria - preliminary round 1998 2-3 (only loss to Nigeria)
•  Northern Ireland - preliminary round 1982 0: 1 (also a 2: 3 in the European Championship qualification 2008)
•  Sweden - Final round 1950 1: 3 (also a 1: 3 in a friendly match and a 0: 2 in the 2008 European Championship qualification)
•  Switzerland - preliminary round 2010 0: 1 (only defeat against Switzerland)

Record against the other world champions at world championships

•  Brazil : 5 games, 1 win, 1 draw, 3 defeats, 5:10 goals
•  Germany : 4 games (including 1 semi-finals), 1 win, 1 draw, 2 defeats, 4-5 goals
•  Italy : 3 games, 1 draw (was repeated), 2 defeats, 2-4 goals
•  England : 2 games, 1 win, 1 draw, 1-0 goals
•  Uruguay : 2 games, 2 draws, 2-2 goals
•  Argentina : 1 game, 1 defeat, 1: 2 goals
•  France : 1 game, 1 loss, 1: 3 goals

Records

(As of July 7, 2018)

• Iker Casillas is the first goalkeeper to save a penalty in two World Cups: against Ireland in the second round in 2002 and against Paraguay in the quarter-finals in 2010 .
• Spain have received the most penalties at World Cups so far: 17, of which only 2 were missed (2010).
• Biggest win in a final round: 1998 Spain 6-1 Bulgaria in the preliminary round
• Biggest win in a round of 16 after the preliminary round: 1986 Spain - Denmark 5-1
• Spain became the only team so far to become world champions to lose their opening game: 0-1 against Switzerland, South Africa 2010
• Spain became world champions with the absolute and relatively fewest goals: 2010 with 8 goals in 7 games = 1.14 / game
• Spain is the first world champion to be satisfied with four 1-0 wins in the knockout round
• Spain became the first European team to become world champions on another continent: in 2010 in Africa

Negative records

• Biggest defeat as defending champions: Spain 1: 5 Netherlands - preliminary round 2014
• Only defending champion to lose the first two games.
• The fewest goals against the other world champions: 16 goals
• Worst rate of goals against the other world champions: Spain was only able to score 16.2% of its 99 World Cup goals against the other world champions.
• Most lost penalties: England, Italy and Spain (3 out of 4 each)

See also

• Spanish national soccer team / European championships
• Spanish Women's National Football Team / World Championships

Web links

• Football World - Statistics - Spain on fifa.com

References and footnotes

1. ↑ Won one game on penalties and lost three.
2. ↑ According to the all-time FIFA World Cup Ranking 1930–2014 [1] (PDF; 200 kB)
3. ↑ ^{a b} fifa.com: History of the FIFA World Cup Preliminary Competition (by year) (PDF file; 318 kB), p. 5