Spain

Spain are four-time UEFA European Champions, one-time FIFA World Cup winners, and the inventors of the tiki-taka possession style that dominated world football between 2008 and 2012, winning three consecutive major international trophies.

La Roja have successfully rebuilt since that golden era and are again playing at the highest level. The 2024 UEFA European Championship win, their fourth continental title, was achieved with a squad whose average age was among the youngest in the tournament. Lamine Yamal, who turned 17 during the tournament and scored in the semi-final against France, became the youngest player to score at a European Championship. Rodri, who anchors the midfield for both Spain and Manchester City with metronomic positional intelligence, provides the defensive foundation around which the creative players operate. Pedri and Fabian Ruiz complete a midfield that can both press and play, inheriting the positional discipline of Xavi and Iniesta without replicating their style.

Spain's World Cup history is defined by one tournament above all: South Africa 2010, where they won every match through the knockout stage by a single goal. Andres Iniesta's extra-time winner against the Netherlands in the final, 1-0, completed a tournament where Fernando Torres, David Villa, and Xabi Alonso operated within the most coherent pressing and possession system the game had seen. They were unbeatable for four years.

The 2022 World Cup, where Spain lost to Morocco in a penalty shootout in the round of sixteen, was a pointed reminder that tournaments can be lost by moments rather than performances.

Spain operates on Central European Time, UTC+1 in winter and UTC+2 in summer. A 20:45 kickoff in Madrid is 19:45 in London and 14:45 in New York. Check Spain time for your local conversion.