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

Last updated April 20, 2024

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	To be determined
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	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 847', 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'
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'

Forthcoming fixtures

Date	Competition	Location	Opponent

2025 UEFA European Under-21 Championship

Group phase

Pos	Team v t e	Pld	W	D	L	GF	GA	GD	Pts	Qualification
1	Spain	6	5	1	0	15	1	+14	16	Final tournament	—	1–0	1–0	2–0	10 Oct '24	15 Oct '24
2	Scotland	6	4	1	1	11	4	+7	13	Play-offs	6 Sep '24	—	11 Oct '24	3–1	4–1	2–1
3	Belgium	7	4	1	2	8	5	+3	13		1–1	0–2	—	15 Oct '24	1–0	3–1
4	Hungary	7	3	1	3	9	6	+3	10		10 Sep '24	0–0	0–1	—	2–0	10 Oct '24
5	Kazakhstan (Y)	6	1	0	5	3	14	−11	3		0–4	15 Oct '24	10 Sep '24	0–3	—	5 Sep '24
6	Malta (E)	6	0	0	6	2	18	−16	0		0–6	10 Sep '24	0–2	0–3	0–2	—

Updated to match(es) played on 26 March 2024. Source: UEFA
Rules for classification: Tiebreakers
(E) Eliminated; (Y) Cannot qualify directly, but may still qualify through play-offs

Players

Current squad

The following players were called up for a friendly against Slovakia and a 2025 UEFA U-21 qualification match against Belgium.^[2]^[3]

Caps and goals as of 26 March 2024, after the match against Belgium.

No.	Pos.	Player	Date of birth (age)	Caps	Goals	Club
23	1 GK	Pablo Cuñat	(2002-04-28) 28 April 2002 (age 21)	5	0	Amorebieta
1	1 GK	Alejandro Iturbe	(2003-09-02) 2 September 2003 (age 20)	3	0	Atlético Madrid
13	1 GK	Álvaro Aceves	(2003-07-26) 26 July 2003 (age 20)	2	0	Eldense

5	2 DF	Alejandro Francés	(2002-08-01) 1 August 2002 (age 21)	17	1	Zaragoza
2	2 DF	Hugo Novoa	(2003-01-24) 24 January 2003 (age 21)	12	1	Villarreal
4	2 DF	Rafa Marín	(2002-05-19) 19 May 2002 (age 21)	7	0	Alavés
15	2 DF	Álvaro Carreras	(2003-03-23) 23 March 2003 (age 21)	7	0	Benfica
14	2 DF	Dean Huijsen	(2005-04-14) 14 April 2005 (age 19)	2	0	Roma
19	2 DF	Javi López	(2002-03-25) 25 March 2002 (age 22)	1	0	Alavés
3	2 DF	Cristhian Mosquera	(2004-06-27) 27 June 2004 (age 19)	2	0	Valencia
18	2 DF	Marc Pubill	(2003-06-20) 20 June 2003 (age 20)	2	0	Almería

8	3 MF	Beñat Turrientes (captain)	(2002-01-31) 31 January 2002 (age 22)	19	4	Real Sociedad
16	3 MF	Pablo Torre	(2003-04-03) 3 April 2003 (age 21)	9	2	Girona
17	3 MF	Pablo Barrios	(2003-06-15) 15 June 2003 (age 20)	8	0	Atlético Madrid
6	3 MF	Javi Guerra	(2003-05-13) 13 May 2003 (age 20)	8	0	Valencia
10	3 MF	Fermín López	(2003-05-11) 11 May 2003 (age 20)	6	1	Barcelona
22	3 MF	Unai Gómez	(2003-05-25) 25 May 2003 (age 20)	1	0	Athletic Bilbao

7	4 FW	Diego López	(2002-05-13) 13 May 2002 (age 21)	8	2	Valencia
20	4 FW	Samu Omorodion	(2004-05-05) 5 May 2004 (age 19)	7	2	Alavés
21	4 FW	Fran Pérez	(2002-09-09) 9 September 2002 (age 21)	7	1	Valencia
11	4 FW	Robert Navarro	(2002-04-12) 12 April 2002 (age 22)	6	3	Cádiz
12	4 FW	Alberto Moleiro	(2003-09-30) 30 September 2003 (age 20)	4	0	Las Palmas
9	4 FW	Mateo Joseph	(2003-10-19) 19 October 2003 (age 20)	2	1	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

DF	Arnau Martínez	(2003-04-25) 25 April 2003 (age 20)	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
DF	Juanlu Sánchez	(2003-08-15) 15 August 2003 (age 20)	1	0	Sevilla	v. Belgium, 21 November 2023
DF	Hugo Bueno	(2002-09-18) 18 September 2002 (age 21)	1	0	Wolverhampton Wanderers	v. Scotland, 11 September 2023
DF	Álvaro Carrillo	(2002-04-06) 6 April 2002 (age 22)	0	0	Real Madrid	v. Scotland, 11 September 2023

MF	Nico González	(2002-01-03) 3 January 2002 (age 22)	9	0	Porto	v. Slovakia, 21 March 2024
MF	Gabri Veiga	(2002-05-27) 27 May 2002 (age 21)	13	2	Al-Ahli	v. Belgium, 21 November 2023
MF	Iker Muñoz	(2002-11-05) 5 November 2002 (age 21)	2	0	Osasuna	v. Kazakhstan, 17 October 2023
MF	Stefan Bajčetić	(2004-10-22) 22 October 2004 (age 19)	1	0	Liverpool	v. Scotland, 11 September 2023

FW	Carlos Martín	(2002-04-22) 22 April 2002 (age 21)	4	1	Mirandés	v. Belgium, 21 November 2023
FW	Assane Diao	(2005-09-07) 7 September 2005 (age 18)	4	0	Betis	v. Belgium, 21 November 2023
FW	Iván Azón	(2002-12-24) 24 December 2002 (age 21)	2	0	Real Zaragoza	v. Scotland, 11 September 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

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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.
↑ "Convocatoria para los partidos frente a Eslovaquia y Bélgica" (in Spanish). Real Federación Española de Fútbol. 15 March 2024. Retrieved 15 March 2024.
↑ "Pablo Torre sustituye por lesión a Nico González para los partidos frente a Eslovaquia y Bélgica" (in Spanish). Real Federación Española de Fútbol. 17 March 2024. Retrieved 17 March 2024.

External links

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Text is available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 license; additional terms may apply.
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[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.

[2] "Convocatoria para los partidos frente a Eslovaquia y Bélgica" (in Spanish). Real Federación Española de Fútbol. 15 March 2024. Retrieved 15 March 2024.

[3] "Pablo Torre sustituye por lesión a Nico González para los partidos frente a Eslovaquia y Bélgica" (in Spanish). Real Federación Española de Fútbol. 17 March 2024. Retrieved 17 March 2024.

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