How did they perform in UEFA EURO 2008™ qualifying?
• A bad start was put behind them as Luis Aragonés's side beat Sweden 3-0 at home in their penultimate qualifier to confirm their place in the finals.
• Spain had ended 2006 as a team in crisis, a shock 3-2 defeat against Northern Ireland in Belfast being followed by a 2-0 loss in Sweden to leave them with just three points from their first three Group F games.
• Results improved in 2007 with a 1-1 draw against Iceland in Reykjavik – earned with a late Andrés Iniesta strike – the only blip during a run of eight wins in nine.
• Aragonés's team underlined their quality by following up a 3-1 victory in Denmark with the all-important 3-0 success against Sweden.
• A 1-0 win against Northern Ireland in their last qualifier secured top spot in the section, but Aragonés said: "Spain have been qualifying for finals tournaments for many years so this isn't a success but simply doing our duty."
How did they perform in the 2006 FIFA World Cup?
• Spain had to qualify for the 2006 FIFA World Cup finals via the play-offs after finishing second to Serbia and Montenegro in the qualification round, despite posting an unbeaten record of five wins and five draws from their ten outings. But Serbia and Montenegro, also unbeaten, finished two points clear having won six of their ten matches.
• Although Spain won their first three matches at home, they failed to find the winning touch on the road, settling for draws away against Bosnia-Herzegovina (1-1), Lithuania (0-0) and Serbia and Montenegro (0-0).
• Decisively, Bosnia-Herzegovina managed to draw 1-1 in Spain on 8 June 2005, with only a late home equaliser salvaging a point.
• Spain required a victory at home against Serbia and Montenegro in their eighth outing in Madrid on 7 September 2005 if they wanted to secure pole position in the group standings, but were forced to settle for a 1-1 draw.
• Spain subsequently rediscovered the winning habit away from home with victories in Belgium (2-0) and San Marino (6-0) to round off their campaign.
• Slovakia felt Spain's wrath in the play-offs, losing 5-1 in Madrid with Luis García hitting a hat-trick (10, 18 and 75). The return leg in Bratislava ended in a 1-1 stalemate.
• In Germany, Spain impressed in the group stage with victories against Ukraine (4-0), Tunisia (3-1) and Saudi Arabia (1-0).
• Their success was shortlived in the knockout phase, however, after a 3-1 reverse at the hands of France in the second round.
• Both Fernando Torres and David Villa scored three goals in the four games Spain played at the finals.
How did they perform in UEFA EURO 2004™?
• Spain advanced to the UEFA EURO 2004™ finals via the play-offs after finishing second to Greece in their qualification round group. They would overcome Norway to book their place at the finals in Portugal, but their stay would be for the minimum three games as they failed to negotiate a route beyond the group stage.
• Although they lost only one of their eight games, Spain dropped valuable points away against Ukraine (2-2) and Northern Ireland (0-0) as well as suffering a shock 1-0 defeat at home against Greece for whom Stelios Giannakopoulos was the hero with a goal three minutes before the interval at Zaragoza's La Romareda stadium.
• But Spain proved too strong for Norway in the subsequent play-offs, winning 2-1 at home despite Steffen Iversen giving the visitors the lead after 15 minutes. Spain hit back through Raúl González (21) and Rubén Baraja (85) to take the win. The outcome of the return leg in Oslo was more clear-cut, the Spanish scoring three without reply from Raúl (34), Vicente Rodríguez (50) and Joseba Etxeberria (56).
• Spain, however, failed to build on their opening game defeat of Russia in the final tournament when Juan Carlos Valerón scored the only goal of the game after 60 minutes at Faro-Loulé's Algarve stadium. They would settle for a 1-1 draw against Greece in their subsequent match, only to lose their final game against Portugal and exit the competition. Portugal won the group with six points while Greece finished ahead of Spain in second, having scored more goals than their rivals.
What is their best performance in the UEFA European Championship?
• Spain's greatest UEFA European Championship moment came on 21 June 1964 when they won the competition in Madrid, defeating the Soviet Union 2-1. The Spaniards defeated Romania, Northern Ireland and the Republic of Ireland in the qualifying rounds before overcoming Hungary (2-1) in the semi-finals.
Key facts
• Up until the end of UEFA EURO 2008™ qualifying, Spain had been involved in the most fixtures by a single country in the competition with 122 matches since their 4-2 away win against Poland in the last 16 of the 1960 UEFA European Championship on 28 June 1959. Denmark were second on 120 with the Netherlands and France joint third with 117 matches played.
All-time record
• Up until the end of qualifying for UEFA EURO 2008™, Spain had appeared in all 13 UEFA European Championship qualifying competitions, and had played 122 matches. In that time, they had won 72, drawn 24 and lost 26 with 260 goals scored and 108 conceded.
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