The Spanish national team thrashed Georgia (4-1) this Sunday in the round of 16 of Euro 2024, meeting the host Germany for a place in the semi-finals next Friday in Stuttgart, where Luis de la Fuente’s team will have the challenge of beating a host team for the first time in its history in a Euro Cup.
Logic has prevailed at the top of the table in the round of 16, and Germany and Spain will face each other for a ticket to the semifinals of the continental tournament. Thus, in Stuttgart the most successful teams in the competition will compete, in addition to being the two teams that are playing the best football in the event, dominating the majority of offensive and defensive statistics.
‘La Roja’ has left behind the uncertainty that accompanied it in the run-up to the Euro Cup thanks to good play, goals and victories. But now comes the moment of truth and the first match against a ‘world-class’ team in the tournament. A match in which Spain will have to put an end to its catastrophic streak against host teams in a Euro Cup if it wants to be among the four best teams in the tournament for the second consecutive EURO.
And Spain’s record against the host is not very promising in the Euro Cups. Since the team participated in its first continental tournament in 1964, it has faced the team that organized the tournament up to five times, without achieving any victory against them. In fact, the balance is three defeats – France 1984, Germany 1988 and Portugal 2004 – and two draws – Italy 1980 and England 1996 -.
The first duel against a host took place in the 1980 Euro Cup, when Spain could not go beyond a 0-0 draw against Italy, in a tournament in which only eight teams competed and in which the team finished last in its group and, therefore , without options for a title that West Germany ended up taking. It would be the first of three consecutive continental tournaments in which Spain would face the host.
In 1984, ‘La Roja’ reached the final of the tournament, where Platini’s France awaited. There, the team would lose the first final in its history, in a match marked by Arconada’s error in the first French goal, the work of Platini, and which ended with a 2-0 result.
And in the next edition, Germany 1988, Spain faced the ‘Mannschaft’ on the third day of the group stage, in which they needed to win to reach the semi-finals, however a double from Völler knocked ‘La Roja out of the tournament. ‘.
It was not until 1996, after failing to qualify for the previous edition in Sweden, that Spain would once again face the host country. On that occasion, as now, it would be in the quarter-final round, against England. And once again, the team would stumble against the host country, this time falling on penalties after the score remained unchanged for 120 minutes.
The last time Spain faced a host was in 2004. There, they once again stumbled against the local team on the third day of the group stage, a decisive match to advance to the quarterfinals and in which The Portuguese team won 1-0 thanks to a solitary goal from Nuno Gomes that meant the elimination of the team coached by Iñaki Saez.
Now, the Spain that has restored the enthusiasm of the fans and that makes them believe that the achievements achieved between 2008 and 2012 can be repeated needs to put an end to the host’s curse. It would be the definitive proof that this team is serious about its fourth Euro Cup.