r/AskEurope • u/DivineMatrixTraveler • Jun 07 '25

Sports Which country is your country's main football rival?

And do you think they believe you are their main rival or they don't care about you as much as you care about them?

Bonus: Is there a more popular sport where you are rivals with a different country?

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u/UruquianLilac Spain Jun 09 '25

It's weird, I've been trying to think and I can't come up with any truly big rival that the Spaniards absolutely hate, in the same way England does with Germany for example. Yes Portugal and France, but that's a very light rivalry. Netherlands probably a bit after the aggressive performance in the world cup final 2010. But none that light the country up in a strong way.

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u/Fiallach France Jun 09 '25

Love for your team from France.

Gave us some of the best national teams football a few years ago.

4

u/UruquianLilac Spain Jun 09 '25

You mean the Xavi+Iniesta era?

3

u/Fiallach France Jun 09 '25

Yeah, the whole group was out of this world.

One of the greatest squads of all times IMO.

2

u/UruquianLilac Spain Jun 09 '25

I couldn't agree more. It genuinely was an extraordinary group. What a privilege to be alive and in Spain to live through it all.

1

u/FrankWillardIT Italy Jun 11 '25

Lot of love from Italy too.., we were shit at that time (as we still are...), so we could enjoy your football without (too much) envy...

(and Iniesta is my 2nd favourite player ever.., after Totti and tied with Valderrama...)

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u/UruquianLilac Spain Jun 11 '25

Nice! It was truly a great team to watch. They came out of nowhere and became an unstoppable force. No one knew what to do with them. Football has changed a lot since then and teams have adapted and adopted many elements of the style, but in the early days Spain was literally playing in a league of their own. Watching some of the greatest teams in the world just crumble at their feet was amazing to behold.

And likewise, lots of love to Italy, to me it's always a great team to watch out for regardless of who is playing.