The 2018 World Cup is not one that Spain will have fantastic memories of. They only reached the last sixteen but at least they have won one award. Spain have won the Fair Play Trophy after only receiving one booking in the tournament.
Spain were one of the favourites to win the 2018 World Cup, but their campaign proved to be a disappointing one. Their group saw them drawn alongside Portugal, Iran and Morocco so there weren’t too many fears of them not making it into the knock-out stages.
Not the Best Start
Their opening game was one of the best games of the tournament as they drew 3-3 with Portugal. It was a game they so nearly won. It wasn’t one that did a great deal to help Spain win this award though.
They had gone behind early in that match conceding a penalty inside four minutes. Not the best way to start a campaign and they probably didn’t expect to be winning the FIFA Fair Play Trophy at that stage. Spain came back into the game to lead 2-1 and 3-2 but had to settle for a draw after conceding a late free-kick that was brilliantly converted by Cristiano Ronaldo to complete his hat-trick.
Their next two games produced a 1-0 win over Iran and a 2-2 draw with Morocco, so they weren’t exactly setting the world alight but still finished top of the group. The last sixteen saw them up against the hosts Russia and they took an early lead. For all their possession though, they just couldn’t get a second and ended up drawing 1-1, losing a penalty shoot-out to see them eliminated from the tournament long before could have ever expected.
Just One Booking
Not a campaign to write home about but at least it was one in which they didn’t spend a lot of time committing fouls and seeing players booked. Their four games in Russia produced just one yellow card picked up by Sergio Busquets and they committed just 32 fouls. Critics could well say they spent too much time just passing the ball to each other without looking threatening and that’s probably a fair point.
The FIFA Fair Play Trophy is competed for by teams that reach the knock-out stages of the tournament. In 2014 it was won by Colombia, but this is an award that Spain have done fairly well in over the years. They shared the Fair Play Trophy with Brazil in 2006 and were outright winners in 2010. It’s not quite something their fans will be cheering about too much though and they would probably shed few tears if their national side picked up booking after booking while winning the actual World Cup.
Grass Roots Football Benefits
For winning the FIFA Fair Play Trophy, each of the Spanish players will receive a medal, though a parade through the streets of Madrid isn’t planned at present. The award will help the grassroots game in Spain as $50,000 worth of football equipment will be given to the Spanish FA so that might help produce the future Spanish World Cup team.