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 coachSanti Denia
CaptainBryan Gil
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)
Medal record
Spain national under-21 football team
Medal record
U-21 European Championship
Gold medal – first place 1986 Team
Gold medal – first place 1998 Romania Team
Gold medal – first place 2011 Denmark Team
Gold medal – first place 2013 Israel Team
Gold medal – first place 2019 Italy Team
Silver medal – second place 1984 Team
Silver medal – second place 1996 Spain Team
Silver medal – second place 2017 Poland Team
Bronze medal – third place 1994 France Team
Bronze medal – third place 2000 Slovakia Team
The 2011 winning team

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
1978Qualifying Stage420258
1980Qualifying Stage412142
1982Quarter-Finals6501145
1984Runners-up105231111
1986Champions10712189
1988Quarter-Finals8422104
1990Quarter-Finals640254
1992Qualifying Stage732265
France 1994Third Place12921219
Spain 1996Runners-up1410313414
Romania 1998Champions111010216
Slovakia 2000Third Place141130317
Switzerland 2002Qualification Playoffs10613159
Germany 2004Qualification Playoffs10622175
Portugal 2006Qualifying Stage10622378
Netherlands 2007Qualification Playoffs421184
Sweden 2009Group Stage131012277
Denmark 2011Champions151221318
Israel 2013Champions151410475
Czech Republic 2015Qualification Playoffs10721258
Poland 2017Runners-up1511224312
Italy 2019Champions1513024516
HungarySlovenia 2021Semifinals151221273
RomaniaGeorgia (country) 2023Qualified
Total15/232381703434502169

*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
Europe 1986 Manolo Sanchís
Romania 1998 Francesc Arnau
Denmark 2011 Juan Mata Adrián
Israel 2013 Thiago Álvaro Morata
Poland 2017 Dani Ceballos Saúl
Italy 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
6Santi 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
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'
24 March 2021 2021 UEFA U-21 group stage Maribor, Slovenia  Slovenia 3–0 Puado 53', Gonzalo Villar 54', Miranda 89'
27 March 2021 2021 UEFA U-21 group stage Maribor, Slovenia  Italy 0–0
30 March 2021 2021 UEFA U-21 group stage Celje, Slovenia  Czech Republic 2–0 Dani Gómez 69', 78'
31 May 2021 2021 UEFA U-21 quarter-finals Maribor, Slovenia  Croatia 2–1 Puado 66', 110'
3 June 2021 2021 UEFA U-21 semi-finals Maribor, Slovenia  Portugal 0–1
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 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', Ruiz 8 47', 64', Manu Sánchez 55', Lobete 73', 78'
23 September 2022 Friendly Cluj-Napoca, Romania  Romania 4–1 Ruiz 8', 18', Riquelme 80', 89'
27 September 2022 Friendly Huesca, Spain  Norway 3–0 Gragera 40', Ruiz 51', Novoa 90'
18 November 2022 Friendly Seville, Spain  Japan 2–0 Turrientes 47', Manu Sánchez 69'

Forthcoming fixtures
Date Competition Location Opponent

2023 UEFA European Under-21 Championship

Group phase
Main article: 2023 UEFA European Under-21 Championship qualification Group C
Pos Team Pld W D L GF GA GD Pts Qualification
1  Spain 8 8 0 0 37 5 +32 24 Final tournament — 3–2 3–0 8–0 7–1 4–1
2  Slovakia 8 5 0 3 18 10 +8 15 Play-offs 2–3 — 2–1 3–1 4–0 Canc.
3  Northern Ireland 8 2 1 5 8 18 −10 7 0–6 1–0 — 4–0 0–2 Canc.
4  Lithuania 8 2 1 5 7 22 −15 7 0–2 0–2 1–1 — 2–1 0–3
5  Malta 8 2 0 6 10 25 −15 6 0–5 1–3 4–1 1–3 — Canc.
6  Russia[lower-alpha 1] 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 Disqualified 1–0 3–0 1–0 Canc. 6–0 —
Source: UEFA
Rules for classification: Tiebreakers
Notes:
  1. On 28 February 2022, FIFA and UEFA suspended Russian national teams from all competitions due to the Russian invasion of Ukraine.[2] On 2 May 2022, UEFA declared all of their results to be null and void.[3]

Players

Current squad

The following players were called up for the friendly matches against Switzerland and France on 24 and 28 March 2023 respectively.[4]

Caps and goals as of 24 March 2023 after the game against Switzerland.

No. Pos. Player Date of birth (age) Caps Goals Club
1 1GK Arnau Tenas (2001-05-30) 30 May 2001 6 0 Spain Barcelona
13 1GK Julen Agirrezabala (2000-12-26) 26 December 2000 6 0 Spain Athletic Bilbao
23 1GK Leo Román (2000-07-06) 6 July 2000 1 0 Spain Mallorca
2 2DF Víctor Gómez (2000-04-01) 1 April 2000 5 1 Portugal Braga
3 2DF Juan Miranda (2000-01-19) 19 January 2000 17 3 Spain Betis
5 2DF Jon Pacheco (2001-01-09) 9 January 2001 8 0 Spain Real Sociedad
12 2DF Arnau Martínez (2003-04-25) 25 April 2003 4 0 Spain Girona
15 2DF Mario Gila (2000-08-29) 29 August 2000 4 0 Italy Lazio
17 2DF Sergio Gómez (2000-09-04) 4 September 2000 13 6 England Manchester City
20 2DF Aitor Paredes (2000-04-29) 29 April 2000 1 0 Spain Athletic Bilbao
22 2DF Manu Sánchez (2000-08-24) 24 August 2000 7 3 Spain Osasuna
4 3MF Hugo Guillamón (2000-01-31) 31 January 2000 14 3 Spain Valencia
6 3MF Antonio Blanco (2000-07-23) 23 July 2000 5 0 Spain Deportivo Alavés
8 3MF Oihan Sancet (2000-04-25) 25 April 2000 5 0 Spain Athletic Bilbao
10 3MF Rodri Sánchez (2000-05-16) 16 May 2000 10 3 Spain Betis
14 3MF Nico González (2002-01-03) 3 January 2002 7 0 Spain Valencia
18 3MF Pablo Barrios (2003-06-15) 15 June 2003 0 0 Spain Atlético Madrid
19 3MF Aimar Oroz (2001-11-27) 27 November 2001 1 0 Spain Osasuna
7 4FW Rodrigo Riquelme (2000-04-02) 2 April 2000 8 5 Spain Girona
9 4FW Abel Ruiz (2000-01-28) 28 January 2000 19 10 Portugal Braga
11 4FW Ander Barrenetxea (2001-12-27) 27 December 2001 6 1 Spain Real Sociedad
16 4FW Álex Baena (2001-07-20) 20 July 2001 5 1 Spain Villarreal
21 4FW Sergio Camello (2001-02-10) 10 February 2001 8 0 Spain Rayo Vallecano

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
DF Alejandro Balde (2003-10-18) 18 October 2003 2 0 Spain Barcelona v.  Japan, 18 November 2022
DF Alejandro Francés (2002-08-01) 1 August 2002 9 1 Spain Zaragoza v.  Malta, 7 June 2022
MF Beñat Turrientes (2002-01-31) 31 January 2002 11 2 Spain Real Sociedad v.  Japan, 18 November 2022
MF Pablo Torre (2003-04-03) 3 April 2003 1 0 Spain Barcelona v.  Japan, 18 November 2022
MF Gabri Veiga (2002-05-27) 27 May 2002 1 0 Spain Celta Vigo v.  Japan, 18 November 2022
MF Robert Navarro (2002-04-12) 12 April 2002 3 3 Spain Real Sociedad v.  Malta, 7 June 2022
MF Adrián Bernabé (2001-05-26) 26 May 2001 1 0 Italy Parma v.  Malta, 7 June 2022
FW Hugo Novoa (2003-01-24) 24 January 2003 4 1 Switzerland Basel v.  Japan, 18 November 2022

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. "FIFA/UEFA suspend Russian clubs and national teams from all competitions". fifa.com. FIFA. 28 February 2022. Retrieved 1 April 2022.
    3. "UEFA decisions for upcoming competitions relating to the ongoing suspension of Russian national teams and clubs". uefa.com. UEFA. 2 May 2022. Retrieved 2 May 2022.
    4. "Estos son los dorsales para los amistosos ante Suiza y Francia" (in Spanish). Real Federación Española de Fútbol. 21 March 2023. Retrieved 29 March 2023.
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