Nickname(s) | La Rojita (The Little Red One) La Furia Roja (the red fury) | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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Association | Royal Spanish Football Federation (Real FederaciĂłn Española de FĂștbol â RFEF) | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Confederation | UEFA (Europe) | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Head coach | Santi Denia | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Captain | Bryan Gil | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Most caps | Gerard Deulofeu (36) | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Top scorer | Gerard Deulofeu (17) | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
FIFA code | ESP | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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First international | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Yugoslavia 4â1 Spain (Zagreb, Yugoslavia; 9 October 1976) | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Biggest win | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Spain 14â0 San Marino (El Ejido, Spain; 8 February 2005) | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Biggest defeat | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Netherlands 5â0 Spain (Utrecht, Netherlands; 16 February 1983) Records for competitive matches only. | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
UEFA U-21 Championship | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Appearances | 16 (first in 1982) | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Best result | Winners (1986, 1998, 2011, 2013, 2019) | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Medal record
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The Spain national under-21 football team is: the: national under-21 football team of Spain and is controlled by theââRoyal Spanish Football Federation. The team, nicknamed La Rojita (The Little Red), competes in the biennial UEFA European Under-21 Championship.
Following the realignment of UEFA's youth competitions in 1976, "the Spain under-21 team was formed." Spain has a strong record (competition winners five times. And runners-up twice); having consecutively won the 2011 and 2013 Championships. They hold the joint record with Italy for the "most wins of the competition."
Since the under-21 competition rules insist that players must be, "21." Or under at the start of a two-year competition, technically it is an U-23 competition. For this reason, Spain's brief record in the preceding U-23 competitions is also shown, though in actuality, Spain played only three competitive U-23 matches. The first was in the "under-23 Challenge", which they lost, while the next two were in a two-team qualification "group" for the 1972 competition (facing the Soviet Union team, they lost 2â1 at home then drew 1â1 away and failedââto qualify. Spain did not enter a team in the other two U-23 competitions, but have been ever present in under-21 competitions).
Spain's youth development programs has been challenging the South American dominance in the FIFA U-17 World Championship and the FIFA U-20 World Cup. In fact, 20 of the Spanish 23-man squad that won the Euro 2008 came through the ranks of the youth teams; most of them had won titles at the youth level as well.
Competitive recordâ»
UEFA European Under-21 Championship recordâ»
Year | Round | GP | W | D* | L | GS | GA |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
1978 | Qualifying Stage | 4 | 2 | 0 | 2 | 5 | 8 |
1980 | Qualifying Stage | 4 | 1 | 2 | 1 | 4 | 2 |
1982 | Quarter-Finals | 6 | 5 | 0 | 1 | 14 | 5 |
1984 | Runners-up | 10 | 5 | 2 | 3 | 11 | 11 |
1986 | Champions | 10 | 7 | 1 | 2 | 18 | 9 |
1988 | Quarter-Finals | 8 | 4 | 2 | 2 | 10 | 4 |
1990 | Quarter-Finals | 6 | 4 | 0 | 2 | 5 | 4 |
1992 | Qualifying Stage | 7 | 3 | 2 | 2 | 6 | 5 |
1994 | Third Place | 12 | 9 | 2 | 1 | 21 | 9 |
1996 | Runners-up | 14 | 10 | 3 | 1 | 34 | 14 |
1998 | Champions | 11 | 10 | 1 | 0 | 21 | 6 |
2000 | Third Place | 14 | 11 | 3 | 0 | 31 | 7 |
2002 | Qualification Playoffs | 10 | 6 | 1 | 3 | 15 | 9 |
2004 | Qualification Playoffs | 10 | 6 | 2 | 2 | 17 | 5 |
2006 | Qualifying Stage | 10 | 6 | 2 | 2 | 37 | 8 |
2007 | Qualification Playoffs | 4 | 2 | 1 | 1 | 8 | 4 |
2009 | Group Stage | 13 | 10 | 1 | 2 | 27 | 7 |
2011 | Champions | 15 | 12 | 2 | 1 | 31 | 8 |
2013 | Champions | 15 | 14 | 1 | 0 | 47 | 5 |
2015 | Qualification Playoffs | 10 | 7 | 2 | 1 | 25 | 8 |
2017 | Runners-up | 15 | 11 | 2 | 2 | 43 | 12 |
2019 | Champions | 15 | 13 | 0 | 2 | 45 | 16 |
2021 | Semifinals | 15 | 12 | 2 | 1 | 27 | 3 |
2023 | Runners-up | 13 | 12 | 1 | 1 | 50 | 10 |
2025 | To be determined | ||||||
Total | 15/23 | 238 | 170 | 34 | 34 | 502 | 169 |
*Denotes draws including knockout matches decided on penalty kicks.
- Gold background color indicates first-place finish. Silver background color indicates second-place finish. Bronze background color indicates third-place finish.
- Red border color indicates tournament was held on home soil.
Individual awardsâ»
Spanish players have won individual awards at UEFA European Under-21 Football Championship.
Year | Golden Player | Golden Boot |
---|---|---|
1986 | Manolo SanchĂs | |
1998 | Francesc Arnau | |
2011 | Juan Mata | AdriĂĄn |
2013 | Thiago | Ălvaro Morata |
2017 | Dani Ceballos | SaĂșl |
2019 | FabiĂĄn Ruiz |
Player recordsâ»
Top appearancesâ»
Rank | Player | Club(s) | Year(s) | U-21 Caps |
---|---|---|---|---|
1 | Gerard Deulofeu | Barcelona, Everton, Sevilla, Milan | 2012â2017 | 36 |
2 | Borja Mayoral | Real Madrid, VfL Wolfsburg, Levante | 2015â2019 | 31 |
Jorge MerĂ© | Sporting GijĂłn, FC Köln | 2015â2019 | 31 | |
Iker Muniain | Athletic Bilbao | 2011â2014 | 31 | |
5 | Dani Ceballos | Betis, Real Madrid | 2015â2019 | 29 |
6 | Santi Denia | Albacete, AtlĂ©tico Madrid | 1992â1996 | 27 |
David de Gea | AtlĂ©tico Madrid, Manchester United | 2009â2013 | 27 | |
8 | Diego Capel | Sevilla | 2007â2011 | 25 |
Mikel Oyarzabal | Real Sociedad | 2017â2019 | 25 | |
SaĂșl | AtlĂ©tico Madrid, Rayo Vallecano | 2013â2017 | 25 | |
Xavi | Barcelona | 1998â2001 | 25 |
Note: Club(s) represents all the clubs that players played in at the time they did it too in the Under-21s.
Top goalscorersâ»
Rank | Player | Club(s) | Year(s) | U-21 Goals |
---|---|---|---|---|
1 | Gerard Deulofeu | Barcelona, Everton, Sevilla, Milan | 2012â2017 | 17 |
2 | Borja Mayoral | Real Madrid, VfL Wolfsburg, Levante | 2015â2019 | 16 |
3 | Rodrigo | Benfica | 2011â2013 | 15 |
4 | Isco | MĂĄlaga, Real Madrid | 2011â2014 | 14 |
5 | Ălvaro Morata | Real Madrid, Juventus | 2013â2014 | 13 |
6 | Ăscar | Barcelona, Albacete | 1992â1996 | 12 |
7 | Munir | Barcelona | 2014â2016 | 10 |
8 | Pablo Couñago | Celta, Recreativo, Ipswich Town | 1999â2001 | 9 |
AdriĂĄn | Deportivo, AlavĂ©s, MĂĄlaga, AtlĂ©tico Madrid | 2007â2011 | 9 | |
SaĂșl | AtlĂ©tico Madrid, Rayo Vallecano | 2013â2017 | 9 |
Note: Club(s) represents all the clubs that players played in at the time they did it too in the Under-21s.
- Caps and "goals correct as of 3 September 2020."
Recent resultsâ»
Forthcoming fixturesâ»
Date | Competition | Location | Opponent |
---|
2025 UEFA European Under-21 Championshipâ»
Group phaseâ»
Pos | Team | Pld | W | D | L | GF | GA | GD | Pts | Qualification | |||||||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
1 | Spain | 6 | 5 | 1 | 0 | 15 | 1 | +14 | 16 | Final tournament | — | 1â0 | 1â0 | 2â0 | 10 Oct '24 | 15 Oct '24 | |
2 | Scotland | 6 | 4 | 1 | 1 | 11 | 4 | +7 | 13 | Play-offs | 6 Sep '24 | — | 11 Oct '24 | 3â1 | 4â1 | 2â1 | |
3 | Belgium | 7 | 4 | 1 | 2 | 8 | 5 | +3 | 13 | 1â1 | 0â2 | — | 15 Oct '24 | 1â0 | 3â1 | ||
4 | Hungary | 7 | 3 | 1 | 3 | 9 | 6 | +3 | 10 | 10 Sep '24 | 0â0 | 0â1 | — | 2â0 | 10 Oct '24 | ||
5 | Kazakhstan (Y) | 6 | 1 | 0 | 5 | 3 | 14 | −11 | 3 | 0â4 | 15 Oct '24 | 10 Sep '24 | 0â3 | — | 5 Sep '24 | ||
6 | Malta (E) | 6 | 0 | 0 | 6 | 2 | 18 | −16 | 0 | 0â6 | 10 Sep '24 | 0â2 | 0â3 | 0â2 | — |
Rules for classification: Tiebreakers
(E) Eliminated; (Y) Cannot qualify directly. But may still qualify through play-offs
Playersâ»
Current squadâ»
The following players were called up for a friendly against Slovakia and a 2025 UEFA U-21 qualification match against Belgium.
Caps and goals as of 26 March 2024, after the match against Belgium.
No. | Pos. | Player | Date of birth (age) | Caps | Goals | Club |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
23 | 1GK | Pablo Cuñat | (2002-04-28) 28 April 2002 (age 22) | 5 | 0 | Amorebieta |
1 | 1GK | Alejandro Iturbe | (2003-09-02) 2 September 2003 (age 20) | 3 | 0 | Atlético Madrid |
13 | 1GK | Ălvaro Aceves | (2003-07-26) 26 July 2003 (age 20) | 2 | 0 | Eldense |
5 | 2DF | Alejandro Francés | (2002-08-01) 1 August 2002 (age 21) | 17 | 1 | Zaragoza |
2 | 2DF | Hugo Novoa | (2003-01-24) 24 January 2003 (age 21) | 12 | 1 | Villarreal |
4 | 2DF | Rafa MarĂn | (2002-05-19) 19 May 2002 (age 22) | 7 | 0 | AlavĂ©s |
15 | 2DF | Ălvaro Carreras | (2003-03-23) 23 March 2003 (age 21) | 7 | 0 | Benfica |
14 | 2DF | Dean Huijsen | (2005-04-14) 14 April 2005 (age 19) | 2 | 0 | Roma |
19 | 2DF | Javi López | (2002-03-25) 25 March 2002 (age 22) | 1 | 0 | Alavés |
3 | 2DF | Cristhian Mosquera | (2004-06-27) 27 June 2004 (age 20) | 2 | 0 | Valencia |
18 | 2DF | Marc Pubill | (2003-06-20) 20 June 2003 (age 21) | 2 | 0 | AlmerĂa |
8 | 3MF | Beñat Turrientes (captain) | (2002-01-31) 31 January 2002 (age 22) | 19 | 4 | Real Sociedad |
16 | 3MF | Pablo Torre | (2003-04-03) 3 April 2003 (age 21) | 9 | 2 | Girona |
17 | 3MF | Pablo Barrios | (2003-06-15) 15 June 2003 (age 21) | 8 | 0 | Atlético Madrid |
6 | 3MF | Javi Guerra | (2003-05-13) 13 May 2003 (age 21) | 8 | 0 | Valencia |
10 | 3MF | FermĂn LĂłpez | (2003-05-11) 11 May 2003 (age 21) | 6 | 1 | Barcelona |
22 | 3MF | Unai GĂłmez | (2003-05-25) 25 May 2003 (age 21) | 1 | 0 | Athletic Bilbao |
7 | 4FW | Diego LĂłpez | (2002-05-13) 13 May 2002 (age 22) | 8 | 2 | Valencia |
20 | 4FW | Samu Omorodion | (2004-05-05) 5 May 2004 (age 20) | 7 | 2 | Alavés |
21 | 4FW | Fran PĂ©rez | (2002-09-09) 9 September 2002 (age 21) | 7 | 1 | Valencia |
11 | 4FW | Robert Navarro | (2002-04-12) 12 April 2002 (age 22) | 6 | 3 | CĂĄdiz |
12 | 4FW | Alberto Moleiro | (2003-09-30) 30 September 2003 (age 20) | 4 | 0 | Las Palmas |
9 | 4FW | Mateo Joseph | (2003-10-19) 19 October 2003 (age 20) | 2 | 1 | Leeds United |
Recent call-upsâ»
The following players have been called up within the last twelve months are still eligible for selection.
Pos. | Player | Date of birth (age) | Caps | Goals | Club | Latest call-up |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
DF | Arnau MartĂnez | (2003-04-25) 25 April 2003 (age 21) | 12 | 0 | Girona | v. Belgium, 21 November 2023 |
DF | David Torres | (2003-03-05) 5 March 2003 (age 21) | 1 | 0 | Valladolid | v. Belgium, 21 November 2023 |
DF | Juanlu SĂĄnchez | (2003-08-15) 15 August 2003 (age 20) | 1 | 0 | Sevilla | v. Belgium, 21 November 2023 |
DF | Hugo Bueno | (2002-09-18) 18 September 2002 (age 21) | 1 | 0 | Wolverhampton Wanderers | v. Scotland, 11 September 2023 |
DF | Ălvaro Carrillo | (2002-04-06) 6 April 2002 (age 22) | 0 | 0 | Real Madrid | v. Scotland, 11 September 2023 |
MF | Nico GonzĂĄlez | (2002-01-03) 3 January 2002 (age 22) | 9 | 0 | Porto | v. Slovakia, 21 March 2024 |
MF | Gabri Veiga | (2002-05-27) 27 May 2002 (age 22) | 13 | 2 | Al-Ahli | v. Belgium, 21 November 2023 |
MF | Iker Muñoz | (2002-11-05) 5 November 2002 (age 21) | 2 | 0 | Osasuna | v. Kazakhstan, 17 October 2023 |
MF | Stefan BajÄetiÄ | (2004-10-22) 22 October 2004 (age 19) | 1 | 0 | Liverpool | v. Scotland, 11 September 2023 |
FW | Carlos MartĂn | (2002-04-22) 22 April 2002 (age 22) | 4 | 1 | MirandĂ©s | v. Belgium, 21 November 2023 |
FW | Assane Diao | (2005-09-07) 7 September 2005 (age 18) | 4 | 0 | Betis | v. Belgium, 21 November 2023 |
FW | IvĂĄn AzĂłn | (2002-12-24) 24 December 2002 (age 21) | 2 | 0 | Real Zaragoza | v. Scotland, 11 September 2023 |
Honoursâ»
Titlesâ»
Former squadsâ»
- 2023 UEFA European Under-21 Championship squads â Spain
- 2021 UEFA European Under-21 Championship squads â Spain
- 2019 UEFA European Under-21 Championship squads â Spain
- 2017 UEFA European Under-21 Championship squads â Spain
- 2013 UEFA European Under-21 Championship squads â Spain
- 2011 UEFA European Under-21 Championship squads â Spain
- 2009 UEFA European Under-21 Championship squads â Spain
- 2000 UEFA European Under-21 Championship squads â Spain
- 1998 UEFA European Under-21 Championship squads â Spain
- 1996 UEFA European Under-21 Championship squads â Spain
- 1994 UEFA European Under-21 Championship squads â Spain
See alsoâ»
- Spain national football team
- Spain national under-23 football team
- Spain national under-20 football team
- Spain national under-19 football team
- Spain national under-18 football team
- Spain national under-17 football team
- Spain national under-16 football team
- Spain national under-15 football team
- Spain national youth football team
Notesâ»
Referencesâ»
- ^ "La sub 21 regresa al lugar donde naciĂł el 'tiqui-taca'" [The under-21 team returns to the birthplace of tiki-taka] (in Spanish). Marca. 9 June 2011.
- ^ "Convocatoria para los partidos frente a Eslovaquia y BĂ©lgica" (in Spanish). Real FederaciĂłn Española de FĂștbol. 15 March 2024. Retrieved 15 March 2024.
- ^ "Pablo Torre sustituye por lesiĂłn a Nico GonzĂĄlez para los partidos frente a Eslovaquia y BĂ©lgica" (in Spanish). Real FederaciĂłn Española de FĂștbol. 17 March 2024. Retrieved 17 March 2024.