Spain national under-21 football team

Spain national under-21 football team
Medal record
U-21 European Championship

Spain U-21
Nickname(s)	La Rojita (The Little Red One); La Furia Roja (the red fury)
Association	Royal Spanish Football Federation ; (Real Federación Española de Fútbol – RFEF)
Confederation	UEFA (Europe)
Head coach	Santi Denia
Captain	Bryan Gil
Most caps	Gerard Deulofeu (36)
Top scorer	Gerard Deulofeu (17)
FIFA code	ESP
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
Appearances	16 (first in 1982)
Best result	Winners (1986, 1998, 2011, 2013, 2019)
Medal record
Medal record
U-21 European Championship

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),^[1] 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 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
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	Qualified
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 awards

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
1	Gerard Deulofeu	Barcelona, Everton, Sevilla, Milan	2012–2017	36
2	Borja Mayoral	Real Madrid, VfL Wolfsburg, Levante	2015–2019	31
	Jorge Meré	Sporting Gijón, FC Köln	2015–2019	31
	Iker Muniain	Athletic Bilbao	2011–2014	31
5	Dani Ceballos	Betis, Real Madrid	2015–2019	29
6	Santi Denia	Albacete, Atlético Madrid	1992–1996	27
	David de Gea	Atlético Madrid, Manchester United	2009–2013	27
8	Diego Capel	Sevilla	2007–2011	25
	Mikel Oyarzabal	Real Sociedad	2017–2019	25
	Saúl	Atlético Madrid, Rayo Vallecano	2013–2017	25
	Xavi	Barcelona	1998–2001	25

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
1	Gerard Deulofeu	Barcelona, Everton, Sevilla, Milan	2012–2017	17
2	Borja Mayoral	Real Madrid, VfL Wolfsburg, Levante	2015–2019	16
3	Rodrigo	Benfica	2011–2013	15
4	Isco	Málaga, Real Madrid	2011–2014	14
5	Álvaro Morata	Real Madrid, Juventus	2013–2014	13
6	Óscar	Barcelona, Albacete	1992–1996	12
7	Munir	Barcelona	2014–2016	10
8	Pablo Couñago	Celta, Recreativo, Ipswich Town	1999–2001	9
	Adrián	Deportivo, Alavés, Málaga, Atlético Madrid	2007–2011	9
	Saúl	Atlético Madrid, Rayo Vallecano	2013–2017	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 results

Date	Competition	Location	Opponent	Result	Scorers
3 September 2021	2023 UEFA U-21 qualification	Almendralejo, Spain	Russia	4–1	Fer Niño 13', 54', Pino 47', 86'
7 September 2021	2023 UEFA U-21 qualification	Vilnius, Lithuania	Lithuania	2–0	Francés 32', Pino 78'
8 October 2021	2023 UEFA U-21 qualification	Seville, Spain	Slovakia	3–2	Guillamón 58', Sergio Gómez 80' (pen.), Miranda 88' (pen.)
12 October 2021	2023 UEFA U-21 qualification	Seville, Spain	Northern Ireland	3–0	Sergio Gómez 26' (pen.), 32', Abel Ruiz 56'
12 November 2021	2023 UEFA U-21 qualification	Ta' Qali, Malta	Malta	5–0	Sergio Gómez 23', Abel Ruiz 24', 88', Guillamón 40', Lobete 50'
16 November 2021	2023 UEFA U-21 qualification	Khimki, Russia	Russia	0–1
25 March 2022	2023 UEFA U-21 qualification	Huelva, Spain	Lithuania	8–0	Rodri 16', 37', Sergio Gómez 35', Bryan Gil 40', Abel Ruiz 43', Manu Sánchez 61', Baena 65', Turrientes 70'
29 March 2022	2023 UEFA U-21 qualification	Žilina, Slovakia	Slovakia	3–2	Bryan Gil 4', Sergio Gómez 66', Navarro 81'
3 June 2022	2023 UEFA U-21 qualification	Larne, Northern Ireland	Northern Ireland	6–0	Abel Ruiz 22', Gil 50', 61', Miranda 64', Riquelme 76', V. Gómez 87'
7 June 2022	2023 UEFA U-21 qualification	Melilla, Spain	Malta	7–1	Navarro 8', 69', Abel Ruiz 8 47', 64', Manu Sánchez 55', Lobete 73', 78'
23 September 2022	Friendly	Cluj-Napoca, Romania	Romania	4–1	Abel Ruiz 8', 18', Riquelme 80', 89'
27 September 2022	Friendly	Huesca, Spain	Norway	3–0	Gragera 40', Abel Ruiz 51', Novoa 90'
18 November 2022	Friendly	Seville, Spain	Japan	2–0	Turrientes 47', Manu Sánchez 69'
21 June 2023	2023 UEFA U-21	Bucharest, Romania	Romania	3–0	Baena 55', Miranda 62', Sergio Gómez 90+5'
24 June 2023	2023 UEFA U-21	Giulești, Romania	Croatia	1–0	Abel Ruiz 1'
27 June 2023	2023 UEFA U-21	Giulești, Romania	Ukraine	2–2	Ivan Zhelizko 49' (o.g.), Abel Ruiz 90'
1 July 2023	2023 UEFA U-21	Giulești, Romania	Switzerland	2–1	Sergio Gómez 68', Miranda 103'
5 July 2023	2023 UEFA U-21	Bucharest, Romania	Ukraine	5–1	Ruiz 17', Sancet 24', Blanco 54', Aimar Oroz 68', Sergio Gómez 78'
8 July 2023	2023 UEFA U-21	Batumi, Georgia	England	0–1
8 September 2023	2025 UEFA U-21 qualification	Paola, Malta	Malta	6–0	Diego López 5', Gabri Veiga 14', 18', Ilias 49', Pablo Torre 70', Turrientes 88'
11 September 2023	2025 UEFA U-21 qualification	Jaén, Spain	Scotland	1–0	Turrientes 83'
13 October 2023	Friendly	Tashkent, Uzbekistan	Uzbekistan	0–0
17 October 2023	2025 UEFA U-21 qualification	Astana, Kazakhstan	Kazakhstan	4–0	Fermín López 11', Diego López 54', Fran Pérez 56', Omorodion 90'
17 November 2023	2025 UEFA U-21 qualification	Huelva, Spain	Hungary	2–0	Carlos Martín 36', Pablo Torre 67'
21 November 2023	2025 UEFA U-21 qualification	Leuven, Belgium	Belgium	1–1	Omorodion 66'
21 March 2024	Friendly	Jerez, Spain	Slovakia	0–2
26 March 2024	2025 UEFA U-21 qualification	Almería, Spain	Belgium	1–0	Joseph 88'
6 September 2024	2025 UEFA U-21 qualification	Edinburgh, Scotland	Scotland	2–1	Huijsen 59', Joseph 69'
10 September 2024	2025 UEFA U-21 qualification	Szeged, Hungary	Hungary	1–0	Navarro 20'

Forthcoming fixtures

Date	Competition	Location	Opponent
10 October 2024	2025 UEFA U-21 qualification	La Línea, Spain	Kazakhstan
15 October 2024	2025 UEFA U-21 qualification	Algeciras, Spain	Malta

2025 UEFA European Under-21 Championship

Group phase

Pos	Team v t e	Pld	W	D	L	GF	GA	GD	Pts	Qualification
1	Spain (Q)	8	7	1	0	18	2	+16	22	Final tournament	—	1–0	1–0	2–0	10 Oct '24	15 Oct '24
2	Scotland (Y)	8	5	1	2	17	6	+11	16^[a]	Play-offs	1–2	—	11 Oct '24	3–1	4–1	2–1
3	Belgium (Y)	8	5	1	2	11	5	+6	16^[a]		1–1	0–2	—	15 Oct '24	1–0	3–1
4	Hungary (E)	8	3	1	4	9	7	+2	10		0–1	0–0	0–1	—	2–0	10 Oct '24
5	Kazakhstan (E)	8	2	0	6	7	18	−11	6		0–4	15 Oct '24	0–3	0–3	—	4–1
6	Malta (E)	8	0	0	8	3	27	−24	0		0–6	0–5	0–2	0–3	0–2	—

Updated to match(es) played on 10 September 2024. Source: UEFA
Rules for classification: Tiebreakers
(E) Eliminated; (Q) Qualified for the phase indicated; (Y) Cannot qualify directly, but may still qualify through play-offs
Notes:

^ ^a ^b Ranked on head-to-head points: Scotland 3, Belgium 0.

Players

Current squad

The following players were called up for 2025 UEFA U-21 qualification matches against Scotland and Hungary.

Caps and goals as of 10 September 2024, after the match against Hungary.

No.	Pos.	Player	Date of birth (age)	Caps	Goals	Club
1	1GK	Alejandro Iturbe	(2003-09-02) 2 September 2003 (age 21)	5	0	Atlético Madrid
13	1GK	Aitor Fraga	(2003-07-26) 26 July 2003 (age 21)	0	0	Real Sociedad
23	1GK	Pablo Cuñat	(2002-04-28) 28 April 2002 (age 22)	5	0	Cartagena

2	2DF	Hugo Novoa	(2003-01-24) 24 January 2003 (age 21)	13	1	Alavés
3	2DF	Cristhian Mosquera	(2004-06-27) 27 June 2004 (age 20)	3	0	Valencia
4	2DF	Rafa Marín	(2002-05-19) 19 May 2002 (age 22)	7	0	Napoli
5	2DF	Alejandro Francés	(2002-08-01) 1 August 2002 (age 22)	19	1	Girona
14	2DF	Dean Huijsen	(2005-04-14) 14 April 2005 (age 19)	4	1	Bournemouth
15	2DF	Álvaro Carreras	(2003-03-23) 23 March 2003 (age 21)	9	0	Benfica
20	2DF	Juanlu Sánchez	(2003-08-15) 15 August 2003 (age 21)	3	0	Sevilla
21	2DF	Pau Cubarsí	(2007-01-22) 22 January 2007 (age 17)	2	0	Barcelona
22	2DF	Javi López	(2002-03-25) 25 March 2002 (age 22)	1	0	Real Sociedad

6	3MF	Javi Guerra	(2003-05-13) 13 May 2003 (age 21)	10	0	Valencia
8	3MF	Beñat Turrientes (captain)	(2002-01-31) 31 January 2002 (age 22)	21	4	Real Sociedad
10	3MF	Pablo Torre	(2003-04-03) 3 April 2003 (age 21)	11	2	Barcelona
16	3MF	Nico González	(2002-01-03) 3 January 2002 (age 22)	11	0	Porto
17	3MF	Damián Rodríguez	(2003-03-17) 17 March 2003 (age 21)	0	0	Celta Vigo
18	3MF	Gabri Veiga	(2002-05-27) 27 May 2002 (age 22)	15	2	Al-Ahli

7	4FW	Diego López	(2002-05-13) 13 May 2002 (age 22)	9	2	Valencia
9	4FW	Samu Omorodion	(2004-05-05) 5 May 2004 (age 20)	9	2	Porto
11	4FW	Raúl Moro	(2002-12-05) 5 December 2002 (age 21)	2	0	Valladolid
12	4FW	Robert Navarro	(2002-04-12) 12 April 2002 (age 22)	7	4	Mallorca
19	4FW	Mateo Joseph	(2003-10-19) 19 October 2003 (age 20)	4	2	Leeds United

Recent call-ups

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
GK	Álvaro Aceves	(2003-07-26) 26 July 2003 (age 21)	2	0	Valladolid	v. Belgium, 26 March 2024

DF	Marc Pubill	(2003-06-20) 20 June 2003 (age 21)	2	0	Almería	v. Belgium, 26 March 2024
DF	Arnau Martínez	(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

MF	Pablo Barrios	(2003-06-15) 15 June 2003 (age 21)	8	0	Atlético Madrid	v. Scotland, 6 September 2024 ^INJ
MF	Fermín López	(2003-05-11) 11 May 2003 (age 21)	6	1	Barcelona	v. Belgium, 26 March 2024 ^INJ
MF	Unai Gómez	(2003-05-25) 25 May 2003 (age 21)	1	0	Athletic Bilbao	v. Belgium, 26 March 2024
MF	Iker Muñoz	(2002-11-05) 5 November 2002 (age 21)	2	0	Osasuna	v. Kazakhstan, 17 October 2023

FW	Alberto Moleiro	(2003-09-30) 30 September 2003 (age 20)	5	0	Las Palmas	v. Scotland, 6 September 2024 ^INJ
FW	Fran Pérez	(2002-09-09) 9 September 2002 (age 22)	7	1	Valencia	v. Belgium, 26 March 2024
FW	Carlos Martín	(2002-04-22) 22 April 2002 (age 22)	4	1	Alavés	v. Belgium, 21 November 2023
FW	Assane Diao	(2005-09-07) 7 September 2005 (age 19)	4	0	Betis	v. Belgium, 21 November 2023

Honours

Titles

UEFA European Under-21 Championship
- Champions (5): 1986, 1998, 2011, 2013, 2019. (Shared Record)
- Runners-up (4): 1984, 1996, 2017, 2023.
- Third place (3): 1994, 2000, 2021

Former squads

Notes

References

^ "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. 9 June 2011.

External links

[table_hth_SCO0.60545570012436-2] Ranked on head-to-head points: Scotland 3, Belgium 0.

[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. 9 June 2011.

[1]

[a]