Spain have struggled in friendlies against top teams

The Spanish national team are through a period in the wilderness in terms of results. Six of their last eleven matches have ended in defeat: three competitive fixtures including the World Cup games against the Netherlands and Chile and one against Slovakia in a Euro 2016 qualifying match. Three more have followed in friendly matches, against France, Germany and the Netherlands again.

In Amsterdam, Spain fell to another defeat against a big footballing nation, which has become a trend in the Del Bosque era, with the coach admitting as much himself after the defeat. In the friendly matches against football’s ‘super powers’ that Spain have played in since 2010, the results are devastating. In nine games, Spain have lost seven matches and only won twice, against Uruguay and Italy. In these games only six goals were scored and 16 conceded.

Spain were thrashed by Argentina (4-1) and Portugal (4-0) and then fell to defeats against Italy (2-1) and England (1-0) before beating Uruguay 3-1 in Doha. A 1-0 victory over Italy followed at the Calderón but after last summer’s World Cup in Brazil there have been defeats against France (1-0), Germany (0-1) and the Netherlands (2-0).

Taking into account competitive matches since winning the World Cup in 2010, the record looks better but remains poor for a team looking continue their reign as the best in the world. Spain have played 19 matches against top-level terms and have achieved six wins, four draws and nine defeats. They have scored 16 goals and conceded 28.

Although, to the credit of the national team, it is worth noting the record in major tournaments with things at stake. In the 2012 European Championships Spain beat Italy and France and also drew against Italy in the Group Stage and progressed on penalties against Portugal. In qualifying for Brazil they won in Paris to virtually ensure their progression and in the Confederations Cup they beat Uruguay and drew against Italy, although fell to a heavy 4-0 defeat against Brazil in the final.

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