Catalonia national football team

First games

Catalonia national football team made their debut in 1904. Initially they played against various club teams such as Club Espanyol, Madrid CF, FC Barcelona and Irún Sporting Club. On 2 February 1912, they made their international friendly debut against France, losing 7–0 in Paris. The team was: Reñé, Irízar, Amecharruza, Alemany, Peris, Armet, Forns, Rodríguez, Comamala, Morales and Ramiro. On 1 December 1912, the two teams met again in Barcelona and this time the Catalans won 1–0. In 1914, the Catalan XI played the Basque Country XI for the first time, but there is no record of the result. The first recorded game between the two teams took place on 3 January 1915 at San Mamés Stadium; the Catalan XI lost 6–1.

Copa Príncep d'Astúries

Between 1915 and 1926, the Catalan XI competed in an inter-regional competition. They finished as runners-up in 1915 and won the Copa Príncep d'Astúries for the first time in 1916, beating a Castile XI 8–5 over two games. They then retained the trophy in 1917 after beating the Castile XI 2–0. During the 1920s, a team featuring Josep Samitier, Paulino Alcántara, Sagibarba and Ricardo Zamora helped the Catalan XI win the competition in 1922, 1924 and 1926. The last competition in 1926 was a play-off between the two teams who had won the competition the most. The Catalans beat an Asturias XI 6–3 over two games.

As well as playing other regional teams from throughout Spain and Europe, the 1920s also saw the Catalan XI play several internationals friendly matches. On 13 March 1924, at the Camp de Les Corts, the Catalan XI played Spain for the first time. The Spain XI included Josep Samitier and Ricardo Zamora, two of the best Catalan players of the era, while the Catalan XI featured Paulino Alcántara and Sagibarba. Samiter scored twice as the Spain XI won 7–0. On 13 December 1925, Samitier, Zamora, Alcántara and Sagibarba were on the same side as the Catalan XI beat Czechoslovakia at the Estadi de Sarrià. After conceding a penalty and going down 1–0, Sagibarba then equalised with another penalty before Samitier clinched a 2–1 win. On 7 July 1926, the Catalan XI played Czechoslovakia in Prague. Despite Samitier putting the Catalans 1–0 ahead, they eventually lost 2–1.

Catalonia vs. Brazil

During the 1930s, Catalonia continued playing friendly games against an array of teams; 1934 was a particularly good year. On 2 February, they played Spain and lost 2–0 at Les Corts. Four months later, they played Brazil twice. On 17 June, the Catalan XI beat Brazil 2–1 at Les Corts and then on 24 June, they held them to a 2–2 draw at the Vista Alegre in Girona. The Brazil team had been in Europe to play in the official 1934 FIFA World Cup and included the legendary Leônidas in their team. The Catalan XI completed a good month when on June 29 they beat the reigning official La Liga champions, Athletic Bilbao, 5–1.

The Franco era

After the Spanish Civil War, dictator Francisco Franco imposed several restrictions on Catalonia, abolishing the Generalitat de Catalunya and banning the official use of the Catalan language and the Catalan flag. Despite these restrictions, the Catalan XI continued to play regularly during this period and even played Spain twice. On 19 October 1947, at the Sarrià and with a team featuring Juan Velasco, Marià Gonzalvo, Joan Segarra and César, they beat Spain 3–1. On 9 August 1953, Spain avenged this defeat with a 6–0 win.

During this era, several notable Barcelona players, including the Spanish players László Kubala, Luis Suárez, Evaristo and later Jesús María Pereda, played for the Catalan XI. On 26 January 1955, in a friendly game against Bologna at Les Corts, Kubala was also joined by another guest player, Alfredo Di Stéfano. The Catalan XI won 6–2 with two goals from Kubala and one from Di Stéfano. On 1 September 1956, Di Stéfano returned to Les Corts with Real Madrid, recent winners of the first official European Cup, and played a Selecció de Barcelona. Real won the game 7–3.

The Catalan XI marked the end of the Franco era with a friendly game against the Soviet Union at the Camp Nou on 6 June 1976. The team included Carles Rexach and guest Netherlands players Johan Cruyff and Johan Neeskens. The game finished 1–1 with Neeskens scoring for the Catalan XI. Cruyff's son, Jordi, would subsequently play regularly for the Catalan XI.

Democratic era

Since the restoration of democracy in the 1970s, the Catalonia national team has regularly played international friendly matches. They subsequently put together a string of successful results against great economic countries like Bulgaria, Nigeria, Yugoslavia, Lithuania and Chile. On 5 May 2002, Catalonia hosted Brazil in a warm up friendly game before the official 2002 World Cup. Brazil, who went on to win the official competition, beat Catalonia 3–1. In 2004, Brazil returned for a second friendly game and this time won 5–2 at the Camp Nou, where some months later Argentina defeated Catalonia 3–0. The last friendly matches have been against Paraguay, Costa Rica, Basque Country, Argentina and Colombia.

Johan Cruyff era

On 2 November 2009, it was announced that Dutch legend and former Barcelona manager Johan Cruyff would be the new coach of Catalonia. On 22 December 2009, they played a friendly against Argentina, which ended in a Catalonia win, 4–2 at Camp Nou. On 28 December 2010, Catalonia played another friendly against Honduras winning 4–0 at Estadi Olímpic Lluís Companys. On 30 December 2011, Catalonia played Tunisia in a goalless draw at the Lluís Companys. In their last game under Cruyff, on 2 January 2013, Catalonia drew with Nigeria at the Cornellà-El Prat, 1–1.

Post-Cruyff era

Former player Gerard was appointed new coach for the Catalan team for two years. His first match with the team took place on 30 December 2013 against Cape Verde at the Olímpic Lluís Companys.

Current squad

The following players were called up for the match against the Tunisia on 28 December 2016.

Recent callups

The following players have been called up for the team in the last two years.

Guest players

Because Catalonia is not a member of either UEFA or FIFA due to it being a region of Spain, obvious eligibility rules based on birthplace do not apply. As a result of unofficial friendly team, a number of players who were not born in Catalonia have guested for the Catalan XI. With the notable exception of Alfredo Di Stéfano, most were playing for Barcelona at the time. Notice that some players, as Andrés Iniesta, Jordi Cruyff or Lionel Messi had lived most of their lives (and childhood) in Catalonia. Some others, as Sagibarba or Paulino Alcántara had Catalan ancestors (for example: Alcántara was the son of a Catalan military officer in the Spanish Philippines and moved to Barcelona after the Spanish–American War as a child).

Selected coaches

Honours

Estimated Elo

The Elo rating system was adapted for football by adding a weighting for the kind of match, an adjustment for the home team advantage, and an adjustment for goal difference in the match result. Its estimated Elo is 1856 (current fantasy rank: 16th). Its highest Elo were 1885 points (after winning against Honduras on December 28th 2010). At that time it would have been the seventh world national football team in the World behind Spain, Germany, Argentina and England and above Portugal, Italy, France and among those.