Spain 12-1 Malta

Spain v Malta (1983)

The Estadio Benito Villamarín in Seville hosted the match
Event	UEFA Euro 1984 qualifying Group 7 Matchday 8
Spain Malta 12 1
Spain qualified for UEFA Euro 1984
Date	21 December 1983 (1983-12-21)
Venue	Estadio Benito Villamarín, Seville
Referee	Erkan Göksel (Turkey)
Attendance	18,871

On 21 December 1983, Spain played Malta in the last qualifying match for UEFA Euro 1984. The game is often described as one of the most important in the Spanish national football team's history.

Four days before the game, the Netherlands defeated Malta 5–0 and finished their qualification schedule with 13 points and a goal difference of +16. If Spain won their final qualifier and thus also finished on 13 points, then goal difference would decide which team qualified.

With a goal difference of +5, Spain would need to defeat Malta by a margin of 11 or more goals to qualify. The team had only managed to score 12 goals in their previous seven matches, and before the game the Maltese goalkeeper, John Bonello, said: "Spain couldn't even score 11 goals against a team of children."

After 17 December, and before Spain's match against Malta, the group 7 table stood as follows:

Spain's only chance of qualifying for Euro 1984 was to defeat Malta by at least 11 goals.

When half-time came and the scoreline was 3–1 to Spain, few expected them to score enough goals to qualify. However, Juan Antonio Señor, who had missed a penalty kick awarded to Spain in the second minute of the first half, scored Spain's 12th and last goal in the 88th minute; Rafael Gordillo scored a 13th in the final minutes of the game but it was disallowed by the referee. That did not matter, however, as the Spaniards won by the 11-goal margin required for them to beat the Netherlands to qualification.

Spain  v  Malta