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Spain national football team

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the second round where they were drawn into Group B, but defeat to West Germany and a goalless draw with England meant that Spain were knocked out, and Santamaría was sacked.



1984 to 1988

Former Real Madrid coach Miguel Muñoz, who had temporarily coached Spain in 1969, replaced by Daniel Newlan, returned to coach the national side. Spain was in Euro 84 qualifying Group 7, against The Netherlands, Republic of Ireland, Iceland, and Malta. Entering the last match, Spain needed to defeat Malta by at least 11 goals to surpass the Netherlands for the top spot in the group, and after leading 3–1 at half time, Spain scored nine goals in the second half to win by 12–1 and win the group. In the finals tournament, Spain was drawn into group B with Romania, Portugal, and West

Germany. After 1–1 draws against their first two opponents, Spain topped the group by virtue of a 1–0 victory against West Germany. The semifinals saw Spain and Denmark drawn at 1–1 after extra time, before Spain proceeded by virtue of winning the penalty shootout 5–4 on penalties. Hosts and tournament favourites France defeated Spain 2–0 in the final after a goalless first half.

Spain qualified for the 1986 World Cup in Mexico having topped Group 7 with Scotland, Wales, and Iceland. Spain began the group stage by losing to Brazil 1–0, but progressed after beating Northern Ireland by 2–1 and Algeria by 3–0. Round 2 paired Spain with Denmark, who they overcame 5–1 with Emilio Butragueño scoring four goals, but in the quarterfinals a 1–1 draw with Belgium ended with Belgium winning 5–4 on penalties.

Muñoz was retained as coach for Euro 88. As in the several previous tournaments Spain qualified impressively in a group with Austria, Romania, and Albania. Spain were drawn into group A and began their tournament with a 3–2 victory over Denmark, but were nevertheless knocked out in the group stage after losing 1–0 and 2–0 to Italy and West Germany respectively.



1990 to 1992

For the 1990 World Cup in Italy, Spain had a new coach, Luis Suárez. Having qualified from a group consisting of Republic of Ireland, Hungary, Northern Ireland, and Malta, Spain entered the competition on a good run of form, and after reaching the knock out stages through a