Governed by the Real Federacion Espanola de Futbol (RFEF), Spain were one of the founding members of FIFA in 1904 and have been fairly consistent in qualifying for major international tournaments.
La Furia Roja, as they are affectionately known, are the only international team in history to win three consecutive major titles (Euro 2008, the 2010 World Cup and Euro 2012), as well as the only team to win back-to-back European Championships.
Along with Germany, they are the joint-most successful team in the history of the European Championships, with each side having won the tournament three times.
Spain made their first World Cup appearance in 1934, beating Brazil at the tournament, but losing in a quarter-final replay to hosts and eventual tournament winners Italy.
The Spanish Civil War put paid to the country's football ambitions for some time, but they earned a fourth-place finish at the 1950 World Cup in Brazil, which remained their best ever for the next 60 years.
Spain hosted the 1964 European Championships and ultimately won it, beating the Soviet Union 2-1 in the final at the Santiago Bernabeu after a 2-1 extra-time win over Hungary in the semi-finals - Jesus María Pereda scored for Spain in both of those fixtures.
The 1964 success remained Spain's only major championship triumph until the 2008 tournament in Austria and Switzerland under Vincente del Bosque.
After their group-stage elimination from the 1966 World Cup, Spain did not qualify again for a major tournament until the 1978 World Cup.
They exited at the group stage again and at Euro 1980, Spain made the second round of the 1982 World Cup on home soil. Then, at Euro 1984, they enjoyed their most successful tournament in 20 years as they went all the way to the final, losing to a Michel Platini-inspired France.
Spain, France, World Cup final 1984
Raul burst onto the international scene in 1996 and became one of Spain's greatest ever players with 44 goals in 102 caps, but even he could not end their drought as Spain did not make it past the quarter-finals of a major tournament until Euro 2008.
A golden generation of Spanish footballers began to emerge in the late 1990s and early to mid-2000s, with standout players being the likes of Cesc Fabregas, Xavi Hernandez, Andres Iniesta, David Villa, Fernando Torres and Iker Casillas.
Their campaign began with group stage wins over Russia, Sweden and Greece. World champions Italy were eliminated on penalties in the quarter-finals and then Russia in the semi-finals before a 1-0 win over Germany in the final, with Torres scoring the winning goal. Villa was the tournament's top goalscorer with four strikes to his name.
Spain saw off Portugal in the last 16 and Paraguay in the quarter-finals before going on to beat Germany 1-0 in the semi-finals and the Netherlands 1-0 after extra time in the final at Soccer City. Andres Iniesta capitalised on an assist from Cesc Fabregas to score the goal which clinched Spain's first ever World Cup triumph.
At Euro 2012, Spain were triumphant once again as they beat Italy 4-0 in the final. Torres scored his third goal of the tournament in that victory to clinch the Golden Boot, won by virtue of being the joint-top goalscorer and having played fewer minutes than Germany's Mario Gomez.
In the 2014 World Cup in Brazil, all eyes were on the winners of the past three major international tournaments and their capabilities of winning a fourth, but it wasn't meant to be as they fell to a shock early exit from the competition.
Spain players walk off dejected, World Cup 2014
Spain's 2018 World Cup qualification campaign went smoothly, but the team was thrown into turmoil right before the tournament when manager Julen Lopetegui was sacked after taking the Real Madrid job. He was replaced for the tournament by Fernando Hierro, who led Spain to the round of 16, where they suffered a shock defeat to hosts Russia.
Luis Enrique, who guided Barcelona to Champions League glory in 2015, took charge of Spain in 2018, shortly after their exit from the World Cup.
He stepped aside for four months in 2019 for personal reasons but returned to oversee a youthful Spanish side's run to the semi-finals of Euro 2020, where they were knocked out on penalties by Italy.
But they suffered a disappointing World Cup last-16 exit on penalties to Morocco, and Enrique's contract, which had been due to expire at the end of 2022 was not renewed.
Spain deservedly won a record fourth European Championship crown after beating England in the final, with Lamine Yamal lighting up the tournament either side of his 17th birthday.
England's Cole Palmer had cancelled out Nico Williams’ opener shortly after coming off the bench, only for Mikel Oyarzabal to seal Spain a 2-1 win at the Olympiastadion.
On top of winning the competition an unprecedented four times, La Roja were the first team to win seven successive matches at the finals, avoiding penalty shoot-outs, to be crowned champions – though it was only expanded to include a last-16 stage in 2016. Their 15 goals were also a record for a team in a single Euro.
Teenage winger Lamine Yamal was the undoubted breakout star of the Euros, winning the young player of the tournament award and setting several records along the way.
The Barcelona player started his side’s opening win against Croatia aged 16 years and 338 days, becoming the youngest player ever at the European Championship finals.
He was 16 and 362 days when he added the youngest goalscorer record, in the semi-final win over France, and became the youngest finalist and winner aged 17 years and one day.
Rodri was named player of the tournament in Germany, despite going off injured at half-time of the final. Williams picked up the player of the match award for his display in the final.
Sergio Ramos is Spain's record appearance maker and the Real Madrid defender remains active in the national team setup.
David Villa overtook Raul as Spain's all-time record goalscorer by netting twice against the Czech Republic in a Euro 2012 qualifier. He is also their highest goalscorer at the World Cup finals and in a single European Championship with four.
Former Chelsea and Arsenal man, Cesc Fabregas holds the record for most assists for the national team, closely beating great company in David Silva, Xavi and Iniesta to the accolade.
Real Madrid legend, Iker Casillas has the most clean sheets for Spain with 74, breaking the record in a game against China.
Emilio Butragueno, Spain
Former coach, Fernando Hierro also holds the record for the most penalty goals scored for his country with 10.
Spain have fierce rivalries with Portugal and Italy. The Mediterranean derby against Italy has generally been evenly-matched in terms of head-to-head fixtures over the years. Spain eliminated Italy from Euro 2008 and beat them in Euro 2012, but were eliminated by them at Euro 2016.
Twelve finals have been contested between Spanish and Italian representatives over the years with the Spaniards reigning supreme, winning eight of them.
The two U-21 sides of the countries have also had a strong rivalry in recent years, surrounding the dominance of who has the strongest young side in world soccer today.
The rivalry with Portugal, known as "The Iberian War", has generally been one-sided in favour of Spain. Portugal have never won the World Cup, but were European champions in 2016.
Spanish supporters are known for going to the streets to celebrate the national team's victories, creating what is known in some quarters as the Red Tide.
The majority of Spanish football supporters are fans of either Real Madrid or Barcelona, so support for the national team has to be balanced with a bitter club rivalry.
Spain prevailed in an eight-goal thriller to beat France 5-3 after extra time and win the Olympic men's football gold medal for the first time since 1992.
Manchester City midfielder Rodri and Spain team-mate Alvaro Morata have received one-match bans after chanting about Gibraltar during Euro 2024 victory celebrations.
Spain attacker Nico Williams has sent a message to Athletic Bilbao fans on social media expressing his excitement for the upcoming season amid rumours he may be joining Barcelona.
France and Argentina players and staff clashed on the pitch at full-time as the hosts edged a bad-tempered match 1-0 in Bordeaux to reach the Olympic semi-finals.
Atletico de Madrid and Real Sociedad have reached an agreement for the transfer of Spain Euro 2024 winner Robin Le Normand.
Athletic Bilbao goalkeeper Unai Simon has spoken about his recovery process following surgery on his right wrist.
Football at the Paris 2024 Olympics gets underway on Wednesday as Argentina, Spain and France kick off their campaigns and we’ve compiled an opening day acca.
