Catalonia national football team

The Catalonia team made their debut in 1905 Initially they played against various club teams such as Club Espanyol, Madrid CF, FC Barcelona and Irún Sporting Club. On 2 February 1912, they made their international friendly debut against France, losing 7–0 in Paris. The team was: Reñé, Irízar, Amecharruza, Alemany, Peris, Armet, Forns, Rodríguez, Comamala, Morales and Ramiro. On 1 December 1912, the two teams met again in Barcelona and this time the Catalans won 1–0. In 1914, the Catalan XI played the Basque Country XI for the first time, but there is no record of the result.[4] The first recorded game between the two teams took place on 3 January 1915 at San Mamés Stadium; the Catalan XI lost 6–1.[5]

Between 1915 and 1926, the Catalan XI competed in an inter-regional competition. They finished as runners-up in 1915 and won the Copa Príncep d'Astúries for the first time in 1916, beating a Castile/Madrid XI 8–5 over two games. They then relinquished the trophy in 1917 after losing to the Castile XI 2–0. During the 1920s, a team featuring Josep Samitier, Paulino Alcántara, Sagibarba and Ricardo Zamora helped the Catalan XI win the competition in 1922, 1924 and 1926. The last competition in 1926 was a play-off between the two teams who had won the competition the most. The Catalans beat an Asturias XI 6–3 over two games.

As well as playing other regional teams from throughout Spain and Europe, the 1920s also saw the Catalan XI play several international friendly matches. On 13 March 1924, at the Camp de Les Corts, the Catalan XI played Spain for the first time. The Spain XI included Josep Samitier and Zamora, two of the best Catalan players of the era, while the Catalan XI featured Alcántara and Sagibarba. Samiter scored twice as the Spain XI won 7–0. On 13 December 1925, Samitier, Zamora, Alcántara and Sagibarba were on the same side as the Catalan XI beat Czechoslovakia at the Estadi de Sarrià. After conceding a penalty and going down 1–0, Sagibarba then equalised with another penalty before Samitier clinched a 2–1 win. On 7 July 1926, the Catalan XI played Czechoslovakia in Prague. Despite Samitier putting the Catalans 1–0 ahead, they eventually lost 2–1.

During the 1930s, Catalonia continued playing friendly games against an array of teams; 1934 was a particularly good year. On 2 February, they played Spain and lost 2–0 at Les Corts. Four months later, they played Brazil twice. On 17 June, the Catalan XI beat Brazil 2–1 at Les Corts and then on 24 June, they held them to a 2–2 draw at the Vista Alegre in Girona. The Brazil team had been in Europe to play in the official 1934 FIFA World Cup and included the legendary Leônidas in their team. The Catalan XI completed a good month when on June 29 they beat the reigning official La Liga champions, Athletic Bilbao, 5–1.

After the Spanish Civil War, caudillo Francisco Franco imposed several restrictions on Catalonia, abolishing the Generalitat de Catalunya and banning the official use of the Catalan language and the Catalan flag. Despite these restrictions, the Catalan XI continued to play regularly during this period and even played Spain twice. On 19 October 1947, at the Sarrià and with a team featuring Juan Velasco, Marià Gonzalvo, Joan Segarra and César, they beat Spain 3–1. On 9 August 1953, Spain avenged this defeat with a 6–0 win.

During this era, several notable Barcelona players, including the Spanish players László Kubala, Luis Suárez, Evaristo and later Jesús María Pereda, played for the Catalan XI. On 26 January 1955, in a friendly game against Bologna at Les Corts, Kubala was also joined by another guest player, Alfredo Di Stéfano. The Catalan XI won 6–2 with two goals from Kubala and one from Di Stéfano. On 1 September 1956, Di Stéfano returned to Les Corts with Real Madrid, recent winners of the first official European Cup, and played a Selecció de Barcelona. Real won the game 7–3.

The Catalan XI marked the end of the Franco era with a friendly game against the Soviet Union at the Camp Nou on 6 June 1976. The team included Carles Rexach, guest Netherlands players Johan Cruyff and Johan Neeskens, and Chilean international Carlos Caszely who played for Espanyol. The game finished 1–1 with Neeskens scoring for the Catalan XI. Cruyff's son, Jordi, would subsequently play regularly for the Catalan XI.

Catalonia vs Basque Country team playing in Camp Nou

Since the restoration of democracy in the 1970s, the Catalonia representative team has regularly played international friendly matches. They put together a string of successful results against countries like Bulgaria, Nigeria, Yugoslavia, Lithuania and Chile. On 5 May 2002, Catalonia hosted Brazil in a warm up friendly game before the official 2002 World Cup. Brazil, who went on to win the official competition, beat Catalonia 3–1. In 2004, Brazil returned for a second friendly game and this time won 5–2 at the Camp Nou, where some months later Argentina defeated Catalonia 3–0. The last friendly matches have been against Paraguay, Costa Rica, Basque Country, Argentina and Colombia.

On 2 November 2009, it was announced that Dutch legend and former Barcelona manager Johan Cruyff would be the new coach of Catalonia.[6] On 22 December 2009, they played a friendly against Argentina, which ended in a Catalonia win, 4–2 at Camp Nou. On 28 December 2010, Catalonia played another friendly against Honduras winning 4–0 at Estadi Olímpic Lluís Companys.[7] On 30 December 2011, Catalonia played Tunisia in a goalless draw at the Lluís Companys.[8] In their last game under Cruyff, on 2 January 2013, Catalonia drew with Nigeria at the Cornellà-El Prat, 1–1.[9]

Former player Gerard was appointed new coach for the Catalan team for two years. His first match with the team took place on 30 December 2013 against Cape Verde at the Olímpic Lluís Companys.[10]

The following players have been called up for the friendly match against  Venezuela, on 25 March 2019.
All caps and goals as of 25 March 2019 after match against  Venezuela.

No.	Pos.	Player	Date of birth (age)	Caps	Goals	Club
13	1GK	Édgar Badía	(1992-02-12) 12 February 1992	2	0	Elche
1	1GK	Isaac Becerra	(1988-06-18) 18 June 1988	1	0	Córdoba
3	2DF	Gerard Piqué	(1987-02-02) 2 February 1987	10	0	Barcelona
5	2DF	Marc Bartra	(1991-01-15) 15 January 1991	6	0	Betis
2	2DF	Martín Montoya	(1991-04-14) 14 April 1991	6	0	Betis
11	2DF	Aleix Vidal	(1989-08-21) 21 August 1989	4	0	Sevilla
12	2DF	Dídac Vilà	(1989-06-09) 9 June 1989	3	0	Espanyol
20	2DF	Marc Muniesa	(1992-03-27) 27 March 1992	2	0	Al-Arabi
17	2DF	Marc Cucurella	(1998-07-22) 22 July 1998	1	0	Getafe
4	3MF	Víctor Sánchez	(1987-09-08) 8 September 1987	4	0	Western United
8	3MF	Pere Pons	(1993-02-20) 20 February 1993	2	0	Alavés
15	3MF	Joan Jordán	(1994-07-06) 6 July 1994	2	0	Sevilla
6	3MF	Álex Granell	(1988-08-02) 2 August 1988	1	0	Bolívar
18	3MF	Oriol Romeu	(1991-09-24) 24 September 1991	1	0	Southampton
21	3MF	Aleix García	(1997-06-28) 28 June 1997	1	0	Eibar
14	3MF	Óscar Melendo	(1997-08-23) 23 August 1997	1	0	Espanyol
23	3MF	Riqui Puig	(1999-08-13) 13 August 1999	1	0	Barcelona
9	4FW	Sergio García (Captain)	(1983-06-09) 9 June 1983	15	9	Montañesa
10	4FW	Bojan	(1990-08-20) 20 August 1990	8	7	Montréal
19	4FW	Javi Puado	(1998-05-25) 25 May 1998	1	1	Espanyol
22	4FW	Pere Milla	(1992-09-23) 23 September 1992	1	0	Elche
7	4FW	Marc Cardona	(1995-07-08) 8 July 1995	1	0	Mallorca

The following players have been called up for the team within the last 12 months and are still available for selection.

Pos.	Player	Date of birth (age)	Caps	Goals	Club	Latest call-up
GK	Jordi Masip	(1989-01-03) 3 January 1989	3	0	Valladolid	v.  Venezuela, 25 March 2019WD[14]
GK	Alberto García	(1985-02-09) 9 February 1985	0	0	Rayo Vallecano	v.  Venezuela, 25 March 2019WD[15]
DF	Àlex Moreno	(1993-06-08) 8 June 1993	0	0	Betis	v.  Venezuela, 25 March 2019WD[15]
MF	Rubén Alcaraz	(1991-05-01) 1 May 1991	0	0	Valladolid	v.  Venezuela, 25 March 2019WD[14]
FW	Enric Gallego	(1986-09-12) 12 September 1986	0	0	Osasuna	v.  Venezuela, 25 March 2019WD
FW	Àlex Gallar	(1992-03-19) 19 March 1992	0	0	Cartagena	v.  Venezuela, 25 March 2019WD

• ^WD = Player withdrew from the squad due to non-injury issue.

• For a list of recent Catalonia national team players, see here
• For a list of players from Catalonia who have represented FIFA national teams, see here

Because Catalonia is not a member of either UEFA or FIFA due to it being a region of Spain and plays only in unofficial friendly matches, normal eligibility rules based on birthplace do not apply, and a number of players who were not born in Catalonia and played for other international teams have guested for the Catalan XI, although this is much less frequent in the 21st century. With the notable exception of Alfredo Di Stéfano, most were playing for Barcelona or Espanyol at the time. Some of these players, such as Andrés Iniesta, César Rodríguez, Francisco Bru, Guillermo Amor and Pepe Reina had lived a large part of their lives in Catalonia due to their football careers.

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