Portugal–Spain football rivalry

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Iberian Derby
Sergio Ramos (top center) of Spain tries to pass the ball to Fernando Torres (center) as Portugal's Fábio Coentrão (left), Bruno Alves (right) and Cristiano Ronaldo (top) look on during a match at 2010 FIFA World Cup match.
LocationEurope (UEFA)
Teams Portugal
 Spain
First meetingSpain 3–1 Portugal
Friendly
(18 December 1921)
Latest meetingPortugal 0–1 Spain
UEFA Nations League
(27 September 2022)
Statistics
Meetings total40
Most winsSpain (17)
Top scorerIsidro Lángara (7)
All-time seriesPortugal: 6
Draw: 17
Spain: 17
Largest victorySpain 9–0 Portugal
1934 FIFA World Cup qualification
(11 March 1934)
Portugal–Spain football rivalry is located in Europe
Portugal
Portugal
Spain
Spain

The Portugal–Spain football rivalry (also known as The Iberian Derby) is one of the oldest football rivalries at a national level. It began on 19 December 1921, when Portugal lost 1–3 to Spain at Madrid in their first ever international friendly game. Portugal lost their first matches, with their first draw (2–2) only coming in 1926. Portugal's first win came much later (4–1) in 1947.

Both belong to the strongest football nations of the world, and have met a total of 40 times (of which 11 matches were competitive) which resulted in 6 victories for Portugal, 17 draws, and 17 victories for Spain.

Background[edit]

Main article: Portugal–Spain relations § History

The rivalry between the two countries goes back to 1581, when King Henry of Portugal died with no heir, thus triggering a succession crisis, where the main claimants to the throne were Philip II of Spain and António, Prior of Crato. Philip II of Spain was made king, and he united both the Crown of João VI and the Spanish Crown to form the Iberian Union, which lasted only 60 years, until 1640, when the Portuguese Restoration War was initiated against Spain, and Portugal regained its independence under the Braganza dynasty.

In the 18th century, wars were very often between major kingdoms, and Portugal and Spain regularly found themselves on opposite sides. The Portuguese, courtesy of their long-standing alliance, aligned themselves with Great Britain, while the Spaniards, through the Pacte de Famille, allied themselves to France. In 1762, during the Seven Years' War, Spain launched an unsuccessful invasion of Portugal.

In 1777, there was a conflict between the two states over the borders of their possessions in South America.

During the Napoleonic Era, in 1807, the king of Spain and his French allies invaded Portugal, using a route through Spanish territory. However, the French decided to take over both countries, overthrowing the king of Spain and forcing the Portuguese royal family to escape to the Portuguese colony of Brazil.

After the fall of Napoleon, both countries came close to war a number of times during the early 19th century. Both lost their American colonies shortly after the end of the Peninsular War, which severely weakened their global power.

Major Tournaments[edit]

1934 FIFA World Cup qualification[edit]

First leg[edit]

Spain 9–0 Portugal
González 3'
Lángara 13', 14' (pen.), 46', 71', 85'
Regueiro 65', 70'
Ventolrà 68'		 (Report)
Attendance: 50,000

Second leg[edit]

Portugal 1–2 Spain
Silva 10' (Report) Lángara 12', 25'
Attendance: 35,000

1950 FIFA World Cup qualification[edit]

First leg[edit]

Spain and Portugal met in 1950 FIFA World Cup qualification round with Spain going away with a 5-1 victory at home.[1]

Spain 5–1 Portugal
Zarra 11', 58'
Basora 13'
Panizo 15'
Molowny 65'		 Report Cabrita 36'
Attendance: 80,000
Referee: Reg Leafe (England)

Second leg[edit]

Second leg saw both sides drawing 2-2, meaning Spain qualified for 1950 FIFA World Cup after defeating Portugal 5-1 in first leg.[2]

Portugal 2–2 Spain
Travassos 51'
Correia 53'		 Report Zarra 24'
Gaínza 82'
Attendance: 30,000
Referee: Jack Mowat (Scotland)

UEFA Euro 1984[edit]

In UEFA Euro 1984 group stage Portugal and Spain were paired together, both sides qualified to the next round as Portugal drew Spain 1-1. António Sousa gave Portugal in 52nd minute, after 21 minutes Santillana equalised for Spain at 73rd minute.[3]

Portugal 1–1 Spain
Sousa 52' Report Santillana 73'
Attendance: 24,364

UEFA Euro 2004[edit]

Portugal and Spain faced off in group stage of UEFA Euro 2004 hosted by Portugal. Portugal won the game 1-0 as half time substitute Nuno Gomes scored a goal from 20 yards, giving Portugal their first ever victory against Spain in a major tournament, this was also Portugal's first victory over Spain since 1981.[4]

Spain 0–1 Portugal
Report Nuno Gomes 57'
Attendance: 47,491
Referee: Anders Frisk (Sweden)

2010 FIFA World Cup[edit]

Spain defeated Portugal 1–0 in the Iberian derby to progress to the quarter-finals where they were to play Paraguay. The game took place on Tuesday 29 June 2010 at the Cape Town Stadium. Spain dominated the game with a ball possession ratio of 62% and several opportunities, but had to endure a pair of missed chances by the Portuguese in the first half, including one by Hugo Almeida which nearly resulted in a goal. In the second half, the Portuguese attacking threat decreased, and the entry of Fernando Llorente for Fernando Torres on the field brought new energy to the Spanish team. The only goal of the match came on the 63rd minute: David Villa picked up a brilliant pass by Xavi, having his first shot saved, but then lifted the rebound into the roof of the net.[5] Post-match replays showed that the goal was scored from an offside position (0.22m according to ESPN axis).[6][7][8][9][10][11]

Spain 1–0 Portugal
David Villa 63' Report
Attendance: 62,955

UEFA Euro 2012[edit]

Portugal faced Spain for the sixth time in a major tournament at UEFA Euro 2012 semi-finals.[12] In early minutes of first half, Spain missed an scoring opportunity as Álvaro Arbeloa shot a half-cleared ball by Bruno Alves just above the crossbar. After a Portugal free-kick hit the wall, Spain started a counter-attack with Xavi passing the ball at the edge of the box, just to be hit above the crossbar by Andrés Iniesta. Halfway through first half Cristiano Ronaldo shot just waved past the Spanish goalkeeper Iker Casillas missing the goal by inches. In the 85th minute Portugal got two back-to-back freekicks as Ronaldo was fouled for the first one and second for handball which happened as Ronaldo hit the first freekick at the wall, the second freekick went above the bar, as the 90 minutes ended with a 0-0 scoreline. At 95th minute Portuguese keeper Rui Patrício saved a shot from Iniesta as he fired in a cross in the six yard box. As extra-time ended 0-0, the penalty shootout started, Spain went out victorious as Cristiano Ronaldo didn't take a penalty after Xabi Alonso saw Patrício saving his first penalty. After the match Portuguese coach Paulo Bento said: "We had this order. Ronaldo was fifth."[13][12]

Portugal 0–0 (a.e.t.) Spain
Report
Penalties
Moutinho soccer ball with red X
Pepe soccer ball with check mark
Nani soccer ball with check mark
Alves soccer ball with red X		 2–4 soccer ball with red X Alonso
soccer ball with check mark Iniesta
soccer ball with check mark Piqué
soccer ball with check mark Ramos
soccer ball with check mark Fàbregas
Attendance: 48,000[14]

2018 FIFA World Cup[edit]

Spain faced Portugal in the second match of Group B. Cristiano Ronaldo gave Portugal an early lead from the spot-kick in 4th minute of the match after deceiving Nacho inside the box. In the 24th minute, Diego Costa equalised for Spain after scoring past the Portuguese defence. Isco then saw his shot thumping against the post. Ronaldo gave Portugal lead once again in 44th minute after Spanish keeper David de Gea was unable to handle the shot. Costa once again equalised for Spanish side in the 55th minute. Nacho redeemed himself after scoring a superb half-volley from outside the box at 58th minute. Gerard Piqué brought down Ronaldo outside the box at 86th minute, Ronaldo scored the free kick to equalise the game at 3-3, earning his first-ever World Cup hat-trick.[15][16]

Portugal 3–3 Spain
 Report
Attendance: 43,866[17]

List of matches[edit]

No. Date Location Competition Result
1 18 December 1921 Spain Madrid Friendly Spain  3–1  Portugal
2 17 December 1922 Portugal Lisbon Portugal  1–2  Spain
3 16 December 1923 Spain Seville Spain  3–0  Portugal
4 17 May 1925 Portugal Lisbon Portugal  0–2  Spain
5 10 January 1928 Portugal  2–2  Spain
6 17 March 1929 Spain Seville Spain  5–0  Portugal
7 30 November 1930 Portugal Porto Portugal  0–1  Spain
8 2 April 1933 Spain Vigo Spain  3–0  Portugal
9 11 March 1934 Spain Madrid 1934 FIFA World Cup qualification Spain  9–0  Portugal
10 18 March 1934 Portugal Lisbon Portugal  1–2  Spain
11 5 May 1935 Friendly Portugal  3–3  Spain
12 12 January 1941 Portugal  2–2  Spain
13 16 March 1941 Spain Bilbao Spain  5–1  Portugal
14 13 March 1945 Portugal Lisbon Portugal  2–2  Spain
15 6 May 1945 Spain La Coruña Spain  4–2  Portugal
16 26 January 1947 Portugal Lisbon Portugal  4–1  Spain
17 20 March 1948 Spain Madrid Spain  2–0  Portugal
18 20 March 1949 Portugal Lisbon Portugal  1–1  Spain
19 2 April 1950 Spain Madrid 1950 FIFA World Cup qualification Spain  5–1  Portugal
20 9 April 1950 Portugal Lisbon Portugal  2–2  Spain
21 3 June 1956 Friendly Portugal  3–1  Spain
22 13 April 1958 Spain Madrid Spain  1–0  Portugal
23 15 November 1964 Portugal Porto Portugal  2–1  Spain
24 26 September 1979 Spain Vigo Spain  1–1  Portugal
25 20 June 1981 Portugal Porto Portugal  2–0  Spain
26 17 June 1984 France Marseille UEFA Euro 1984 Portugal  1–1  Spain
27 16 January 1991 Spain Castellón Friendly Spain  1–1  Portugal
28 15 January 1992 Portugal Torres Novas Portugal  0–0  Spain
29 19 January 1994 Spain Vigo Spain  2–2  Portugal
30 13 February 2002 Spain Barcelona 1–1
31 6 September 2003 Portugal Guimarães Portugal  0–3  Spain
32 20 June 2004 Portugal Lisbon UEFA Euro 2004 Spain  0–1  Portugal
33 29 June 2010 South Africa Cape Town 2010 FIFA World Cup Spain  1–0  Portugal
34 17 November 2010 Portugal Lisbon Friendly Portugal  4–0  Spain
35 27 June 2012 Ukraine Donetsk UEFA Euro 2012 Portugal  0–0
(2–4 p) 		 Spain
36 15 June 2018 Russia Sochi 2018 FIFA World Cup Portugal  3–3  Spain
37 7 October 2020 Portugal Lisbon Friendly Portugal  0–0  Spain
38 4 June 2021 Spain Madrid Spain  0–0  Portugal
39 2 June 2022 Spain Seville 2022–23 UEFA Nations League Spain  1–1  Portugal
40 27 September 2022 Portugal Braga Portugal  0–1  Spain

Unofficial matches[edit]

An additional three matches have been played between the countries which are not considered official (although are included in some media articles relating to the rivalry and in some statistical tallies of caps for the players involved):[18][19][20][21][22]

  • In May 1927, Spain played a friendly against Portugal in Madrid[23][24][25] on the same day as they played Italy in Rome.[26][27][28][29] The squad for the Italy game was more experienced and considered to be stronger, while several players in the Portugal match made their debuts; consequently the Spain team is considered to have been equivalent to its B team[30] (although they won their match while the A team lost theirs)[29] and thus not a full international.
  • Following the outbreak of the Spanish Civil War in 1936, no official matches were played by Spain until 1941.[31] The vast majority of the squad in 1936[32] either originated from the Basque provinces, or played for FC Barcelona in Catalonia, both of which were initially within Republican territory in the conflict. The Basque players formed their own quasi-national team and left Spain to play a long series of exhibition matches on tour around Eastern Europe[33] and Latin America[34] to provide funds and exposure for local causes, and Barcelona did likewise;[35] most of the players in both groups never returned.[31] Back in Spain, as the Nationalist side took control of more of the country, General Franco saw the opportunity to use football as a positive propaganda tool, and arranged for a match to be played in his home region of Galicia against Portugal, whose leader Salazar was supportive of Francoist Spain.[31][36][37][38] Recognition was granted by FIFA at short notice and the match took place in Vigo in November 1937. In contrast to Portugal's settled squad, the Spain pool was hastily assembled from the best available players in Nationalist areas, and Portugal won for their first victory over their neighbours.[36][37][39][40] A return match was arranged for the following January in Lisbon, also won by Portugal,[31][41][38] and which attracted attention when three local players refused to give the Roman salute before kick-off; they were initially imprisoned, but were soon released due to the political influence held by the hierarchy of the club they played for, Belenenses.[36][37]
No. Date Venue Competition Result
N/A[a] 29 May 1927[23][24][25] Spain Madrid Unofficial friendly[29] Spain B  2–0  Portugal
N/A[b] 28 November 1937[42][43] Spain Vigo Unofficial friendly[31][36][37][39][40] Spain  1–2  Portugal
N/A[c] 30 January 1938[44][45][41] Portugal Lisbon Unofficial friendly[31][36][37] Portugal  1–0  Spain
  1. ^ Taking all matches into account, this would have been the 7th meeting.
  2. ^ Taking all matches into account, this would have been the 13th meeting.
  3. ^ Taking all matches into account, this would have been the 14th meeting.

Statistics[edit]

Overall[edit]

As of 27 September 2022
Matches Wins Goals
Portugal Draws Spain Portugal Spain
FIFA World Cup* 6 0 2 4 7 22
UEFA European Championship 3 1 2** 0 2 1
UEFA Nations League 2 0 1 1 1 2
All competitions 11 1 5 5 10 25
Friendly 29 5 12 12 35 52
Total 29 5 12 12 35 52
All matches 40 6 17 17 45 77
  • ^* Matches for FIFA World Cup includes qualification matches from 1934 and 1950 edition.
  • ^** Spain defeated Portugal 4–2 on penalties at UEFA Euro 2012 semi-finals.

Top goalscorers[edit]

As of 27 September 2022
# Player FIFA World Cup FIFA World Cup qualification UEFA European Championship UEFA European Championship qualifying Friendly All matches
1 Spain Isidro Lángara5 — 7 — — 2 9
2 Portugal Fernando Peyroteo — — — — 7 7
3 Spain Telmo Zarra — 3 — — 3 6
4 Portugal Francisco Palmeiro — — — — 3 3
Portugal Cristiano Ronaldo 3 — — — — 3
Portugal José Travassos — 1 — — 2 3
Spain Epifanio Fernández — — — — 3 3
Spain César Rodríguez — — — — 3 3
Spain Gaspar Rubio — — — — 3 3
Spain José Luis Zabala — — — — 3 3

5 Player scored 5 goals

See also[edit]

References[edit]

  1. ^ "Spain 5-1 Portugal". www.goal.com. goal. Retrieved December 12, 2017.
  2. ^ "Portugal 2-2 Spain". www.goal.com. goal. Retrieved December 12, 2017.
  3. ^ "Santillana saves Spain against Portugal". www.uefa.com. UEFA. 4 October 2003. Retrieved December 12, 2017.
  4. ^ "Spain 0-1 Portugal". www.BBC.com. BBC. 20 June 2004. Retrieved December 12, 2017.
  5. ^ Bevan, Chris. "Spain 1-0 Portugal". BBC News. Retrieved 28 May 2011.
  6. ^ "Spain's Villa, Argentine Refs send Portugal packing for deserved summer vacation". livesoccertv.com. Retrieved 11 July 2010.
  7. ^ Gaffer, The (2010-06-30). "David Villa's Goal for Spain Against Portugal Was Offside: 3D Video". Worldcupbuzz.com. Retrieved 2012-04-01.
  8. ^ "Carvalho: Offside". Goal.com. Retrieved 2010-07-11.
  9. ^ "World Cup 2010: Argentina Coach Diego Maradona Claims 'Horrible' Refereeing Helped Spain Beat Portugal". chelseafc.com. Retrieved 2010-07-11.
  10. ^ Lusitan (2010-06-29). "Reaction: "We could have gone further"". Portugoal.net. Retrieved 2012-04-01.
  11. ^ "Villa was offside". iafrica.com. Archived from the original on 2010-07-08. Retrieved 2010-07-11.
  12. ^ a b Burke, Chris (27 June 2012). "Spain survive test of nerve to reach final". www.uefa.com. UEFA. Retrieved December 12, 2017.
  13. ^ Smith, Ben (27 June 2012). "Cesc Fabregas was the hero again as Spain kept alive their hopes of defending the European title with a dramatic shootout win in Dontesk". www.bbc.com. BBC. Retrieved December 12, 2017.
  14. ^ "Full-time report Portugal-Spain" (PDF). UEFA.com. Union of European Football Associations. 27 June 2012. Retrieved 27 June 2012.
  15. ^ Jennings, Patrick (15 June 2018). "Cristiano Ronaldo produced one of the great World Cup performances as his dramatic late free-kick earned Portugal a draw with Spain in a classic encounter in Sochi". www.bbc.com. BBC. Retrieved June 18, 2018.
  16. ^ "Portugal 3-3 Spain: Cristiano Ronaldo's first World Cup hat-trick secures draw". www.skysports.com. skysports. 15 June 2018. Retrieved June 18, 2018.
  17. ^ "Match report – Group B – Portugal-Spain" (PDF). FIFA.com. Fédération Internationale de Football Association. 15 June 2018. Retrieved 15 June 2018.
  18. ^ "España vs. Portugal: rivalidad y revancha" [Spain vs. Portugal: rivalry and revenge]. Marca (in Spanish). 26 June 2010. Retrieved 17 March 2019.
  19. ^ "Regueiro: Pedro Regueiro Pagola [List of matches / Spain National Team]". BDFutbol. Retrieved 18 March 2019.
  20. ^ "National football team player: Jorge Vieira". EU-football.info. Retrieved 19 March 2019.
  21. ^ "National football team player: Pinga". EU-football.info. Retrieved 19 March 2019.
  22. ^ "Appearances for Portugal National Team". RSSSF. Retrieved 19 March 2019.
  23. ^ a b "International football match: 29.05.1927 Spain* v Portugal". EU-football.info. Retrieved 17 March 2019.
  24. ^ a b "29/05/1927: España 2 - 0 Portugal". BDFutbol. Retrieved 17 March 2019.
  25. ^ a b "Spain v Portugal, 29 May 1927". 11v11.com. Retrieved 17 March 2019.
  26. ^ "International football match: 29.05.1927 Italy v Spain". EU-football.info. Retrieved 17 March 2019.
  27. ^ "29/05/1927: Italia 2 - 0 España". BDFutbol. Retrieved 17 March 2019.
  28. ^ "Italy v Spain, 29 May 1927". 11v11.com. Retrieved 17 March 2019.
  29. ^ a b c "Los españoles, gandaores en el Stadium y derrotadoes en Bolonia por tanteo de 2 a 0" [The Spaniards, winners in the Stadium and defeated in Bologna by score of 2 to 0]. La Voz (digital archive) (in Spanish). 30 May 1927. p. 11. Retrieved 17 March 2019.
  30. ^ "¿Sabes qué era la Selección Absoluta B?" [Do you know what the Senior B Team was?]. SEFútbol (in Spanish). RFEF. 29 July 2013. Archived from the original on 18 October 2020. Retrieved 18 March 2019.
  31. ^ a b c d e f Alberto Cosín (1 May 2014). "La hipotética selección española en el Mundial 1938" [The hypothetical Spanish national team in the 1938 World Cup]. Kaiser Football (in Spanish). Retrieved 17 March 2019.
  32. ^ "España Amistosos 1936" [Spain Friendlies 1936 [squad list]]. BDFutbol. Retrieved 17 March 2019.
  33. ^ "Cuando 'Euzkadi' jugó en Rusia" [When 'Euzkadi' played in Russia]. Noticias de Navarra (in Spanish). 15 June 2018. Archived from the original on 21 August 2018. Retrieved 18 March 2019.
  34. ^ Alfredo Relaño (10 October 2016). "La selección de Euskadi parte para América (1937)" [The Basque selection leaves for America (1937)]. Diario AS (in Spanish). Retrieved 18 March 2019.
  35. ^ Jordi Blanco (20 July 2019). "The tour that saved FC Barcelona". ESPN. Retrieved 18 March 2019.
  36. ^ a b c d e Francisco Pinheiro (11 September 2012). "Portugal, España y el fútbol. La construcción histórica de una amistad" [Portugal, Spain and football: the historical construction of a friendship] (in Portuguese). CSIC. Retrieved 17 March 2019.
  37. ^ a b c d e Miguel Ángel Lara (7 November 2012). "El poder de balón: España-Portugal, el partido que quiso Franco y que acabó en 'rebelión'" [The power of the ball: Spain-Portugal, the match that Franco wanted and that ended in 'rebellion']. Marca (in Spanish). Retrieved 17 March 2019.
  38. ^ a b "El fútbol en las dos Españas" [Football in the two Spains]. Curiosidades del fútbol (Curiosities of football) (in Spanish). 7 November 2012. Retrieved 17 March 2019.
  39. ^ a b "El delantero de Osasuna que marcó cinco goles en un partido" [The Osasuna forward who scored five goals in a match]. Diario de Navarra (in Spanish). 6 April 2015. Retrieved 17 March 2019.
  40. ^ a b "Partido Internacional España-Portugal en Vigo (1937)" [International Match Spain-Portugal in Vigo (1937)]. Sucedió en Vigo (It happened in Vigo) (in Spanish). 17 February 2018. Retrieved 17 March 2019.
  41. ^ a b "Portugal 1-0 Espanha 1938 Campo das Salésias". Retrieved 17 March 2019 – via YouTube.
  42. ^ "International football match: 28.11.1937 Spain* v Portugal". EU-football.info. Retrieved 17 March 2019.
  43. ^ "Spain v Portugal, 28 November 1937". 11v11.com. Retrieved 17 March 2019.
  44. ^ "International football match: 30.01.1938 Portugal v Spain*". EU-football.info. Retrieved 17 March 2019.
  45. ^ "Portugal v Spain, 30 January 1938". 11v11.com. Retrieved 17 March 2019.
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