Early years After underground women's football clubs started appearing in Spain around 1970, one of its instigators,
Rafael Muga, decided to create a national team. It was an unofficial project as football was considered an unsuitable sport for women by both the
Royal Spanish Football Federation and
National Movement's
Women's Section, which organized women's sports in
Francoist Spain. When asked about the initiative in January 1971 RFEF president
José Luis Pérez Payá answered "I'm not against women's football, but I don't like it either. I don't think it's feminine from an aesthetic point of view. Women are not favored wearing shirts and shorts. Any regional dress would fit them better". One month later, on 21 February 1971, the unofficial Spanish national team, including
Conchi Sánchez, who played professionally in the
Italian league, made its debut in
Murcia's
La Condomina against
Portugal, ending in a 3–3 draw. The team wasn't allowed to wear RFEF's crest and the referee couldn't wear an official uniform either. On 15 July, with a 5-days delay for transfer issues, it played its first game abroad against
Italy in
Turin's
Stadio Comunale, suffering an 8–1 defeat. It was then invited to the 2nd edition of unofficial women's world cup (
Mundialito 1981), but RFEF forbid them to take part in the competition. Despite these conditions Spain was entrusted hosting the 1972 World Cup. RFEF vetoed the project, and the competition was cancelled and disbanded. The unofficial Spanish team itself broke up shortly after.
1980s: Officiality of the team After the
transition to democracy in the second half of the decade RFEF finally accepted women's football in November 1980, creating first a
national cup and next a national team, which finally made its debut under coach
Teodoro Nieto on 5 February 1983 in
A Guarda,
Pontevedra. The opponent was again Portugal, which defeated Spain 0–1. The team subsequently played 2-leg friendlies against
France and
Switzerland drawing with both opponents in
Aranjuez and
Barcelona and losing in
Perpignan before it finally clinched its first victory in
Zürich (0–1). On 27 April 1985 it played its first official match in the
1987 European Championship's qualification, losing 1–0 against
Hungary. After losing the first four matches Spain defeated Switzerland and drew with Italy to end third. The team also ended in its group's bottom positions in the subsequent
1989 and
1991 qualifiers. In 1988 Nieto was replaced as manager by
Ignacio Quereda, who went on to coach the team for the next 27 years. Years later Nieto would confess (in the book
El fútbol femenino en 20 toques by
David Menayo): "There was never love or support from the Federation towards those women football players"
Teodoro Nieto left International Footballer Conchi Sanchez (Amancio) out of the Spanish team even though the player was the first Captain during the 70s and was winning championships in Italy.
1990s and 2000s: Growing up The
1995 Euro qualifying marked an improvement as Spain ended 2nd, one point from
England, which qualified for the final tournament. In these qualifiers Spain attained its biggest victory to date, a 17–0 over
Slovenia. In the
1997 Euro qualifying it made a weaker performance, including a record 0–8 loss against
Sweden in
Gandia, but the European Championship was expanded to eight teams and Spain still made it to the repechage, where it defeated England on a 3–2 aggregate to qualify for the competition for the first time. In the first stage the team drew 1–1 against France, lost 0–1 against host Sweden, and beat 1–0
Russia to qualify on goal average over France to the semifinals, where it was defeated 2–1 by Italy. All three goals were scored by
Ángeles Parejo. This success was followed by a long series of unsuccessful qualifiers. In the
1999 World Cup qualifying round, Spain ended last for the first time, not winning a single game. In the
2001 Euro's qualifiers, it made it to the repechage, where it suffered a 3–10 aggregate defeat against
Denmark. In the
2003 World Cup qualifying stage, it again ended last despite starting with a 6–1 win over
Iceland. In the
2005 Euro's qualifiers, where a 9–1 win over
Belgium was followed by a 5-game non-scoring streak, it ended 3rd behind Denmark and
Norway. In the
2007 World Cup qualifying round, the team again ended 3rd behind Denmark and
Finland despite earning 7 more points. In the
2009 Euro qualifiers, Spain made its best performance since the 1995 qualifiers, narrowly missing qualification as England clinched the top position by overcoming a 2–0 in the final match's second half. Spain had to play the repechage, where it lost both games against the
Netherlands. In the
2011 World Cup, Spain again ended 2nd, with no repechage, after England again overcame a half-time 2–0 in their second confrontation.
2010s: First World Cups Spain finally achieved a place in the final stage of a European Championship, having qualified for the
UEFA Women's Euro 2013 after beating
Scotland in the qualifiers playoff. In the group stage, a win over
England and a draw against
Russia was enough to qualify for the quarterfinals, where they were eliminated by Norway. Two years later, Spain qualified for the first time ever to a
World Cup, winning nine of its ten matches of the qualifying round. In the group stage of the
2015 FIFA Women's World Cup, however, their campaign ended up being a disaster. Spain managed only a 1–1 draw into the weakest team in the group,
Costa Rica, before losing 0–1 to
Brazil. In their last match with
South Korea, they lost 1–2 after an initial lead, becoming the worst European team in the tournament. After the World Cup, the 23 players on the roster issued a collective statement for the end of Ignacio Quereda's reign as head coach. Later that summer, Quereda stepped down and was replaced by
Jorge Vilda, who had previously coached the
U-19 team and was on the shortlist for the
2014 FIFA World Coach of the Year. Spain qualified for the
UEFA Women's Euro 2017 by winning all its matches and finishing 11 points ahead of the second-placed team. In 2017 the national team participated for the first time in the
Algarve Cup winning the tournament. However, its performance in the
UEFA Women's Euro 2017 was very disappointing: only one match won (against
Portugal, the worst ranked team in Euro), two defeats against
England (0–2) and
Scotland (0–1) in the group stage. Nevertheless, Spain advanced to the quarterfinals, at which point it lost against
Austria in a match finishing 0–0 after extra time and then 3–5 in a penalty shoot-out. The national football team was therefore eliminated after more than 345 minutes without scoring a single goal. At the
2019 Women's World Cup, Spain were in
Group B with
China PR,
South Africa, and
Germany. They finished second in the group to progress to the
knockout stage of a World Cup for the first time in their history. However, the team was eliminated in the round of 16 by the eventual champions
United States. In October 2019, the federation announced the creation of
España Promesas (essentially Spain B), a team for players too old for younger age groups but not in the latest full squad, to provide training and occasional match experience for those in consideration for the future, that was later reconverted and renamed Spain under-23.
2020s: Golden Generation Spain broke into the top 10 of the
FIFA World Rankings in the early 2020s, while their players won all the categories of the
UEFA awards, the first time from a single nation in 2021. Spain qualified for the
UEFA Women's Euro 2022 undefeated and assembled what would be the strongest ever Spanish team in history, and was ranked among the top contenders for the title. However, just before the tournament began, Spain suffered two big blows, with both
Jennifer Hermoso and
Alexia Putellas withdrew due to sustaining injury. Without the two taliswomen in the squad, Spain failed to perform at full expectation in the tournament and only reached the quarter-finals in second place after Germany. Spain then performed well against England, even took the lead in 54' by
Esther González, but conceded a late equalizer by
Ella Toone before
Georgia Stanway crushed Spain's hope to win a major European title in extra time.
2022–23 dispute and withdrawal of las 15 In September 2022, fifteen players sent an email removing themselves from national team consideration. Seven players who did not sign the letter claimed they were pressured by their club,
Real Madrid, not to do so, a claim the club denied. The initial player complaints included poor quality of training under Vilda and his staff compared to their club environment, a lack of tactical preparation for matches, and claims of a controlling environment in which players would be frequently questioned about their whereabouts and shopping purchases. By April 2023, many of the players had entered talks with the federation.
2023 FIFA Women's World Cup title and controversy At the
2023 World Cup, La Roja finished second in
Group C. Spain then defeated
Switzerland, the
Netherlands and
Sweden in the knockout stages to reach their first World Cup final. This Women's World Cup was also the first in which Spain reached a semi-final. Spain eventually won, winning their first World Cup title, by defeating
England 1–0 in the
final thanks to a goal from
Olga Carmona. During the trophy ceremony, the Spanish Football Federation (RFEF) President
Luis Rubiales kissed Spain player
Jenni Hermoso on the lips without her consent. During the subsequent aftermath, The RFEF dropped the word "women" from the official title. Both men and women's teams now go by the gender neutral name "Seleccion Espanola de Futbol". The logo and the branding of both teams were also aligned. Each team has one star over the logo in honour of them winning a world cup each. Spain finished atop Group C, winning all three of their group matches and accumulating nine points. In the quarter-final against Colombia, Spain netted two late-game goals to made it 2–2. The match was ultimately decided via penalty shoot-out, in which Spain defeated Colombia 4–2. Despite being regarded as favorites to win the gold medal, Spain was defeated by Brazil in a match that was widely characterized as an upset. Publications took note of Brazil's dominance and Spain's lapses in defense. Spain were ultimately defeated by Germany in the bronze medal match as a result of the national team conceding a penalty kick, and missing one of their own in second-half stoppage time. Their inability to earn a medal was described as an underperformance.
Euro 2025, first ever European final on July 27, 2025. The Spanish women’s national team delivered an outstanding performance at
Euro 2025, marked by collective cohesion and structural solidity. Maintaining a clear identity based on ball possession, quick circulation, and high pressing, Spain dominated most of its matches and reached the tournament final for the first time after eliminating established powerhouses. The team displayed strong attacking efficiency during the
group stage, yet the penalty shootout loss to
England exposed a certain lack of clinical finishing and emotional control in decisive moments. Overall, Spain’s campaign confirmed its status as a technical and tactical benchmark in European women’s football, while still leaving room to improve competitiveness under maximum pressure. == Results and fixtures ==