Spain national under-21 football team

The Spain national under-21 football team is the national under-21 football team of Spain and is controlled by the Royal Spanish Football Federation. The team, nicknamed La Rojita (The Little Red [One]),[1] competes in the biennial UEFA European Under-21 Championship.

Spain Under-21
Nickname(s)La Rojita (The Little Red [One])
AssociationRoyal Spanish Football Federation
ConfederationUEFA (Europe)
Head coachLuis de la Fuente
CaptainMarc Cucurella
Most capsGerard Deulofeu (36)
Top scorerGerard Deulofeu (17)
FIFA codeESP
First colours
Second colours
First international
 Yugoslavia 4–1 Spain 
(Zagreb, Yugoslavia; 9 October 1976)
Biggest win
 Spain 14–0 San Marino 
(El Ejido, Spain; 8 February 2005)
Biggest defeat
 Netherlands 5–0 Spain 
(Utrecht, Netherlands; 16 February 1983)
Records for competitive matches only.
UEFA U-21 Championship
Appearances13 (first in 1982)
Best resultWinners (1986, 1998, 2011, 2013, 2019)
The 2011 winning team

Following the realignment of UEFA's youth competitions in 1976, the Spanish under-21 team was formed. Spain has a fantastic 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 2–1 at home then drew 1–1 away and failed to 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 record

UEFA European Under-21 Championship Record
Year Round GP W D* L GS GA
1978Qualifying Stage420258
1980Qualifying Stage412142
1982Quarter-Finals6501145
1984Runners-up105231111
1986Champions10712189
1988Quarter-Finals8422104
1990Quarter-Finals640254
1992Qualifying Stage732265
1994Third Place12921219
1996Runners-up1410313414
1998Champions111010216
2000Third Place141130317
2002Qualification Playoffs10613159
2004Qualification Playoffs10622175
2006Qualifying Stage10622378
2007Qualification Playoffs421184
2009Group Stage131012277
2011Champions151221318
2013Champions151410475
2015Qualification Playoffs10721258
2017Runners-up1711424413
2019Champions1513024516
Total14/222251573433476167

*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 awards

In addition to team victories, Spanish players have won individual awards at UEFA European Under-21 Football Championship.

Year Golden Player Golden Boot
1986 Manolo Sanchís
1998 Francesc Arnau
2011 Juan Mata Adrián
2013 Thiago Álvaro Morata
2017 Dani Ceballos Saúl
2019 Fabián Ruiz

Player records

Top appearances
Rank Player Club(s) Year(s) U-21 Caps
1Gerard DeulofeuBarcelona, Everton, Sevilla, Milan2012–201736
2Borja MayoralReal Madrid, VfL Wolfsburg, Levante2015–201931
 Jorge MeréSporting Gijón, FC Köln2015–201931
 Iker MuniainAthletic Bilbao2011–201431
5Dani CeballosBetis, Real Madrid2015–201929
6Santiago DeniaAlbacete, Atlético Madrid1992–199627
 David de GeaAtlético Madrid, Manchester United2009–201327
8Diego CapelSevilla2007–201125
 Mikel OyarzabalReal Sociedad2017–201925
 SaúlAtlético Madrid, Rayo Vallecano2013–201725
 XaviBarcelona1998–200125

Note: Club(s) represents all the clubs that players played in at the time they did it too in the Under-21s.

Top goalscorers
Rank Player Club(s) Year(s) U-21 Goals
1Gerard DeulofeuBarcelona, Everton, Sevilla, Milan2012–201717
2Borja MayoralReal Madrid, VfL Wolfsburg, Levante2015–201916
3RodrigoBenfica2011–201315
4IscoMálaga, Real Madrid2011–201414
5Álvaro MorataReal Madrid, Juventus2013–201413
6ÓscarBarcelona, Albacete1992–199612
7MunirBarcelona2014–201610
8Pablo CouñagoCelta, Recreativo, Ipswich Town1999–20019
 AdriánDeportivo, Alavés, Málaga, Atlético Madrid2007–20119
 SaúlAtlético Madrid, Rayo Vallecano2013–20179

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 results
Date Competition Location Opponent Result Scorers
6 September 2020 2021 UEFA U-21 qualification Nur-Sultan, Kazakhstan  Kazakhstan 1–0 Dani Olmo  28' (pen.)
10 September 2020 2021 UEFA U-21 qualification Castellón, Spain  Montenegro 2–0 Dani Olmo  3', 9'
10 October 2019 Friendly Córdoba, Spain  Germany 1–1 Manu García  10'
15 October 2019 2021 UEFA U-21 qualification Podgorica, Montenegro  Montenegro 2–0 Buñuel  34', Cucurella  62'
14 November 2019 2021 UEFA U-21 qualification Alcorcón, Spain  North Macedonia 3–0 Manu García  7', Serafimov  47' (o.g.), Pedrosa  87'
19 November 2019 2021 UEFA U-21 qualification Ramat Gan, Israel  Israel 1–1 Óscar  50'
3 September 2020 2021 UEFA U-21 qualification Skopje, North Macedonia  North Macedonia 1–0 Hugo Duro  84' (pen.)
8 October 2020 2021 UEFA U-21 qualification Tórsvøllur, Faroe Islands  Faroe Islands 2–0 Brahim Díaz  51', 90+1'
13 October 2020 2021 UEFA U-21 qualification Alcorcón, Spain  Kazakhstan 3–0 Guillamón  65', Dani Gómez  71', 85'
12 November 2020 2021 UEFA U-21 qualification Marbella, Spain  Faroe Islands 2–0 Pedrosa  67', Roberto López  87'
17 November 2020 2021 UEFA U-21 qualification Marbella, Spain  Israel 3–0 Roberto López  65' (pen.), Barrenetxea  75', Moncayola  89'

Forthcoming fixtures
Date Competition Location Opponent

2021 UEFA European Under-21 Championship

Group phase
Main article: 2021 UEFA European Under-21 Championship qualification Group 6
Pos Team Pld W D L GF GA GD Pts Qualification
1  Spain 10 9 1 0 20 1 +19 28 Final tournament — 3–0 3–0 3–0 2–0 2–0
2  North Macedonia 10 5 3 2 20 12 +8 18 0–1 — 1–1 1–1 7–1 2–1
3  Israel 10 3 4 3 12 14 −2 13 1–1 1–1 — 1–2 3–1 0–0
4  Kazakhstan 10 3 1 6 12 21 −9 10 0–1 1–4 1–2 — 2–3 0–4
5  Faroe Islands 10 3 0 7 11 25 −14 9 0–2 1–2 3–1 1–3 — 1–0
6  Montenegro 10 2 1 7 11 13 −2 7 0–2 1–2 1–2 1–2 3–0 —
Source: UEFA
Rules for classification: Tiebreakers

Players

The following players were called up for the 2021 UEFA European Under-21 Championship qualification matches against the Faroe Islands and Israel on 12 and 17 November 2020 respectively.[2]

Caps and goals correct as of 17 November 2020, after the match against Israel.
No. Pos. Player Date of birth (age) Caps Goals Club
1 1GK Álvaro Fernández (1998-04-13) 13 April 1998 5 0 Huesca
13 1GK Josep Martínez (1998-05-27) 27 May 1998 3 0 RB Leipzig
23 1GK Iñaki Peña (1999-03-02) 2 March 1999 1 0 Barcelona B
2 2DF Pedro Porro (1999-09-13) 13 September 1999 7 0 Sporting CP
3 2DF Jorge Cuenca (1999-11-17) 17 November 1999 7 0 Almería
4 2DF Hugo Guillamón (2000-01-31) 31 January 2000 4 1 Valencia
5 2DF Enrique Clemente (1999-03-04) 4 March 1999 3 0 Logroñés
15 2DF Manu Hernando (1998-07-19) 19 July 1998 2 0 Ponferradina
17 2DF Manu Sánchez (2000-08-24) 24 August 2000 1 0 Atlético Madrid
18 2DF Adrià Pedrosa (1998-05-13) 13 May 1998 7 2 Espanyol
6 3MF Manu Garcia (1998-01-02) 2 January 1998 5 2 Sporting Gijón
7 3MF Alejandro Pozo (Captain) (1999-02-22) 22 February 1999 8 0 Eibar
8 3MF Fran Beltrán (1999-02-03) 3 February 1999 10 0 Celta Vigo
10 3MF Óscar Rodríguez (1998-06-28) 28 June 1998 8 1 Sevilla
14 3MF Martín Zubimendi (1999-02-02) 2 February 1999 3 0 Real Sociedad
20 3MF Jon Moncayola (1998-05-13) 13 May 1998 4 1 Osasuna
21 3MF Pedri (2002-11-25) 25 November 2002 4 0 Barcelona
9 4FW Dani Gómez (1998-07-30) 30 July 1998 6 2 Levante
11 4FW Brahim Díaz (1999-08-03) 3 August 1999 5 2 Milan
12 4FW Roberto López (2000-04-24) 24 April 2000 2 2 Real Sociedad
16 4FW Bryan Gil (2001-02-11) 11 February 2001 3 0 Eibar
19 4FW Javi Puado (1998-05-25) 25 May 1998 5 0 Espanyol
22 4FW Ander Barrenetxea (2001-12-27) 27 December 2001 2 1 Real Sociedad

Recent callups

The following players have been called up for the team within the last 12 months and still eligible for 2021 UEFA European Under-21 Championship.

Pos. Player Date of birth (age) Caps Goals Club Latest call-up
GK Dani Martín (1998-07-08) 8 July 1998 3 0 Betis v.  North Macedonia, 3 September 2020
DF Fran García (1999-08-14) 14 August 1999 1 0 Rayo Vallecano v.  Kazakhstan, 13 October 2020
DF Pipa (1998-01-26) 26 January 1998 3 0 Huddersfield Town v.  Kazakhstan, 13 October 2020
DF Juan Miranda (2000-01-19) 19 January 2000 3 0 Betis v.  North Macedonia, 3 September 2020
MF Marc Cucurella (Captain) (1998-07-22) 22 July 1998 7 1 Getafe v.  Faroe Islands, 12 November 2020
MF Riqui Puig (1999-08-13) 13 August 1999 3 0 Barcelona v.  Kazakhstan, 13 October 2020
MF Gonzalo Villar (1998-03-23) 23 March 1998 5 0 Roma v.  North Macedonia, 3 September 2020
MF Carles Aleñá (1998-01-05) 5 January 1998 3 0 Barcelona v.  North Macedonia, 3 September 2020
FW Antoñín (2000-04-16) 16 April 2000 2 0 Rayo Vallecano v.  Kazakhstan, 13 October 2020
FW Andrés Martín (1999-07-11) 11 July 1999 7 0 Rayo Vallecano v.  North Macedonia, 3 September 2020
FW Hugo Duro (1998-07-30) 30 July 1998 1 1 Real Madrid B v.  North Macedonia, 3 September 2020
FW Valery Fernández (1999-11-23) 23 November 1999 0 0 Girona v.  North Macedonia, 3 September 2020
Notes
  • Players in italics are still active at international level.
  • INJ = Not part of the current squad due to injury.
  • PRE = Not part of the current squad but present in a preliminary list.
  • COV = Not part of the current squad due to testing positive in SARS-CoV-2.

Former squads

See also

Notes

    References
    1. "La sub 21 regresa al lugar donde nació el 'tiqui-taca'" [The under-21 team returns to the birthplace of tiki-taka] (in Spanish). MARCA. 2011-06-09.
    2. Los dorsales para los partidos ante Islas Feroe e Israel.
    This article is issued from Wikipedia. The text is licensed under Creative Commons - Attribution - Sharealike. Additional terms may apply for the media files.