For Spain, the victory at this summer’s European Championship was the first European title since 2012. In fact, the national team had gone through a relatively lean phase in the years between the victories.
But when Spain enters the decisive phase of tournaments, they generally emerge victorious – as one incredible statistic shows.
Whether World Cups, European Championships, Champions League or UEFA Cup/Europa League: In the last 27 men’s finals with Spanish participation, all 27 ended with a victory for Spain.
Meanwhile, women’s football in Spain has experienced a huge upswing over the last decade and is now beginning to achieve great success in high-pressure matches.
The country’s victory over England in the Women’s World Cup final last year came in only their third appearance at the tournament, having made their debut in 2015.
The Spanish women won the Nations League earlier this year, while Barcelona have won the last two Women’s Champions League titles.
“The changes in women’s football in Spain have been particularly significant,” former player and now journalist Maria Garrido told BBC Sport.
“Ten years ago, when I played for FC Barcelona, La Masia (Barcelona’s famous academy) didn’t exist for girls. We paid our own travel expenses, our parents took us to training and we didn’t earn any money.”
“But in the last five years the situation has improved dramatically. There have been significant efforts to promote women’s football, including the creation of more youth categories, better facilities and conditions and the establishment of a separate football academy for girls.”
“This change has not only revolutionized the sport, but also increased respect for women’s football in Spain.”
These successes by the men’s and women’s teams were preceded by numerous titles won at youth level over the last decade, with the players from these teams taking their winning mentality into senior football.
Salma Paralluelo is only 20 years old, but she was already part of the winning team at the Women’s World Cup and has already won the Women’s Champions League twice with Barcelona.
At the youth level, she won the U20 and U17 Women’s World Championships as well as the U17 Women’s European Championship.
“We are working very well, but we see that in the lower categories,” she said in an interview with FIFA last year.
“We win everything. In the end, we normalize winning. It’s incredible what is being achieved.”
