Spain need a Russian miracle World Cup 2018 Aim is to win after conceding five in the group stages

Becoming world champions almost always means being defensively strong and if Spain want to lift the trophy having conceded five goals in the group stages, they'll have to go all the way back to 1954 to find the only side to achieve it.

From thrashing to a miracle

Germany are the only side to concede so many goals and go on to be victorious in 1954, when they beat Turkey 4-1, then Hungary 8-3 before a 7-2 play-off win against Turkey again.

The Germans met with Hungary again in the final, with Ferenc Puskas leading his country, and he opened the scoring as Germany came back from 0-2 down to win 3-2.

Spain in 2010, a unique case

The teams to have won the World Cup with the fewest goals conceded are Spain (2010), Italy (2006) and France (1998).

That time, Spain kept clean sheets in all three group stage fixtures, as they did in the European Championships in 2008 and 2012.

Spain kept up their strong defensive records and the likes of Portugal, Paraguay, Germany and Holland could not find a way past.

Uruguay yet to concede, like in 1930 and 1950

Three teams have completed the group stage without conceding and gone on to win the tournament, Uruguay managing it in 1930 and 1950, Brazil in 1958 and England in 1966.

This year, the only side to manage it were Uruguay, though they may want to be cautious as they conceded more goals than any other champion in the knock-out stages with five beating their goalkeeper in 1950.

Switzerland, no goals conceded but eliminated

In a dull and disappointing display, Switzerland's 2006 efforts ended in failure despite not conceding a single goal.

After qualifying from a group including France, Togo and South Korea, Switzerland were then beaten on penalties after 120 minutes without a goal against Ukraine.