Spain national football team results (unofficial matches)

The Spain national football team has played in several matches dating back to 1913, which according to various sources are not counted as 'Tier A' international matches. In 2020, the sports newspaper Marca reported that there were 74 such matches, most of them either played during the Spanish Civil War era (late 1930s), charity fundraisers or pre-tournament warm-up matches against clubs or regional representative teams; of the 403 players involved in those matches, 89 were never capped in an official match.[1]

1913

25 May 1913 (1913-05-25) Friendly Spain 
(RUECF)
1–1  France
(USFSA)
Irun
Arzuaga Report

1924

13 March 1924 (1924-03-13) Friendly Catalonia  0–7  Spain Barcelona
Report Zabala
Samitier
Carulla  0' (o.g.)
Laca
Stadium: Camp de Les Corts
Referee: Llovera

1927

In May 1927, Spain played a friendly against Portugal in Madrid[2][3][4] on the same day as they played Italy in Rome.[5][6][7][8] The squad for the Italy game was more experienced and considered to be stronger, while several players in the Portugal match made their debuts; consequently the side that played Portugal is considered to have been equivalent to a Spain B team[9] (although they won their match while the 'A team' lost theirs)[8] and thus not a full international, although the match is included in some media articles relating to the Portugal–Spain football rivalry and in some statistical tallies of caps for the players involved[10][11][12][13] (this is not included in Marca's 74 matches).

29 May 1927 Unofficial friendly[2][3][4] Spain  2–0  Portugal Madrid
17:30 Moraleda  61'
Valderrama  81'
[8] Stadium: Metropolitano
Attendance: 30,000
Referee: Thomas Crewe

1934

14 February 1934 (1934-02-14) Friendly Catalonia  0–2  Spain Barcelona
15:45 Report Casuco  30'
Lángara  60'
Stadium: Camp de Les Corts
Referee: Arribas

Civil War period

Following the outbreak of the Spanish Civil War in 1936, no official matches were played by Spain until 1941.[14] The vast majority of the squad in 1936[15] either originated from the Basque provinces, or played for FC Barcelona in Catalonia, both of which were initially within Republican territory in the conflict. The Basque players formed their own quasi-national team and left Spain to play a long series of exhibition matches on tour around Eastern Europe[16] and Latin America[17] to provide funds and exposure for local causes, and Barcelona did likewise;[18] most of the players in both groups never returned.[14] Back in Spain, as the Nationalist side took control of more of the country, General Franco saw the opportunity to use football as a positive propaganda tool, and arranged for a match to be played in his home region of Galicia against Portugal, whose leader Salazar was supportive of Francoist Spain.[14][19][20][21] Recognition was granted by FIFA at short notice and the match took place in Vigo in November 1937. In contrast to Portugal's settled squad, the Spain pool was hastily assembled from the best available players in Nationalist areas, and Portugal won for their first victory over their neighbours.[19][20][22][23] A return match was arranged for the following January in Lisbon, also won by Portugal,[14][24][21] and which attracted attention when three local players refused to give the Roman salute before kick-off; they were initially imprisoned, but were soon released due to the political influence held by the hierarchy of the club they played for, Belenenses.[19][20] The matches are not considered official, but are included in some media articles relating to the rivalry and in some statistical tallies of caps for the players involved.[10][25][13]

1937

28 November 1937 Unofficial friendly[14][19][20][22][23] Spain  1–2  Portugal Balaídos, Vigo
Gallart  76' [28][29] Pinga  59'
Alfredo Valadas  75'
Attendance: 50,000
Referee: Rinaldo Barlassina

1938

30 January 1938 Unofficial friendly[14][19][20][24] Portugal  1–0  Spain Campo das Salésias, Lisbon
Pinga  40' [30][31] Attendance: 25,000
Referee: Francesco Mattea
6 February 1938 Unofficial friendly[26] Spanish Morocco 1–3  Spain Estadio Municipal, Ceuta
Ferre Report Vergara
Campanal I
Referee: Tovar
13 February 1938 Unofficial friendly[26] Spanish Morocco 2–5  Spain La Hípica, Tétouan
Tatono
Torrontegui
Report Campanal I
Epi
Vergara
Referee: Guerrero
20 February 1938 Unofficial friendly[26] Melilla 0–7  Spain La Hípica, Melilla
Report Referee: Cesáreo González

1947

19 October 1947 (1947-10-19) Friendly Catalonia  3–1  Spain Barcelona
16:00 César  11', 30'
Toni  67'
Report Bilbao  2' Stadium: Sarrià Stadium
Referee: Azón

1950

In the run-up to the 1950 FIFA World Cup, Spain played two unofficial friendly matches against Mexico, minus the players taking part in the 1950 Copa del Generalísimo Final (including Athletic Bilbao's prolific goalscorer Zarra).[32] Many of the locals were hostile to the Spanish political regime and the second match ended in controversy when the final whistle was blown as a shot which would have won the match for Spain was on its way to goal; Spanish supporters threw objects at the Mexican players as they left the field. The fallout was a major contributory factor in Asturias and Real Club España, two of the most successful teams in Mexican football and both with strong links to Spain, withdrawing from the professional ranks.[32] A few weeks later, the touring Hungária team (made up of players who had defected from the communist regimes in Hungary and Czechoslovakia, led by Ladislao Kubala)[33][34] played twice in Madrid against an approximation of the Spain World Cup squad, with the right-wing Franco government happy to co-operate with those fleeing from left-wing ideologies for political reasons.

26 May 1950 (1950-05-26) Friendly[32] Mexico  1–3  Spain Mexico City
Navarro  24' Report Juncosa  61'
César  65', 75'
Stadium: Estadio Ciudad de los Deportes
28 May 1950 (1950-05-28) Friendly[32] Mexico  0–0  Spain Mexico City
Report Stadium: Estadio Ciudad de los Deportes
Referee: C. Esteva
8 June 1950 (1950-06-08) Friendly Spain  1–2 Hungária Madrid
Igoa  15' Report Otto  10'
Marik  55'
Stadium: Estadio Metropolitano
Referee: R. Galende Pascual
14 June 1950 (1950-06-14) Friendly Spain  6–3 Hungária Madrid
Zarra  5', 19', 25'
Gainza  20'
Marik  (o.g)
Juncosa
Report Kubala  77'
Nagy  52'
Referee: N. De la Cruz Hernández

1953

9 August 1953 (1953-08-09) Friendly Catalonia  0–6  Spain Barcelona
Report Referee: Azón

2013

  • A friendly match between Equatorial Guinea and Spain in November 2013[35] was declared void by FIFA a month later due to a procedural error in confirming the use of a local referee.[36] However, the RFEF includes the match and player statistics in its records, and these are usually counted in other sources (e.g. Juanfran Torres scored his only international goal in the fixture).[37] Therefore, this match is included in the 2019–19 results and overall head-to-head record lists.

References

  1. "Los otros 89 de España" [Spain's other 89]. Marca (in Spanish). 1 April 2020. Retrieved 15 October 2020.
  2. "International football match: 29.05.1927 Spain* v Portugal". EU-football.info. Retrieved 17 March 2019.
  3. "29/05/1927: España 2 - 0 Portugal". BDFutbol. Retrieved 17 March 2019.
  4. "Spain v Portugal, 29 May 1927". 11v11.com. Retrieved 17 March 2019.
  5. "International football match: 29.05.1927 Italy v Spain". EU-football.info. Retrieved 17 March 2019.
  6. "29/05/1927: Italia 2 - 0 España". BDFutbol. Retrieved 17 March 2019.
  7. "Italy v Spain, 29 May 1927". 11v11.com. Retrieved 17 March 2019.
  8. "Los españoles, gandaores en el Stadium y derrotadoes en Bolonia por tanteo de 2 a 0" [The Spaniards, winners in the Stadium and defeated in Bologna by score of 2 to 0]. La Voz (digital archive) (in Spanish). 30 May 1927. p. 11. Retrieved 17 March 2019.
  9. "¿Sabes qué era la Selección Absoluta B?" [Do you know what the Senior B Team was?]. SEFútbol (in Spanish). RFEF. 29 July 2013. Retrieved 18 March 2019.
  10. "España vs. Portugal: rivalidad y revancha" [Spain vs. Portugal: rivalry and revenge]. Marca (in Spanish). 26 June 2010. Retrieved 17 March 2019.
  11. "Regueiro: Pedro Regueiro Pagola [List of matches / Spain National Team]". BDFutbol. Retrieved 18 March 2019.
  12. "National football team player: Jorge Vieira". EU-football.info. Retrieved 19 March 2019.
  13. "Appearances for Portugal National Team". RSSSF. Retrieved 19 March 2019.
  14. Alberto Cosín (1 May 2014). "La hipotética selección española en el Mundial 1938" [The hypothetical Spanish national team in the 1938 World Cup]. Kaiser Football (in Spanish). Retrieved 17 March 2019.
  15. "España Amistosos 1936" [Spain Friendlies 1936 [squad list]]. BDFutbol. Retrieved 17 March 2019.
  16. "Cuando 'Euzkadi' jugó en Rusia" [When 'Euzkadi' played in Russia]. Noticias de Navarra (in Spanish). 15 June 2018. Retrieved 18 March 2019.
  17. Alfredo Relaño (10 October 2016). "La selección de Euskadi parte para América (1937)" [The Basque selection leaves for America (1937)]. Diario AS (in Spanish). Retrieved 18 March 2019.
  18. Jordi Blanco (20 July 2019). "The tour that saved FC Barcelona". ESPN. Retrieved 18 March 2019.
  19. Francisco Pinheiro (11 September 2012). "Portugal, España y el fútbol. La construcción histórica de una amistad" [Portugal, Spain and football: the historical construction of a friendship] (in Portuguese). CSIC. Retrieved 17 March 2019.
  20. Miguel Ángel Lara (7 November 2012). "El poder de balón: España-Portugal, el partido que quiso Franco y que acabó en 'rebelión'" [The power of the ball: Spain-Portugal, the match that Franco wanted and that ended in 'rebellion']. Marca (in Spanish). Retrieved 17 March 2019.
  21. "El fútbol en las dos Españas" [Football in the two Spains]. Curiosidades del fútbol (Curiosities of football) (in Spanish). 7 November 2012. Retrieved 17 March 2019.
  22. "El delantero de Osasuna que marcó cinco goles en un partido" [The Osasuna forward who scored five goals in a match]. Diario de Navarra (in Spanish). 6 April 2015. Retrieved 17 March 2019.
  23. "Partido Internacional España-Portugal en Vigo (1937)" [International Match Spain-Portugal in Vigo (1937)]. Sucedió en Vigo (It happened in Vigo) (in Spanish). 17 February 2018. Retrieved 17 March 2019.
  24. "Portugal 1-0 Espanha 1938 Campo das Salésias". Retrieved 17 March 2019 via YouTube.
  25. "National football team player: Pinga". EU-football.info. Retrieved 19 March 2019.
  26. "España jugó dos partidos en Ceuta en 1938, sin ser reconocidos por la FIFA" [Spain played two matches in Ceuta in 1938, without being recognized by FIFA]. Mundo Deportivo (in Spanish). 3 June 2014. Retrieved 19 March 2019.
  27. "La Selección Española disputó dos partidos en La Hípica en 1938" [The Spanish National Team played two games at La Hípica in 1938]. Melilla es Deporte (in Spanish). 13 March 2018. Retrieved 17 March 2019.
  28. "International football match: 28.11.1937 Spain* v Portugal". EU-football.info. Retrieved 17 March 2019.
  29. "Spain v Portugal, 28 November 1937". 11v11.com. Retrieved 17 March 2019.
  30. "International football match: 30.01.1938 Portugal v Spain*". EU-football.info. Retrieved 17 March 2019.
  31. "Portugal v Spain, 30 January 1938". 11v11.com. Retrieved 17 March 2019.
  32. Miguel Ángel Lara (14 December 2014). "Franco retiró a los campeones 'españoles' en México" [Franco retired the 'Spanish' champions in Mexico] (in Spanish). Marca. Retrieved 17 October 2020.
  33. The great refugee: how László Kubala became a Barcelona legend, These Football Times, 2 February 2017
  34. Laszlo Kubala – F.C. Barcelona's Game Changer, Beyond The Last Man, 27 March 2019
  35. Estepa, Javier (17 November 2013). "De pasear la estrella a ver las estrellas" [From parading star to seeing stars]. Marca (in Spanish). Retrieved 15 October 2020.
  36. "La FIFA anula el Guinea-España" [FIFA annuls Guinea-Spain]. Diario AS (in Spanish). 31 December 2013. Retrieved 15 October 2020.
  37. "Juanfran Torres". Selección Española de Fútbol (in Spanish). Retrieved 15 October 2020.
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