Selección Española Sub 21 · History

Spain’s under-21 national team was formed in 1976, when the Royal Spanish Football Federation created it to replace the under-23 side as the senior team’s feeder. It played its first match on 9 October 1976 in Zagreb and lost 4-1 to Yugoslavia. Since then it has won five European Under-21 Championships, in 1986, 1998, 2011, 2013 and 2019. It has also lost four finals, in 1984, 1996, 2017 and 2023. Many players who later played for the senior national team came through it.

Early years and the 1984 final

Spain failed to qualify for the first European Under-21 Championship in 1978. They first took part in 1982, when they went out in the quarter-finals. Two years later they reached their first final. The final was then played over two legs, and England won both, 1-0 and 2-0, to take the title 3-0 on aggregate. It was the first of the four finals Spain have lost.

The first title, in 1986

Under coach Luis Suárez, Spain reached the final again two years later, this time against Italy. Each side won one leg 2-1, so the tie finished 3-3 on aggregate. The second leg was played on 29 October 1986 at the José Zorrilla stadium in Valladolid. Spain won the penalty shoot-out 3-0 to claim their first European Under-21 title. They lost in the quarter-finals in 1988 and 1990 and did not qualify in 1992.

The 1990s: from Barcelona to Bucharest

Spain reached the semi-finals in 1994 and finished third. They hosted the final tournament in 1996 and reached the final again, which ended 1-1 against Italy; the Italians won 4-2 on penalties. With Iñaki Sáez in charge, Spain won the title back in 1998, when the tournament was played in Romania from the quarter-finals onwards. In the final, at the Steaua stadium in Bucharest, they beat Greece 1-0 with a 65th-minute goal from Iván Pérez. It was their second European title, won with ten wins and a draw from eleven matches. In 2000 the team finished third in Slovakia, and in 2002 they did not qualify.

Back-to-back titles: 2011 and 2013

After a quarter-final exit at the 2009 tournament in Sweden, Spain won the 2011 edition under Luis Milla. On 25 June 2011 in Aarhus, Denmark, they beat Switzerland 2-0 in the final with goals from Ander Herrera and Thiago Alcántara. Julen Lopetegui then took over and Spain defended the title in Israel in 2013. They beat Italy 4-2 in the final in Jerusalem, with a hat-trick from Thiago and a penalty from Isco. Spain finished that campaign with fourteen wins and one draw in fifteen matches, scoring 47 goals and conceding 5. It was their fourth European Championship.

From Kraków to Udine

Spain failed to qualify for the 2015 finals in the Czech Republic. In 2017, with Albert Celades as coach, they reached the final in Poland, but Germany won 1-0 in Kraków with a Mitchell Weiser header in the 40th minute. The same two sides met in the 2019 final in Udine. This time Spain won 2-1 under Luis de la Fuente for a fifth title, which equals Italy’s record in the competition.

The 2021 to 2025 tournaments

Spain finished third at the 2021 tournament, hosted by Hungary and Slovenia. Luis de la Fuente moved up to coach the senior team in January 2023, and Santi Denia took charge of the under-21s for the finals in Georgia and Romania. The team reached the final with eleven wins and a draw, but on 8 July 2023 England won 1-0 at the Batumi Arena with a Curtis Jones goal in first-half stoppage time. At the 2025 tournament in Slovakia, Spain topped their group after beating Slovakia and Romania and drawing with Italy. On 21 June they lost 3-1 to England in the quarter-finals. Denia left the job a few days later, and on 16 July 2025 the federation appointed David Gordo, who had been coaching the youth teams.

Records

Gerard Deulofeu holds both of the team’s individual records in competitive matches: he has played more matches for the under-21s than anyone else, with 36, and scored the most goals, with 17. Borja Mayoral is second in appearances with 31. Spain’s biggest win was 14-0 against San Marino in El Ejido on 8 February 2005. Their heaviest defeat was 5-0 against the Netherlands in Utrecht on 16 February 1983. Under Gordo, Spain started qualifying for the 2027 European Championship in September 2025 with a 3-0 win over Cyprus in Soria.