Spain vs. Italy : A Brief History

June 22nd, 2008 | by: Ian Rose |

Spain and Italy might not have the sort of rivalry that we have seen between the French and Italians in the past few years, meeting up in tournament after tournament, but there is a long and storied history between these two sides.

The first meeting of the two took place in February of 1920, at the Summer Olympics in Antwerp. That match ended in a 2-0 win for Spain, and was the last time Spain beat Italy in a competitive match. I repeat … it has been 88 years since Spain has beaten Italy in a major tournament. Never in a World Cup. Never in a Euro.

That’s not to say there haven’t been some close calls. In the 1934 World Cup in Italy, the hosts met up with Spain in the quarterfinal round, and played to a 1-1 draw. At that time, there were no penalty shootouts, so the match was replayed. Italy won it the second time around, on a single goal from Guiseppe Meazza, and went on to win their first World Cup title.

They met up again in Euro 1980, once again on Italian soil. In a strange bit of football fate, they played their group stage match in the Stadio Guiseppe Meazza, named for the hero of their 1934 encounter, and played to another draw, 0-0. Since it was only the group stage, the result stood, and again, Spain missed their chance to end the drought.

Only eight years later, they were drawn again in the same European Championship group, and it was once again a cagey affair until Gianluca Vialli broke the stalemate in the 73rd minute and the Italians won by another 1-0. At World Cup 1994, it was another late heartbreaker for the Spaniards, with Roberto Baggio netting in the 87th minute to send Italy to the semifinals.

Baggio’s goal:

Overall, Spain has won 8 matches against Italy, drawn 10 and lost 9. Still, all but one of those Spanish wins were friendlies, and so when it matters, the history is clearly on the side of Azzurri. Just so it’s not all doom and gloom for the Spanish, here’s David Villa’s goal to put them over Italy 1-0 in the most recent meeting, a friendly on March 26th.