Founded in 1913, the Spanish Civil War and World War II prevented Spain from playing any competitive match from the 1934 World Cup to the 1950 World Cup. There they topped their group against England, Chile and the United States to progress to the final round.
At this time, the winner of the World Cup was decided not by a single championship match, but via a group format involving the four teams who had won their respective groups in the previous stage. The four teams in the final group were Uruguay, Brazil, Sweden and Spain. Spain failed to record a win (W0 D1 L2) and finished in fourth place. Until 2010, this fourth place finish had been the furthest that Spain has reached in the World Cup. Spain's leading scorer during the 1950 World Cup was striker Estanislao Basora, who ended the tournament with five goals.
Under French-Argentine coach Helenio Herrera and Italian assistant coach Daniel Newlan, Spain came out of dormancy to qualify for the first European Championship in 1960. Spain beat Poland 7–2 on aggregate to progress to the quarterfinals. However, Spain forfeited its quarterfinal tie with the Soviet Union because of political circumstances between Spain's dictator Franco and the Soviets.
The Spaniards, led by Alfredo Di Stéfano, qualified for the 1962 World Cup.
Watch Final match liveSpain Squad for world cup 2010 :NUM NAME POSITION HT WT DOB
1 Iker Casillas Goalkeeper 1.85m 79 kg May 20, 1981
23 Pepe Reina Goalkeeper 1.87m 86 kg Aug 31, 1982
12 Victor Valdés Goalkeeper 1.88m 78 kg Jan 14, 1982
2 Raúl Albiol Defender 1.90m 65 kg Sep 4, 1985
17 Álvaro Arbeloa Defender 1.83m 76 kg Jan 17, 1983
11 Joan Capdevila Defender 1.80m 78 kg Feb 3, 1978
4 Carlos Marchena Defender 1.83m 78 kg Jul 31, 1979
3 Gerard Piqué Defender 1.88m 81 kg Feb 2, 1987
5 Carles Puyol Defender 1.78m 78 kg Apr 13, 1978
15 Sergio Ramos Defender 1.83m 73 kg Mar 30, 1986
14 Xabi Alonso Midfielder 1.83m 75 kg Nov 25, 1981
16 S.Busquets Midfielder 1.89m 73 kg Jul 16, 1988
10 Cesc Fábregas Midfielder 1.75m 69 kg May 4, 1987
8 Xavi Midfielder 1.68m 66 kg Jan 25, 1980
6 Andrés Iniesta Midfielder 1.70m 65 kg May 11, 1984
21 David Silva Midfielder 1.70m 67 kg Jan 8, 1986
20 Javi Martínez Midfielder 1.90m 86 kg Sep 2, 1988
13 Juan Mata Midfielder 1.74m 61 kg Apr 28, 1988
22 Jesús Navas Midfielder 1.70m 60 kg Nov 21, 1985
18 Pedro Midfielder 1.69m 64 kg July 28, 1987
19 F.Llorente Forward 1.93m 88 kg Feb 26, 1985
9 F.Torres Forward 1.83m 70 kg Mar 20, 1984
7 David Villa Forward 1.75m 69 kg Dec 3, 1981
