Spain

Germany 2006 was Spain's eighth consecutive qualification for the World Cup finals. And yet, they are a conundrum. Their sides are laced with talent but their one tournament victory was more than 40 years ago in the Euros. In terms of the World Cup, Spain's best result was fourth in 1950.

Spain World Cup profile continues below

Although Spain were unbeaten in their qualification group, it was only good enough to take second spot behind Serbia & Montegro.

Spain beat Slovakia in the play-offs, with Liverpool men, Garcia (3 goals) and Morientes (1 goal) pivotal in the first leg 5-1 victory. A 1-1 draw in the second leg meant Spain had qualified for the World Cup finals.

It is difficult to know what to expect of Spain. On paper they are a force to be reckoned with. Under their current coach, Luis Aragones, they have gone 18 games undefeated before the tournament.

Ranked fifth in the world, many wondered whether Spain would flatter to deceive, but they got off to an excellent start defeating Ukraine 4-0 in their opening match. In their next game Spain went 1-0 down but eventually beat Tunisia 3-1 to qualify for the last 16. Spain beat Saudi Arabia 1-0 to make it three wins out of three and top Group H.

Once again, though, Spain were not to progress far in the World Cup. They lost their second round game to France 3-1.

Spain Squad by shirt number:

1 Iker Casillas 2 Michel Salgado 3 Mariano Pernia 4 Carlos Marchena 5 Carles Puyol 6 David Albelda 7 Gonzalez Raul 8 Hernandez Xavi 9 Fernando Torres 10 Jose Antonio Reyes 11 Sanz Luis Garcia 12 Guerrero Antonio Lopez 13 Andres Iniesta 14 Xabi Alonso 15 Garcia Sergio Ramos 16 Marcos Senna 17 Sanchez Joaquin 18 Francesc Fabregas 19 Santiago Canizares 20 Gutierrez Juanito 21 David Villa 22 Ibanez Pablo 23 Jose Reina