The Spain national football team, commonly referred to as La Furia, is the national football team of Spain and is controlled by the Real Federación Española de Fútbol.
Spain has a reputation for underachievement in the FIFA World Cup, with their best finish being fourth place in 1950 despite often being among the pre-tournament favourites. They often start well, but struggle considerably in the later stages, which is frustrating given the team's supposedly enormous talent and diligence. They are considered by some football's greatest underachievers. Their only senior level tournament victory is the 1964 European Championship, which they hosted. They also won the gold medal when they hosted the 1992 Summer Olympics in Barcelona, and in the 1999 World Youth Championship in Nigeria. Their current FIFA ranking is 4th.
1982 World Cup in Spain
In 1976 Spain was selected as host of the 1982 FIFA World Cup. This edition of the World Cup featured 24 teams for the first time. Expectations were high for Spain as the host nation under coach José Santamaría. In the group stages, Spain was drawn into Group 5 with Northern Ireland, Yugoslavia, and Honduras. Under pressure to perform well, Spain struggled through their group. On their first day of competition, they could only manage a 1-1 draw with unfancied Honduras. They picked up momentum with an impressive 2-1 victory against Yugoslavia but were defeated 1-0 by Northern Ireland. Despite the defeat, Spain progressed to the second round. Spain was drawn into Group B in the second round with West Germany and England. Spain's campaign ended when they were defeated by West Germany 2-1 and drew 0-0 with England, and as disappointment swept the country, Santamaría was sacked.
Euro 2008 Qualifiers
Spain started its qualifying round on September 2, 2006 for Euro 2008 by beating Liechtenstein 4-0 in Badajoz. But were then upset by Northern Ireland 3-2 in Belfast on September 6, 2006. A second straight defeat - a 2-0 loss to Sweden - followed on October 7, 2006. However a 2-1 win against Denmark on March 24, 2007 in Madrid along with a goal from Andrés Iniesta giving Spain a 1-0 victory at home to Iceland on March 28, 2007 has put new life into Spain's campaign. On June 2 they won 2-0 at Latvia and four days later they won against Liechtenstein 2-0. Both goals were scored by David Villa in that game. Spain's hopes for a 5-match winning streak were halted at Reykjavik, when Iceland held Spain to a 1-1 draw. Iniesta managed to save the point for Spain after he scored a late goal in that match. Their winning ways resumed at Oviedo, when Xavi and Torres gave Spain a 2-0 win against Latvia. Spain's next opponent was Denmark, who they defeated 3-1 at Aarhus, a result that is expected to be definitive for the Spanish team's chances to qualify for the final round of the European Championships. On November 18, 2007, Spain beat Sweden 3-0 with goals from Joan Capdevila, Andres Iniesta, and Sergio Ramos, qualifying themselves for Euro 2008. On 21 November, they got revenge on Northern Ireland by beating them 1-0, thereby ruining their chances of qualifying.
