# France–Spain football rivalry

The France–Spain football rivalry (French: Rivalité footballistique France-Espagne, Spanish: Rivalidad futbolística entre Francia y España) is one of the biggest and most heated association football rivalries in Europe, between France and Spain, two of the most successful national teams in the world as well as neighbours in Europe.

## History

Like many European countries, football began to reach France and Spain in the late 19th century, and, just like any neighbors, Spain and France shared similar interests in promoting the sport. This led to the two countries' attempt to establish their football associations and seek friendlies. This led to the two countries playing their first-ever friendly in 1922, where Spain outclassed the host 4–0. However, subsequent turmoils meant that there was very little space for football in Spain and France to develop, with the French showed little interests on football at first even when hosting the 1938 FIFA World Cup and Spain was drowned into a brutal civil war. Eventually, the World War II led to the tensions between two nations, with Spain under pro-Nazi Francisco Franco despite its neutrality, and majority of French who opposed Nazi occupation; Spain was viewed with suspicion by France for sheltering several Nazi collaborators during the German occupation of France. After the WWII, Spain and France established official relations, and football rivalry began to redevelop.
Initially, Spain achieved its first success in any major competition, winning the 1964 European Nations' Cup, and the rivalry remained a little one-sided with Spain being dominant until France's conquest of UEFA Euro 1984, which they beat Spain in the final. Subsequently, with the following quick development of football in France, especially the establishment of INF Clairefontaine, football successes started to shift to France, and France proved to be more dominant in international achievements than Spain. The rivalry reached a new height after Spain suffered an agonizing 2–1 defeat to France in the 2021 UEFA Nations League final, which attracted media in both countries due to their successes in football competitions and has since become popular throughout confrontation between the two national teams as part of the multi-dimensional rivalry between two states.
Spain holds an edge by victories overall, winning 17 games compared to France's 13. However, in comparison to the number of competitive wins, France proves more dominant than Spain, with 6 wins compared to just 3 of Spain. Moreover, France went undefeated against Spain in competitive fixtures until the UEFA Euro 2012 quarterfinal match.
In the 2020s, there were several players with close ties to both countries, including France's Antoine Griezmann, the Hernandez brothers Lucas and Théo (both of Spanish descent) who spent most or all of their careers in Spain, Karim Benzema and Raphaël Varane who had long spells at Real Madrid, the younger Wissam Ben Yedder, Eduardo Camavinga, Ousmane Dembélé, Jules Koundé, Thomas Lemar, Clément Lenglet, Ferland Mendy and Aurélien Tchouaméni who also featured prominently in La Liga, a Spanish contingent at Paris Saint-Germain (comprising internationals Marco Asensio, Juan Bernat, Ander Herrera, Sergio Ramos, Sergio Rico, Fabián Ruiz, Pablo Sarabia, and Carlos Soler over a handful of seasons), and France-born defenders Aymeric Laporte and Robin Le Normand who both opted to become naturalized to play for the Spain national team due to greater opportunities for selection in their position compared with their birth nation.

## List of matches
### Total matches

| Number | Date | Stadium and location | Competition | Game | Results | Home scorers | Away scorers |
| 1 | 30 April 1922 | Bouscat, Bordeaux | Friendly | France – Spain | 0–4 | | Paulino Alcántara (2x) Manuel López Llamosas (2x) |
| 2 | 28 January 1923 | Atotxa Stadium, San Sebastián | Friendly | Spain – France | 3–0 | Juan Monjardín (2x) José Luis Zabala Arrondo | |
| 3 | 22 May 1927 | Stade de Colombes, Paris | Friendly | France – Spain | 1–4 | Jean Boyer | Domingo Zaldúa (2x) José María Yermo Luis Olaso |
| 4 | 14 April 1929 | La Romareda, Zaragoza | Friendly | Spain – France | 8–1 | Paco Bienzobas Gaspar Rubio (4x, (p)) Mariano Yurrita Llorente Severiano Goiburu Lopetegui (2x) | Émile Veinante |
| 5 | 23 April 1933 | Stade de Colombes, Paris | Friendly | France – Spain | 1–0 | Jean Nicolas | |
| 6 | 24 January 1935 | Estadio Chamartín, Madrid | Friendly | Spain – France | 2–0 | Luis Regueiro José Marrero | |
| 7 | 15 March 1942 | Estadio de Nervión, Nervión | Friendly | Spain – France | 4–0 | Paco Campos (2x) Edmundo Suárez Epifanio Fernández | |
| 8 | 19 June 1949 | Stade de Colombes, Paris | Friendly | France – Spain | 1–5 | Jean Baratte (p) | Estanislau Basora (3x) Agustín Gaínza (2x, (p)) |
| 9 | 17 March 1955 | Estadio Chamartín, Madrid | Friendly | Spain – France | 1–2 | Agustín Gaínza | Raymond Kopa Jean Vincent |
| 10 | 13 March 1958 | Parc de Princes, Paris | Friendly | France – Spain | 2–2 | Just Fontaine Roger Piantoni | László Kubala Luis Suárez |
| 11 | 17 December 1959 | Parc de Princes, Paris | Friendly | France – Spain | 4–3 | Lucien Muller Just Fontaine Jean Vincent Roger Marche | Luis Suárez Eulogio Martínez Martí Vergés |
| 12 | 2 April 1961 | Santiago Bernabéu Stadium, Madrid | Friendly | Spain – France | 2–0 | Enric Gensana Francisco Gento | |
| 13 | 10 December 1961 | Stade de Colombes, Paris | Friendly | France – Spain | 1–1 | François Heutte | Félix Ruiz |
| 14 | 9 January 1963 | Camp Nou, Barcelona | Friendly | Spain – France | 0–0 | | |
| 15 | 17 October 1968 | Stade de Gerland, Lyon | Friendly | France – Spain | 1–3 | Bernard Blanchet | Pirri José Ufarte Luis Aragonés |
| 16 | 17 March 1971 | Luis Casanova, Valencia | Friendly | Spain – France | 2–2 | Pirri (2x) | Hervé Revelli (2x) |
| 17 | 8 November 1978 | Parc de Princes, Paris | Friendly | France – Spain | 1–0 | Léonard Specht | |
| 18 | 18 February 1981 | Santiago Bernabéu Stadium, Madrid | Friendly | Spain – France | 1–0 | Juanito (p) | |
| 19 | 5 October 1983 | Parc de Princes, Paris | Friendly | France – Spain | 1–1 | Dominique Rocheteau | Juan Señor (p) |
| 20 | 27 June 1984 | Parc de Princes, Paris | UEFA Euro 1984 Final | France – Spain | 2–0 | Michel Platini Bruno Bellone | |
| 21 | 23 March 1988 | Parc de Lescure, Bordeaux | Friendly | France – Spain | 2–1 | Gérald Passi Luis Fernández | Ramón Calderé |
| 22 | 20 February 1991 | Parc de Princes, Paris | UEFA Euro 1992 qualifying | France – Spain | 3–1 | Franck Sauzée Jean-Pierre Papin Laurent Blanc | José Mari Bakero |
| 23 | 12 October 1991 | Estadio Benito Villamarín, Seville | UEFA Euro 1992 qualifying | Spain – France | 1–2 | Abelardo Fernández | Luis Fernández Jean-Pierre Papin |
| 24 | 15 June 1996 | Elland Road, Leeds | UEFA Euro 1996 | France – Spain | 1–1 | Youri Djorkaeff | José Luis Caminero |
| 25 | 28 January 1998 | Stade de France, Saint-Denis | Friendly | France – Spain | 1–0 | Zinedine Zidane | |
| 26 | 25 June 2000 | Jan Breydel Stadium, Bruges | UEFA Euro 2000 | Spain – France | 1–2 | Gaizka Mendieta | Zinedine Zidane Youri Djorkaeff |
| 27 | 28 March 2001 | Mestalla Stadium, Valencia | Friendly | Spain – France | 2–1 | Iván Helguera Fernando Morientes | David Trezeguet |
| 28 | 27 June 2006 | FIFA WM Stadion Hannover, Hanover | 2006 FIFA World Cup | Spain – France | 1–3 | David Villa | Franck Ribéry Patrick Vieira Zinedine Zidane |
| 29 | 6 February 2008 | Estadio Carlos Belmonte, Albacete | Friendly | Spain – France | 1–0 | Joan Capdevila | |
| 30 | 3 March 2010 | Stade de France, Paris | Friendly | France – Spain | 0–2 | | David Villa Sergio Ramos |
| 31 | 23 June 2012 | Donbass Arena, Donetsk | UEFA Euro 2012 | Spain – France | 2–0 | Xabi Alonso (2x, (p)) | |
| 32 | 16 October 2012 | Vicente Calderón Stadium, Madrid | 2014 FIFA World Cup qualification | Spain – France | 1–1 | Sergio Ramos | Olivier Giroud |
| 33 | 26 March 2013 | Stade de France, Paris | 2014 FIFA World Cup qualification | France – Spain | 0–1 | | Pedro |
| 34 | 4 September 2014 | Stade de France, Paris | Friendly | France – Spain | 1–0 | Loïc Rémy | |
| 35 | 28 March 2017 | Stade de France, Paris | Friendly | France – Spain | 0–2 | | David Silva (p) Gerard Deulofeu |
| 36 | 10 October 2021 | San Siro, Milan | 2021 UEFA Nations League final | Spain – France | 1–2 | Mikel Oyarzabal | Karim Benzema Kylian Mbappé |
| 37 | 9 July 2024 | Allianz Arena, Munich | UEFA Euro 2024 | Spain – France | 2–1 | Lamine Yamal Dani Olmo | Randal Kolo Muani |

## Statistics
### Overall

    As of 9 July 2024
| | Matches | Wins | Wins | Draws | Goals | Goals |
| | Matches | France | Spain | Draws | France | Spain |
| FIFA World Cup | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 3 | 1 |
| FIFA World Cup qualifiers | 2 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 2 |
| UEFA European Championship | 5 | 2 | 2 | 1 | 6 | 6 |
| UEFA European Championship qualifiers | 2 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 5 | 2 |
| UEFA Nations League | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 1 |
| All competitions | 11 | 6 | 3 | 2 | 17 | 12 |
| Friendly | 26 | 7 | 14 | 5 | 23 | 54 |
| All matches | 37 | 13 | 17 | 7 | 40 | 66 |