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Nineteen entries on the podium, from the junior Mercedes Cup to a farewell night in Kyushu. Click any point to unfold the story. The longer the detail, the harder the season.

Torres had an atypical trajectory for a Spaniard. He won very little at club level until Chelsea, but he brought Atletico the FIFA U-17 World Cup in school, and at twenty four he collected his first senior trophy with Spain. The only footballer in history to have scored in two consecutive Euro finals. The only Spaniard with the full set across Champions League, Europa League, Euro, World Cup, and Confederations Cup. This page shows how those lines entered his biography in chronological order.

Unfold any block to read the story: who stood opposite, how Torres arrived at the moment, what happened after. All details are based on open sources: Marca, El Pais, UEFA.com, player memoirs. If something looks off, write to us and we fix it the same day.

2001
UEFA U-16 · Spain

UEFA U-16 European Champion

First international trophy in the biography. Tournament in England, final against France.

Torres had not yet turned seventeen when he left for the U-16 Euros in York. He scored in the final against France with a header off a set piece. Spain won 1-0. The U-16 coach Juan Carlos Munoz called him the main hope of the next generation, which proved exact. Torres took the tournament Silver Boot and the first bullet point agents would use on his transfer file for years.

2002
UEFA U-19 · Spain

UEFA U-19 Champion and tournament top scorer

Four goals in five matches, Spain beat Germany in the final after extra time.

Twelve months later Torres went to the next age-group Euro in Norway. The final against Germany in Tonsberg ended 0-0 after ninety and Spain won 1-0 in extra time off a corner. Torres took both top scorer and tournament player, a rare double. The same year Spain won the U-17 World Cup, but Torres skipped it because he had already broken into the Atletico first team.

2004
Atletico Madrid · La Liga

Captain armband, youngest in club history

Not a trophy but we place this moment in the timeline.

19 years and 188 days. Coach Clemente Villaverde was bringing the club back from Segunda. Torres received the armband when regular captain Santi Denia missed with injury. He never handed it back. At that moment he was the youngest captain in Atletico history. He wore it for six seasons until he left for Liverpool, when he passed it to Antonio Lopez.

2008
UEFA Euro · Spain

European Champion. The Lehmann goal.

Ernst Happel in Vienna, June 29. Torres finishes the only goal of the final on 33 minutes.

One of the most famous moments in Spanish sports history. Torres picks up a long Xavi ball, takes it in his stride, beats Philipp Lahm, meets Jens Lehmann one on one and dinks it over him with his right. 1-0, the final ends there. Spain had not won a trophy in 44 years. Torres wore the nine. At full time he did not run to his teammates. He sat down on the grass and sat there a long time. The next day in the dressing room he said: we have just won forty four years of waiting.

2008
UEFA Euro · individual

UEFA Euro 2008 team of the tournament

UEFA named Torres in the official team along with Iniesta, Casillas, Xavi, and Puyol.

Torres featured in the UEFA team of the tournament and the UEFA.com team of the tournament. Three goals across the tournament including the decisive strike in group play against Russia, and the match-winner in the final against Germany. Euro 2008 was his first major individual recognition.

2010
FIFA · Spain

World Champion in South Africa

Torres started the Netherlands final but was replaced on 59. The tournament was a tough one for him.

Torres arrived in South Africa after an April knee injury at Liverpool. He had not reached peak fitness. He played four matches at the tournament, started one (the final), came on in the others. He scored no goals. Spain became world champion for the first time in history on Iniesta goal in the 116th minute. Torres lifted the trophy but said on TVE the next day: I was not at the level I expected from myself. The team won it, not any one of us.

2012
UEFA Champions League · Chelsea

Champions League winner, Munich, May 19

Chelsea beat Bayern 1-1 on their own stadium, 4-3 on penalties. Torres came on in the 84th.

The main club trophy in the Torres career. Chelsea played the final at Allianz Arena, Bayern's home. Thomas Muller opened on 83, Drogba equalised on 88. In extra time Robben missed from the spot. Chelsea won the shootout 4-3. Torres came on in the final minutes and helped hold the midfield. This was his first season at Chelsea, which began with an eight-goal Premier League tally and ended with Europe's top prize. Roberto Di Matteo said after: Fernando was one emotional step above the rest of us.

2012
FA Cup · Chelsea

FA Cup, Wembley final against Liverpool

Chelsea won 2-1. Symbolic: he beat the Liverpool he was bought from ten years earlier.

Three months before the Champions League, Chelsea played Liverpool in the FA Cup final, the very Liverpool that had sold Torres for 50 million. He came on in the 81st minute. Chelsea won 2-1 through Ramires and Drogba, Liverpool replied with Andy Carroll. For Torres it was the first trophy after a troubled start at Chelsea. He did not celebrate the goal of his teammate too loudly. He said later: I lifted the Cup thinking that once this same ground lifted other cups.

2012
UEFA Euro · Spain

Euro Champion again, Golden Boot. Third consecutive national trophy.

Kyiv, July 1. Spain destroyed Italy 4-0. Torres scored and assisted. Golden Boot of the tournament.

The most beautiful final Spain ever played and one of the main personal nights of the Torres career. He came on in the 75th replacing Fabregas. Nine minutes later he scored the fourth after a Xavi pass, rounded Buffon and finished. A minute later he set up Juan Mata for 4-0. Torres shared the tournament Golden Boot with Mario Mandzukic, Mario Gomez, Alan Dzagoev, and Mario Balotelli, three goals each. He had the fewest minutes played of the group so the Golden Boot went to him. The only footballer in history to score in two consecutive Euro finals.

2013
UEFA Europa League · Chelsea

Europa League winner, Amsterdam, against Benfica

Torres opened the scoring on 60, his only goal in a European final. Chelsea won 2-1 on a late Ivanovic header.

Second major European trophy at Chelsea and the first where he scored in the final. The match was played at the Johan Cruyff Arena. Torres received the ball from Juan Mata in the middle, held off Luisao, rounded him, went one-on-one with Artur and finished from outside the box, a classic El Nino move where he keeps his pace through the whole sequence. Benfica equalised ten minutes later via Cardozo. Ivanovic headed the winner on 92. For Torres this was the most personal Chelsea trophy because his goal opened the scoring.

2013
FIFA Confederations Cup · Spain

Confederations Cup silver and Golden Boot

Spain lost the final 0-3 to Brazil at Maracana, but Torres took top scorer.

Four goals including a hat trick against Tahiti in eighteen minutes. The last big tournament where Torres actually started. In the final against the hosts, Spain met the best Brazilian side of the decade (Neymar, Fred, Paulinho) and lost 0-3 at Maracana. Torres took the Golden Boot on the assist tiebreaker over Neymar.

2015
Atletico Madrid · La Liga

Return to Atletico, personal trophy

Not a formal trophy but a biography item. Torres returns on loan from Milan.

January 2015. Atletico needs a replacement for Diego Costa, who has just left for Chelsea. Milan agrees to a loan. Torres signs through to the end of the season with a purchase option. The club prepares a reception. Vicente Calderon is filled seventy percent long before the player presentation. Around four thousand people attend. He returns eight years after leaving. First row in the column of returning home that would define his later years.

2018
UEFA Europa League · Atletico

Europa League winner, Marseille final

Lyon, May 16. Atletico beat Marseille 3-0. Torres came on in the 90th and got a medal.

The trophy with which Torres closed his second spell at Atletico. Griezmann scored two, Gabi scored the third. Torres came on in the final minute. He said in the dressing room: I came here in 2015 to help Atletico become champion. We did not become champion. But we won this final. That is enough to forgive. After this match he announced that season 2018/2019 would be his last at Atletico.

2018
UEFA Super Cup · Atletico

UEFA Super Cup, Atletico beat Real Madrid 4-2 in Tallinn

Two weeks after the Europa League, Atletico played Real Madrid, the Champions League winners. Torres started and was replaced on 61.

The match took place at Lillekula Stadium in Tallinn. Diego Costa scored two. Saul and Costoevic added one each. For Torres it was his first Super Cup and the eighth major trophy. He told Marca a week later: I will remember this stadium a long time. Half the rain, the cold, the colder stand of Madrid supporters who came to bury us. We went out and showed Atletico is also a capital.

2019
Farewell match · Sagan Tosu

Last career match against Iniesta's Vissel Kobe

Kyushu, Beamon Stadium, August 23. Torres and Iniesta embraced in the center circle.

Not a trophy but a timeline moment. Torres started for Sagan Tosu against Vissel Kobe of Iniesta, David Villa, Lukas Podolski. He played sixty minutes. The match ended 1-1. After the whistle Iniesta crossed the center circle and embraced Torres. Two legends who had played the Euro 2012 final and the 2010 World Cup were saying goodbye in Japan. The twenty thousand of Sagan Tosu stood through fifteen minutes of ovation.

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