Beginnings, the North team (1913) On 29 September 1913 the
Royal Spanish Football Federation was formally created and along with it four regional federations (Norte, Oeste, Este and Centro). Each regional federation organised its own league, and also selected a team to play against other regions. The Basque Country was grouped with
Cantabria in
'Norte' (North). As most of the biggest teams in the Norte federation were Basque, such as
Athletic Bilbao,
Real Sociedad,
Real Unión, and
Arenas Club de Getxo, the team fielded by the federation was often composed entirely of Basque players, and was called 'Vasconia', 'el equipo Vasco' (the Basque team), or sometimes just 'Norte'. On 3 January 1915 they played their first match which was against
Catalonia in Bilbao and won 6–1, and then on 7 February they played them again but in Barcelona, this time drawing 2–2. In May 1915 they won the inaugural
Copa del Príncipe de Asturias tournament in
Madrid after beating Catalonia 1–0 with a goal from
Legarreta and then holding the hosts,
'Centro' (a Castile/Madrid XI), to a 1–1 draw, in which the author of the Basque goal was
Patricio. In the same competition they drew 1–1 with. In May 1916, 'Norte' faced Catalonia twice in
Barcelona, winning by 1–3 on the 21st, and drawing 0–0 on the 22nd. On 4 June of the same year they beat Catalonia 5–0 in Bilbao. On 22 November 1916 the Cantabrian teams left the North Federation, joining the newly formed Cantabrian Federation (Federación Cantábrica de Clubes de Football), which encompassed
Asturian and Cantabrian clubs. This
Asturias/Cantabria XI participated in the
1917 and
1918 editions of the Copa del Príncipe de Asturias, finishing third and second respectively. In 1918 the province of
Gipuzkoa formed
its own federation and
its own team, leaving the province of
Biscay on their own in Federation Norte. In 1919 the Asturians decided to form their own federation (
Federación Regional Asturiana de Clubes de Fútbol) so the Cantabrian teams rejoined 'Norte', but now it only had teams from Cantabria and Biscay. This complicated situation of federations splitting off continued for a few more years. In 1922 separate teams were created for
Biscay and
Cantabria because the former decided to form their own federation (
Biscayan Federation). In the summer of 1922 a team calling itself 'the Basque team' (Equipo Vasco) was sent to South America. Although the trip was organised by the Gipuzkoan federation, 4 of the 19 players in the squad were from the Biscayan federation. They played once against the
Argentine national side, losing 4–0, then drew 1–1 against Porteño, and finally winning 0–4 against a team selected from Argentina's interior league. The team also played the
Uruguayan national side twice, losing both games, before visiting Brazil where they played in
São Paulo and
Rio de Janeiro. After the team had arrived back in Spain on 5 October 1922, the players resumed playing for either
Biscay or
Gipuzkoa. Both Gipuzkoa and Biscay participated in the
1922-23 and
1923-24 Copa del Príncipe de Asturias, with the later reaching the semi-finals of the 1923-24 edition after defeating
Asturias in
Bilbao 4–2 thanks to a second-half brace from
Travieso, but then lost to eventual champions Catalonia, who had already eliminated Gipuzkoa from the competition.
The first Basque team (1930) It wasn't until 1930 that the Biscayan and Gipuzkoan federations finally came together to create the first permanent team with the name 'Vasconia' ('Baskoniako selekzioa') to represent the Basque Country. Their first game was against Catalonia on 8 June 1930, which they won by 0–1 in
Montjuïc, and they played Catalonia again on 1 January 1931 in Bilbao, winning that match 3–2. During the first year of the
Spanish Civil War the Basque team changed its name to Euzkadiko selekzioa. Their first match with that name was against Cantabria on 29 November 1936 in Santander, when the Cantabrians won 3–2. In 1937 the first president of the Basque autonomous region
José Antonio Aguirre, who in his youth had been a player for
Athletic Bilbao, decided to send a Basque football team abroad with the dual aim of raising money to fund the cost of the civil war, and also as a form of propaganda letting the world know about the conflict in Spain. At the same time a choir called Eresoinka was formed to tour Europe for the same purpose. Money raised was reportedly used to fund a hospital in La Rosarie, France, used by Spanish refugees, and also to help support the thousands of Basque children who had been sent abroad for safety. The team consisted of the following players: • Goalkeepers:
Gregorio Blasco (Athletic) and
Rafael Eguzkiza (Arenas); • Defenders:
Serafín Aedo (Betis),
Pedro Areso (Barcelona) and
Pablito Barcos (Barakaldo); • Midfield:
Leonardo Cilaurren (Athletic),
Jose Muguerza (Athletic),
Pedro Regueiro (Madrid),
Roberto Etxebarria Arruti (Athletic),
Ángel Zubieta (Athletic),
Tomas Agirre (Nîmes) and
Enrique Larrinaga (Racing); • Forwards:
Jose Iraragorri (Athletic),
Emilio Alonso (Madrid),
Isidro Lángara (Oviedo),
Luis Regueiro (Madrid),
Ignacio Agirrezabala (
Chirri II) (no team),
José Manuel Urquiola (
Athletic Madrid),
Guillermo Gorostiza (Athletic); • Coach:
Pedro Vallana Also attached to the team were Perico Birichinaga, as a masseur, and Ricardo Irezábal and Manu de la Sota, both as delegates. The team made its debut on Monday 26 April 1937 in Paris's
Parc des Princes against the French champions,
Racing Paris, winning 0–3. This happened to be the same day that
Guernica was bombed by Nazi Germany's Luftwaffe. losing 3–1 to
Sète, and playing Racing Paris twice more, 3–3 and 2–3. In May 1937, the team began to have problems with FIFA. Due to the civil war in Spain FIFA had banned all FIFA-affiliated countries and clubs from playing any Spanish teams. A match due to take place on 30 May in the Netherlands against Rotterdam was cancelled by the
Dutch Federation. But many clubs and national sides continued to play the Basque team because they sympathised with Republican Spain which the team symbolised. The team's first match against a nation from outside of Spain was a 3–2 defeat, also in May 1937, to
Czechoslovakia, who had been runners up in the
1934 World Cup. In June, they played Czechoslovakia again losing 2–1. Then they played
Silesia in Chorzów on 9 June. When Bilbao was captured by Franco's forces on 19 June 1937 the Basque team were in Moscow, having been invited by the Soviet Union's
Politburo due to political motivations.
FC Barcelona had undertaken a similar tour a few months earlier. After playing nine matches in the capital and one in Guadalajara they crossed over to Cuba where their problems with FIFA got worse. FIFA demanded that Cuba should not play the Basque Country. So the Basque team only played club sides, playing four matches, winning one and losing two. Next they travelled to Argentina, arriving on 25 February 1938. They stayed there for three months but officially played no matches due to their problems with FIFA. As they had run out of money and had no way of raising any, many of the big Argentine sides raised money for them. They then crossed the Andes to
Valparaíso, Chile, where on 9 May 1938 they played Santiago Wanderers, but the result is not known. Later in May they travelled again to Cuba, this time playing the Cuba national team twice, before returning to Mexico. one of the two major leagues in Mexico at that time where they won 7, drew 1 and lost 4 games, eventually coming runners up in the league. The Spanish civil war ended in April 1939 so when the season ended the team was broken up and as a reward each member received 10,000 pesetas. Most of the players stayed on in the Americas and joined teams there. Playing for the Basque Country were
Carmelo Cedrún, (Alarcia), Gorriti, Martínez, Marigil, (Zabala), Azcárate, (
Iruretagoyena), Iguarán, Amas,
Dionisio Urreizti, Landa, (Chapela),
Mauri, (
Mendiluce) and Erro. Don
Santiago Bernabéu had the honour of kicking off. The second time was in San Mamés, Bilbao, on 21 February 1971 when a memorial match for
Juan Gardeazábal was played between the Basque Country and Catalonia. The Basque Country lost 1–2. Playing for the Basque Country were
Zamora, Deusto, Irusquieta,
Zugazaga,
Echeberría, Lema,
Guisasola, Estéfano, Santamaría, Arambarri, Ibáñez,
Marañon, Fernando Ansola,
Araquistáin,
Rojo II, Urtiaga, and Ortuondo.
Revival (1978) The first game following the dictatorship was played on 2 March 1978 in San Mamés against the USSR. The team were called the 'Selección Vasca' and drew 0–0. On 16 August 1979 they played under the name 'Euskadiko selekzioa' for the first time since 1938 at San Mames stadium during the
Great Week of Bilbao, winning 4–1 against a
League of Ireland XI. Controversy was caused before the match by the Spanish government deciding that the song of the Basque football team (Gernikako Arbola –
The Tree of Guernica) should not be sung before the game. This resulted in
Carlos Garaikoetxea (the
Lehendakari, head of the Basque regional parliament), the presidents of the regional councils and the mayors of the Basque capitals, all leaving the presidential box to sit elsewhere in the stadium to show their protest.
CA Osasuna was the only club with players called up for the match who refused to release them. Iraragorri and Langara (two players from the 1937 team) kicked off, and
Iribar served as captain. The game was played as a fundraiser for a campaign promoting the
Basque language called "Bai Euskarari", organized by Sustraiak, as a response to its suppression during the dictatorship. A few months later the Basque team won again, 4–0 against Bulgaria in San Sebastián's
Atotxa Stadium. In 1980, in
Vitoria, they lost 1–5 to Hungary. Other key matches included defeats to Cameroon (0–1) and Wales (0–1), and victory over Serbia (4–0). Then, in 2007, after 69 years without playing outside Spain, the Basque Country faced Venezuela in
San Cristóbal, winning 4–3. Prior to this, their last game outside Spain had been in June 1939, in the Spanish Civil War era against
Club Atlético Corrales in Mexico City.
Name change (2007) In 2007 the team's name was changed to 'Euskal Herria' (Euskal Herriko Futbol Selekzioa), and on 29 December they played a match against Catalonia in San Mames. The result was Euskal Herria 1, Catalonia 1. The name change, driven by the Basque Football Federation, was denounced by politicians from the
Basque Nationalist Party (PNV), including the
Lehendakari,
Juan José Ibarretxe, and also the main Spanish political parties such as the
Partido Popular (PP) and
PSOE. For this reason the Basque Football Federation proposed returning to the team's previous name, 'Euskadi' (Euskadiko Selekzioa), for the match scheduled for December 2008 against Iran. 165 Basque players signed a statement announcing that they would not play unless the team was called 'Euskal Herria'. The controversy went beyond the sports arena and against this statement were positioned many political parties such as the PNV, PSE-PSOE and PP, and supporting it were
Eusko Alkartasuna,
Ezker Batua and
Eusko Abertzale Ekintza. At the heart of this dispute were the meanings of the two terms 'Euskadi' and 'Euskal Herria'. For the politicians of the PNV who favoured the name 'Euskadi', they saw this as the historic name used by the Basque football team since the 1930s and geographically they said it always included the Spanish Basque Country, the French Basque Country and Navarre (from where the players are selected), but to the players and the politicians supporting them, only the term 'Euskal Herria' had this geographic meaning and to them 'Euskadi' only referred to the Spanish Basque Country. This difference of opinion encompassed the nuances of the names, their history known or unknown, and changing public opinions towards what name should be used when referring to all people of Basque culture. In the end the match was cancelled. In 2009 a consensus was reached to use the name 'Euskal Selekzioa'. However, discrepancies between the federation, players and
ESAIT led to the match, scheduled again to be played against Iran, not to be played. In 2010 however, although there was still no agreement between players and federation, the players agreed to play the match to be played on 29 December in San Mames, between the Basque Country and Venezuela, which ended 3–1. At this match the gold badge of honour of the Basque Football Federation was presented to
Joseba Etxeberria, former player of Athletic Club Bilbao, for being the most capped player of the Basque team, and he was allowed to take the kick-off.
Recent activity In 2011 the Basque football team played two matches. Firstly on 25 May they visited Estonia, winning 1–2, then on 28 December they played their last game in the old San Mamés against Tunisia, losing 0–2. In December 2012 they played Bolivia in
San Sebastián, winning 6–1. On 28 December 2013, the Basque team played its first match in the new
San Mames stadium against Peru winning 6–0. The same teams played a year later, with
Aritz Aduriz scoring the only goal in a 1–0 Basque win in
Barcelona. In October 2017, the federation confirmed that the Basque team would not play a friendly in late December that year as had become traditional (for reasons including scheduling difficulties, credibility in the football community and a noted decline in attendances at the festive matches), but instead would look to schedule a fixture during one of the
FIFA International Match Calendar dates, possibly in March 2018. However, a proposed meeting with
Chile did not come to pass. Eventually, a fixture was arranged for the Basque team to face
Venezuela in October 2018 at
Mendizorroza, which they won 4–2. did little to enhance their credentials. Scheduled ten days after the
2018–19 La Liga season had ended but prior to the
second division's conclusion, various factors meant experienced players were reluctant to put themselves forward for the long trip across the Atlantic, and the small squad was augmented with promising youngsters, including four who had never played at a higher level than the
regional third tier with
Athletic Bilbao's reserves. The match itself, described in the press as "boring at times", "bland" and "poor", petered out into a goalless draw in humid conditions, although both coaches stated they were satisfied with the outcome and the effort shown. A provisional announcement was made for a fixture against Argentina in October 2019, but this was never confirmed by the opposition federation and was soon cancelled officially. With no December fixture forthcoming, but
UEFA Euro 2020 international matches to be played in Bilbao, it was reported that the Basque team may be able to arrange a match against one of the qualified teams who would meet Spain there (
Poland or
Sweden) as part of their preparations before the tournament. However, the tournament was delayed due to the
COVID-19 pandemic. The next Basque fixture was played in November 2020 against
Costa Rica in a
closed doors setting due to the issue; the Basque team won the match 2–1. With the pandemic still ongoing in late 2021 (earlier causing the Euro fixtures to be moved from Bilbao to
Seville), the Basque federation confirmed there would be no festive match that year, but an attempt would be made to arrange one for March 2022. Eventually the next match took place in March 2024, a draw against Uruguay. On 15 November 2025 they take the field in a friendly against the
Palestine national football team at the
San Mamés Stadium of
Bilbao winning 3-0, in a match organized to bring solidarity to the Palestinian population, condemn the
genocide in the Gaza Strip and highlight the incompatibility of the presence of the
State of Israel in international sports competitions in support of the
Boycott campaign. ==FIFA and UEFA membership==