Spanish football guide - history, national team stats, Copa del Rey titles

The Country: España
Association: Real Federación Española de Fútbol
Founded: 1902
Joined FIFA: 1904
Confederation: UEFA
Colors: Red, Blue
The Game: Fútbol

Description:

The game of football is known as fútbol in Spain, pronounced something like fuut-bowl and is occasionally referred to as balompie, which literally translates to foot ball. Although Athletic Bilbao were a major team in the first part of the 20th century, Spanish football has come to be relentlessly dominated by Barcelona and Real Madrid. Their rivalry was especially tense during the Franco era, with political overtones ever-present. Though tensions still remain as do many other regional rivalries - the Basque derby, the Galician derby, the Andalusian derby - not to mention matchups between the big Madrid and Barcelona clubs. Despite the immense success of Spanish clubs in European competitions, the Spanish national team had achieved relatively little until finally coming good at Euro 2008.

Spanish Football Clubs Map:

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Spanish National Team:

Source: World Soccer Shop

World Cup History:

• Final Round - 4th Place (1950)
• Quarterfinals (1934, 86, 94, 2002)
• Second Round (1982, 90, 2006)
• First Round (1962, 66, 78, 98)
• Did not qualify (1954, 58, 70, 74)
• Did not enter (1930, 38)

European Nations Cup - European Championship History:

• Champions (1964, 2008)
• Finalists (1984)
• Quarterfinals (1960, 68, 76, 96, 2000)
• First Round (1980, 88, 2004)
• Did not qualify (1972, 92)

Confederations Cup History:

• Semifinals (2009)

Spanish Football Pyramid:

First Tier

• Primera División - La Liga

Second Tier

• Segunda División

Third Tier

• Segunda B - Grupo 1
• Segunda B - Grupo 2
• Segunda B - Grupo 3
• Segunda B - Grupo 4

Copa del Rey Titles:

The Spanish domestic cup competition, the Copa del Rey, has been known as the Copa del Rey Alfonso XIII (1902-32), Copa del Presidente de la República (1933-36), Copa del Generalísimo (1939-76) and the Copa del Rey Juan Carlos I (1976-). Around 1910 there was a split in the administration of Spanish football and in 1910 and 1913 two separate cup competitions were contested, the Copa de la Federación Española de Fútbol and the Copa de la Unión Española de Clubs de Fútbol. Up until the creation of a Spanish football league in 1928 it acted effectively as a national championship. In 1937 the Copa de la España Libre was contested amongst a handful of clubs and in 2007 was officially included in the Copa del Rey title list.

Official Website:

• rfef.es

Links:

• Spanish Football & Sports
• The World Cup Archive
• European Championship
• Copa del Rey
• Spain - List of Cup Finals