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0–0 draw with Uruguay and wins over South Korea (3–1) and Belgium (2–1), fell to a 2–1 defeat to Yugoslavia in the second round.

Newly appointed coach Vicente Miera failed to gain qualification for Spain for Euro 92, after finishing third in a group behind France and Czechoslovakia. Vicente Miera did however lead Spain to the gold medal at the 1992 Olympics in Barcelona.



Clemente's reign, 1992–98

Javier Clemente was appointed as Spain's coach in 1992, and the qualification for the 1994 World Cup was achieved with eight wins and one loss in twelve matches. In the final tournament Spain were in Group C in which they drew with Korea Republic 2–2 and 1–1 with Germany, before qualifying for the second round with a 3–1 victory over Bolivia. Spain continued through the second round with a 3–0 victory over Switzerland, but their tournament ended with a 2–1 defeat to Italy in the quarter-finals.

Spain qualified for Euro 96 from a group consisting of Denmark, Belgium, Cyprus, Republic of Macedonia, and Armenia. In the final tournament Spain faced group matches against Bulgaria, France and Romania. With 1–1 draws against the first two opponents, and a 2–1 win over Romania, Spain confirmed their place in the quarter-finals, with a match with hosts England, which finished goalless and Spain eventually fell 4–2

in the shootout.

In his second World Cup as Spain's coach, Clemente led his team undefeated through their qualifying group in which Yugoslavia and Czech Republic were the other contenders. Spain qualified with fourteen other European sides in the first ever thirty-two team World Cup, but were eliminated in the first round with four points after losing to Nigeria, drawing with Paraguay, and winning just one game, against Bulgaria.



Euro 2000 and World Cup 2002

After a 3–2 opening defeat to Cyprus in Euro 2000 qualifying, Clemente was fired and José Antonio Camacho was appointed as coach. Spain won the rest of their games to qualify for the final