Catalonia national football team

The Catalonia team made their debut in 1905 Initially they played against various club teams such as Club Espanyol, Madrid CF, FC Barcelona and Irún Sporting Club. On 24 July 1910, they played their first-ever international game against a Paris XI, which they lost 1-3, with the author of the Catalan goals being Carles Comamala. The team was: Costa, Bru, Halden, Massana, Aguirreche, Sampere, Barenys, Angoso, Berdié, Comamala and Roteta. On 20 February 1912, they made their international friendly debut against France, losing 7–0 in Paris. The team was: Reñé, Irízar, Amechazurra, German, Peris, Kinké, Forns, Pepe Rodríguez, Comamala, Morales and Ramirez.[4] On 1 December 1912, the two teams met again in Barcelona and this time the Catalans won 1–0 thanks to a goal from Genaro de la Riva of RCD Espanyol.

On 8 December 1912, Catalonia faced a selection of foreigners at the Camp de la Indústria in a benefit match for the Sindicat de Periodistes, ending in a 5–2 win for the Catalans with goals from Massana (2), C. Comamala, Wallace (own goal) and Forns, while the foreign goalscorers were Wallace and Stewart. The Catalan team was: Renyé, Amechazurra, Irízar, A. Massana, Sagnier, Quirante, Armet-Kinké, A. Comamala, C. Comamala, Janer and Forns. The Selection of foreigners was: Manchan, Braussendorf, Wallace, Rositzky, Greenwell, Morris, Allack, Kaiser, Steel, Stewart and McLean.[5] In 1914, the Catalan XI played the Basque Country XI for the first time, but there is no record of the result, while the first recorded game between the two teams took place on 3 January 1915 at San Mamés Stadium, which ended in a 6–1 loss to the Catalan side.[6]

Between 1915 and 1926, the Catalan XI competed in the Copa Príncep d'Astúries, an inter-regional competition. They finished as runners-up in 1915 and won for the first time in 1916, beating a Castile/Madrid XI 8–5 over two games, including a shocking 6–3 win in the first leg at the Campo de O'Donnell in Madrid. They then relinquished the trophy in 1917 after losing 2–0 to a weak Castile XI side. During the 1920s, a team featuring Josep Samitier, Paulino Alcántara, Sagibarba and Ricardo Zamora helped the Catalan XI win the competition in 1924 and 1926.[7][8] In the quarter-finals of the former, Catalonia defeated a Gipuzkoa XI featuring René Petit by a score of 2–1, and then beat Biscay XI 1–0 in the semi-finals with the solitary goal being scored by Cristóbal Martí. The final was played on 24 February 1924 in San Mamés against a Castile/Madrid XI, and the game was a tremendously competitive clash, with back-and-forth drama on the scoreboard, but at the end of regulation time the match was tied at 3–3 with Samitier (twice) and Piera scoring the Catalan goals. In extra-time Juan Monjardín appeared to have won the game for the Castile/Madrid XI when he scored past Zamora, but with two minutes remaining Emili Sagi-Barba leveled the scores at 4–4 when no one was expecting it anymore, and the draw forced a replay two days later and this time Catalonia ended up winning 3-2 with goals from Carulla, Samitier and Piera, thus becoming champion.[8] The Catalan team that lined-up that day was: Zamora, Massaguè, Montané, Caicedo, Sancho, Carulla, Piera, Martí, Peidró, Samitier and Sagibarba. The last edition of the competition was a two-legged final between the winners of the previous two, Asturias XI and Catalonia, who faced each other only for the right to keep the trophy, and Catalonia won both games (2–0 and 4–3), thus earning the right to keep the trophy. The Catalan goalscorers were Domingo Broto(2), Josep Forgas(2), Juan Pellicer and Paulino Alcántara.[8][9]

As well as playing other regional teams from throughout Spain and Europe, the 1920s also saw the Catalan XI play several international 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 Zamora, two of the best Catalan players of the era, while the Catalan XI featured Alcántara and Sagibarba. Samiter scored twice to help Spain to a 7–0 win.[10] 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 equalized 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.

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.

After the Spanish Civil War, caudillo 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 Chus 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, guest Netherlands players Johan Cruyff and Johan Neeskens and Chilean international Carlos Caszely who played for Espanyol. The game finished 1–1 with Neeskens scoring for the Catalan XI. Cruyff's son, Jordi, would subsequently play regularly for the Catalan XI.

Catalonia playing against the Basque Country at the Camp Nou

Since the restoration of democracy in the 1970s, the Catalonia representative team has regularly played international friendly matches. They put together a string of successful results against 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.

On 2 November 2009, it was announced that Dutch legend and former Barcelona manager Johan Cruyff would be the new coach of Catalonia.[11] 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.[12] On 30 December 2011, Catalonia played Tunisia in a goalless draw at the Lluís Companys.[13] In their last game under Cruyff, on 2 January 2013, Catalonia drew with Nigeria at the Cornellà-El Prat, 1–1.[14]

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.[15]

1. Pichi Alonso (1995–2005)
2. Pere Gratacós (2005–2009)
3. Johan Cruyff (2009–2013)
4. Gerard López (2013–2016)
5. Sergio González (2015–2018)
6. Gerard López (2018–present)

The following players were called up for the friendly match against  Jamaica, on 25 May 2022.[18][19]
All caps and goals as of May 2022 after match against  Jamaica.

No.	Pos.	Player	Date of birth (age)	Caps	Goals	Club
	1GK	Édgar Badía	(1992-02-12) 12 February 1992	3	0	Elche
	1GK	Daniel Cárdenas	(1997-03-28) 28 March 1997	1	0	Rayo Vallecano
	2DF	Marc Bartra	(1991-01-15) 15 January 1991	7	1	Betis
	2DF	Sergi Gómez	(1992-03-28) 28 March 1992	3	0	Espanyol
	2DF	Marc Cucurella	(1998-07-22) 22 July 1998	2	0	Chelsea
	2DF	Salva Ferrer	(1998-01-21) 21 January 1998	1	0	Spezia
	2DF	Edgar González	(1997-04-01) 1 April 1997	1	0	Almería
	2DF	Arnau Martínez	(2003-04-25) 25 April 2003	1	0	Girona
	2DF	Óscar Mingueza	(1999-05-13) 13 May 1999	1	0	Celta Vigo
	2DF	Àlex Moreno	(1993-06-08) 8 June 1993	1	0	Aston Villa
	2DF	Brian Oliván	(1994-04-01) 1 April 1994	1	0	Espanyol
	2DF	Rubén Sánchez	(2001-01-09) 9 January 2001	1	0	Mirandés
	3MF	Riqui Puig	(1999-08-13) 13 August 1999	2	0	LA Galaxy
	3MF	Oriol Romeu	(1991-09-24) 24 September 1991	2	0	Barcelona
	3MF	Rubén Alcaraz	(1991-05-01) 1 May 1991	1	0	Cádiz
	3MF	Carles Aleñá	(1998-01-05) 5 January 1998	1	0	Getafe
	3MF	Álex Collado	(1999-04-22) 22 April 1999	1	0	Al-Okhdood
	3MF	Gerard Gumbau	(1994-12-18) 18 December 1994	1	0	Granada
	4FW	Cristian Tello	(1991-08-11) 11 August 1991	3	0	Al Fateh
	4FW	Gerard Deulofeu	(1994-03-13) 13 March 1994	2	3	Udinese
	4FW	Pere Milla	(1992-09-23) 23 September 1992	2	0	Espanyol
	4FW	Javi Puado	(1998-05-25) 25 May 1998	2	2	Espanyol
	4FW	Ferran Jutglà	(1999-02-01) 1 February 1999	1	1	Club Brugge

The following players have been called up for the team within the last played matches and are still available for selection.

Pos.	Player	Date of birth (age)	Caps	Goals	Club	Latest call-up
DF	Héctor Bellerín	(1995-03-19) 19 March 1995	0	0	Betis	v.  Jamaica, 25 May 2022 PRE
MF	Sergio Gómez	(2000-09-04) 4 September 2000	0	0	Manchester City	v.  Jamaica, 25 May 2022 PRE
MF	Dani Olmo	(1998-05-07) 7 May 1998	0	0	RB Leipzig	v.  Jamaica, 25 May 2022 PRE
FW	Aitor Ruibal	(1996-03-22) 22 March 1996	0	0	Betis	v.  Jamaica, 25 May 2022 PRE
WD = Player withdrew from the squad due to non-injury issue.

• For a list of recent Catalonia national team players, see here
• For a list of players from Catalonia who have represented FIFA national teams, see here

Because Catalonia is not a member of either UEFA or FIFA due to it being a region of Spain and plays only in unofficial friendly matches, normal eligibility rules based on birthplace do not apply, and a number of players who were not born in Catalonia and played for other international teams have guested for the Catalan XI, although this is much less frequent in the 21st century. With the notable exception of Alfredo Di Stéfano, most were playing for Barcelona or Espanyol at the time. Some of these players, such as Andrés Iniesta, César Rodríguez, Francisco Bru, Guillermo Amor and Pepe Reina had lived a large part of their lives in Catalonia due to their football careers.

 Spain

Other countries

• Jordi Amat