Introduction to the Spanish soccer team

Selección de fútbol de Espa?a, the Spanish national soccer team, was founded in 1913, with its home stadium in Madrid's Estadio Bernabeu, and is managed by the Real Sociedad de Fútbol (Spanish Royal Soccer Association), which represents Spain in international A-level competitions.

Spain is a traditional European powerhouse, having won three European Championships in 1964, 2008 and 2012. In the World Cup, Spain reached the quarterfinals in 1950 and won the title in 2010, although its solid possession-based style of play and penalties in some matches have sparked some controversy. Spain also won the 1992 Olympic soccer tournament in Barcelona, and its 35-match unbeaten streak in international matches between 2007 and 2009 is tied with Brazil's 1993-1996 run as the longest unbeaten streak in post-World War II world soccer.

Spain won the 2008 European Championships after 44 years and took a historic first place in the July 2008 FIFA standings.

Despite a 0-2 loss to the United States in the 2009 Confederations Cup, Spain had top scorer Villa lead the team to a 0-1 loss to Switzerland in the first leg of the 2010 FIFA World Cup, and ended up winning the World Cup for the first time with a 1-0 overtime victory over the Netherlands in the final, before defending their title at the 2012 EUROs and winning the European Championships within four years! Two consecutive titles and a World Cup title, but also a new record in the history of soccer.

But Spain suffered historic defeats at the 2013 Confederations Cup and the 2014 World Cup before reaching the last 16 of the 2016 European Championships.

Spain currently leads the group in 2018 World Cup qualifying with five wins and one draw.

Through 2016, Spain's official national team has 666 games 386 wins, 152 draws and 128 losses, with a total score of 1305-610 and a total goal difference of 695, which is among the highest in Europe.