Spain arrived at Euro 2025 as world champions, Nations League title holders and one of the favourites — and promptly hammered Portugal 5-0 and Belgium 6-2 in their first two group-stage games.
And yet they entered Friday’s quarter-final against Switzerland knowing that was the stage at which they were eliminated from each of the previous three European Championships.
Thanks to their own successes in those other competitions, Spain are always considered one of the teams to beat these days. But it has not always been that way. Put simply, Spain have a love-hate relationship with the Euros.
The 1997 edition was their first major tournament but it also sparked the biggest rebellion in Spanish women’s football.
They have only made it to the finals five times in 13 attempts and reached the semis just once before, with that feat achieved on their debut 28 years ago, when only eight teams were involved.
Three years later, with much less media hype than before, Spain are back at the Euros, in only their second ever semifinal, as favourites. They have come an awful long way since 1997.