Previous World Cup and Euros winners, and home to two of the grandest clubs in world football – Real Madrid and Barcelona – Spain has produced its fair share of top talent over the years.
It was some undertaking to decide on the very best of the bunch, but here at FourFourTwo, we reckon we've done it.
To kick off the countdown, just click on any of the arrows over on the right there!
Barcelona native Josep Samitier spent the majority of his career with his hometown club (although he also had a short stint at Real Madrid), banging in 187 goals to stand as the Blaugrana’s record scorer upon his retirement in 1939.
Given how prolific he was, it may come as a surprise to learn that Samitier was a midfield general – and an animated one at that, hence his nickname ‘Home Magosta’ (‘Grasshopper Man’ in Catalan).
A friend of iconic surrealist artist Salvador Dali, Samitier won five Copas del Rey and a LaLiga title at Barca.
Born in Madrid, Manolo Sanchis spent his whole career with Real, amassing 710 appearances and serving as skipper for 13 years.
A world-class sweeper, Sanchis – who earned 48 caps for Spain, featuring at Euro 1988 and the 1990 World Cup – captained Los Blancos to five LaLiga titles and two Champions League triumphs.
He was named Spanish Footballer of the Year for the 1989/90 season.
Another great manager Spanish manager who was previously a great Spanish player, Pep Guardiola made the best part of 400 appearances for Barcelona before coaching them to glory after glory.
An adaptable defensive midfielder who played a key role in Barca’s ‘Dream Team’ – winners of the 1991/92 European Cup under Johan Cruyff – Guardiola earned 47 international caps, appearing at the 1994 World Cup and Euro 2000.
A classy operator equally adept in midfield or attack, Luis Enrique was among Spain’s standout players of the 90s and early 00s, having helped them to gold at the 1992 Olympics in Barcelona.
Capped 62 times, he enjoyed great success with both Real Madrid and Barca, winning the LaLiga title before and after controversially crossing that divide in 1996.
One of the standout strikers of his era, Fernando Morientes combined selfless hard work with deadly finishing, playing his best football around the turn of the century for Real Madrid – where he formed a highly effective partnership with Raul.
A three-time Champions League winner with Real, the 47-cap Spain international later top-scored in the competition as he fired Monaco to the 2004 final while on loan from Los Blancos.
Up there with Spain’s most-capped players, representing La Roja some 126 times – and captaining them at the 1994 World Cup, Euro 96 and the 1998 World Cup – Andoni Zubizarreta made almost 1,000 senior appearances for club and country over the course of his long career.
A hugely dependable goalkeeper, the Basque custodian won two LaLiga titles with Athletic Bilbao and a further four with Barcelona – who he also helped to 1991/92 European Cup glory.
Left-back in Spain’s Euro 2012-winning side and one of the best ever to play in the position, Jordi Alba won everything there was to win with Barcelona, most notably starring in their 2014/15 treble triumph under Luis Enrique.
Technically gifted, and devastatingly quick at his peak, Alba formed a formidable wide combination at Barca with Lionel Messi – who he later linked back up with at Inter Miami.
A true Barcelona legend, mid-20th century star Cesar Rodriguez was the Catalan giants’ all-time leading goalscorer until being surpassed by Lionel Messi.
The forward – who found the net six times in 12 caps for Spain, appearing at the 1950 World Cup – finished as LaLiga top scorer in the 1948/49 season, when he won his third of five LaLiga titles with Barca.
In 351 appearances for the Blaugrana overall, Cesar was notched 232 goals.
Each season, the leading scorer in LaLiga is awarded the Pichichi Trophy – named after the truly prolific Athletic Bilbao striker (real name Rafael Moreno).
In 89 appearances for his hometown club – his only club – from 1911 to 1922, Pichichi racked up 83 goals – before abruptly retiring to become a referee, amid criticism from fans that his performances had dropped off following his return from the 1920 Olympics – where he claimed silver with Spain.
Capped five times by hic nation, the four-time Copa del Rey winner tragically died from typhus at the age of just 29.
Legendary midfielder turned sweeper Pirri starred for Real Madrid throughout the latter half of the 60s and all through the 70s, scoring 172 goals in 561 games for Los Blancos – as well as striking 16 times in 41 Spain caps, featuring at the 1966 and 1978 World Cups.
A 1956/66 European Cup winner with Real – who he went on to captain – Pirri demonstrated his renowned leadership skills by playing both the 1971 Cup Winners’ Cup final and 1974 Copa del Rey final with broken bones (he won the latter).
A right-sided midfielder known for his sublime crossing ability, Michel’s triumphs with Real Madrid – where he made 557 appearances, bagging 129 goals – included six LaLiga titles and two UEFA Cups.
Top scorer as Real reached the semi-finals of the 1987/88 European Cup, he also netted 21 times in 66 international caps and finished fourth in the voting for the 1987 Ballon d’Or.
Having burst onto the scene in his sole season at Racing Santander, Santillana spent the remainder of his career with Real Madrid – and made the net ripple 290 times between 1971 and 1988, ensuring iconic status at the Bernabeu.
Aerially potent despite his five-foot-nine height, the frontman starred in no fewer than nine LaLiga title-winning sides at Real – where he also lifted the UEFA Cup twice – and helped Spain to the final of Euro 1980.
A fantastic leader and an equally fantastic defender, Carles Puyol was a rock at the back for Spain and Barcelona all throughout his trophy-laden career.
The curly-haired Catalan enforcer starred in La Roja’s Euro 2008 and 2010 World Cup triumphs – famously heading in the semi-final winner against Germany at the latter tournament – and did the treble with Pep Guardiola’s Barca in 2008/09.
Carles Puyol’s partner for club and country for many years – including en route to 2010 World Cup victory – Gerard Pique is rightly held in similar regard as one of the modern era’s best centre-backs.
Also a Euro 2012 winner, Pique was a highly versatile defender whose ability in possession allowed him to take up more of a sweeper role on occasion – earning him the nickname ‘Piquenbauer’.
At Barcelona, Pique won an incredible nine LaLiga titles, seven Copa del Rey crowns and three Champions Leagues – having been a bit-part player in Premier League, League Cup and Champions League triumphs at Manchester United as a youngster.
A veteran of over 500 appearances for Real Madid, Jose Antonio Camacho established himself as one of his generation’s greatest full-backs with consistently formidable performances on the left.
During the 70s and 80s, he won nine LaLiga titles and two UEFA Cups with Real, having made his first-team debut as a teenager.
An 81-time Spain international, Camacho featured at two World Cups and two Euros, helping La Roja to the final of the latter in 1984.
Uncompromising and supremely reliable, Fernando Hierro played a key role in holding things together for his team whether deployed at the back or in defensive midfield.
Real Madrid captain for many years, his honours with Los Blancos included three Champions League victories and five LaLiga titles.
Long-time designated penalty taker for Real and Spain, Hierro made FIFA’s All-Star Team as one of the standout players of the 2002 World Cup.
Another Real Madrid and Spain defensive legend, Sergio Ramos is one of the most decorated footballers of the 21st century, getting has hands on 22 pieces of silverware during his long stay at the Bernabeu – including the Champions League on four occasions.
Equally elite at right-back – where he lined up as the Spanish won Euro 2008 – or centre-back – his role for the glorious 2010 World Cup and Euro 2012 campaigns – Ramos’ gained a reputation as a master of the dark arts, but there can be no denying his status as an all-time great.
He retired from international football in 2001 having earned 180 caps – the second-most of any European player at the time, behind world-record holder Cristiano Ronaldo.
LaLiga top scorer in 1990/91, Emilio Butragueno was at the forefront of the Real Madrid side which dominated Spanish football in the 80s, starring as the most prominent member of ‘La Quinta del Buitre’ (‘The Vulture’s Cohort’) – the group of five homegrown Real players who contributed massively to that sustained success.
The clinical Butragueno himself was ‘El Buitre’, hitting double figures in all competitions in each campaign from 1984/85 to 1993/94.
Capped 69 times by Spain, scoring 26 goals, the great striker helped La Roja finish as Euro 1984 runners-up and placed third for both the 1986 and 1987 Ballon d’Or.
The first player to lift the European Cup / Champions League six times (and until Dani Carvajal, Luka Modric, Toni Kroos and Nacho equalled him in 2024, the only one), Paco Gento was a regular as Real Madrid dominated the continent’s top club competition in its early years.
Capped by Spain on 43 occasions, appearing at the 1962 and 1966 World Cups, the legendary outside left scored almost 200 goals for Real – with whom he also won the 1960 Intercontinental Cup and just the 12 LaLiga titles.
In his prime, Fernando Torres was as good as unstoppable, blessed with the combination of blistering pace and deadly finishing ability which every team craves in a number nine.
Having proved himself as one of the most prodigious frontmen around during his time with Atletico Madrid, ‘El Nino’ brought his attacking brilliance to the Premier League when he joined Rafael Beintez’s Liverpool in 2007 – and he went on to notch 65 goals in 102 Prem games for the Reds.
Scorer of the winner in the final of Euro 2008 and third for that year’s Ballon d’Or, Torres also starred in Spain’s 2010 World Cup and Euro 2012 triumphs, scooping the Golden Boot at the latter tournament.
The man from who the trophy for LaLiga’s standout goalkeeper each season takes its name, Ricardo Zamora was an indisputable legend of the position, regularly producing heroics for Barcelona, Espanyol, Real Madrid and Spain.
Between the sticks as his country won silver at the 1920 Olympics, Zamora went on to be named Best Goalkeeper at the 1934 World Cup – where La Roja narrowly lost to Italy in the quarter-finals.
A Copa del Rey winner with both Barca and neighbours Espanyol, ‘El Divino’ – one of the first ‘keepers to rock the flat-cap look – helped Real to back-to-back LaLiga titles in the early 30s.
Scorer of well over 400 goals for club and country, David Villa sat among the finest strikers in world football at his peak during the late 00s and early 2010s.
A legend at Valencia – where he banged in 130 goals at an average of better than one every other game – Villa spearheaded the Spain attack en route to Euro 2008 and 2010 World Cup victory, scooping the Golden Boot at the first of those two tournaments.
An exceptionally well-rounded forward who could be just as devastating cutting in from the left, Villa played a prominent part in Barcelona’s 2011/12 Champions League triumph, starring in a front three with Lionel Messi and Pedro.
As Spain captain, Iker Casillas was the first person to get their hands on the World Cup in 2010, and the Henri Delaunay Trophy as a European Championship winner in 2008 and 2012.
Unquestionably one of the finest goalkeepers in the history of the game, Casillas had made the Real Madrid and Spain number one shirts his own by his early 20s – and he went on to amass 725 appearances for Los Blancos and earn 167 caps for La Roja.
Part of all three of Spain’s major tournament-winning teams between 2008 and 2012, Cesc Fabregas left Barcelona for Arsenal as a 16-year-old – and it wasn’t long before he emerged as one of the most prodigious attacking midfielders in world football.
He rapidly progressed from prodigy to bona fide superstar, winning 2007/08 PFA Young Player of the Year and impressing to the point that Barca re-signed him in 2011.
A LaLiga champion back home, Fabregas returned to the Premier League with Chelsea in 2014 – and duly helped the Blues to two titles, taking his assists tally in the competition to 111. Solid work.
Perhaps Spain’s greatest footballing export, David Silva made himself a Premier League legend during a 10-year spell with Manchester City, lighting up the English top-flight with his technical skill, sublime finishing and elusive movement.
The league’s leading assist provider as City claimed their first title in 2011/12 – the first of four Silva won at the club – the Gran Canaria-born playmaker scored 35 goals in 125 international caps, starring in La Roja’s 2010 World Cup victory and both Euros successes.
Sitting in front of the defence doesn’t tend to be the most glamorous role on a football pitch, but Sergio Busquets’ world-class work in that respect was absolutely integral to Barcelona’s immense success under Pep Guardiola – and beyond his tenure – helping his local club to nine LaLiga crowns and three Champions League, among other honours.
Vicente del Bosque – manager of the Spain team in which Busquets starred en route to 2010 World Cup and Euro 2012 glory – said it best when he stated: “If you watch the whole game, you won't see Busquets – but watch Busquets and you will see the whole game”. That’s how influential he was to his country’s success.
One of the greatest and most natural goalscorers in the history of the game, Raul was on target 323 times during his glittering time at Real Madrid – which yielded six LaLiga titles and three Champions League triumphs.
The 2000/01 campaign saw him finish as both LaLiga and Champions League top scorer for the second time – and that prolific showing saw him finish as runner-up for the 2001 Ballon d’Or.
Capped 102 times by Spain, featuring at two World Cups and three Euros, and bagging 44 goals, Raul continued to make the net ripple regularly after leaving Real for Schalke – who he helped to the 2010/11 Champions League semi-finals.
An elite exemplar of the deep-lying playmaker role, Xabi Alonso pulled the strings for Spain and a host of Europe’s biggest clubs, winning trophies like he sprayed passes: left, right and centre.
A league champion with Bayern Munich and Real Madrid, and a Champions League winner with the latter and Liverpool – for whom he scored in that 2005 final comeback against Milan – Alonso featured prominently as his nation lifted the 2010 World Cup and won the Euros two years either side of that.
Liverpool teammate Steven Gerrard and Bayern manager Pep Guardiola are just two of the people to dub Alonso one of the best midfielders they’d ever seen.
Long before that Luis Suarez made his mark at the highest level, this Luis Suarez did likewise, etching his name into the history books for Barcelona, Inter and Spain.
Winner of the 1960 Ballon d’Or, Suarez was one of the most influential members of Helenio Herrera’s ‘Grande Inter’ side which lifted consecutive European Cups and Intercontinental Cups in 1964 and 1965.
A simply mesmerising midfield operator who could also line up at inside forward, Suarez starred as Spain won the 1964 European Championship on home soil, earning 32 caps for his country in all and scoring 14 goals.
The great Alfredo Di Stefano was Argentinian by birth – but he also spent most of his career and life in Spain, scoring 23 goals in 31 caps for the national team (rules on switching allegiances were, well, loose back then) and eventually gaining Spanish citizenship. So, with that justification, he makes our list – and we could hardly have one of the best players of all time anywhere but near the top, could we?
Nicknamed ‘Saeta Rubia’ (‘Blond Arrow’), Di Stefano is considered one of the finest dribblers ever to grace the pitch, turning on the style time and time again for Real Madrid during the 50s and 60s – banging in 308 goals in 396 appearances.
A five-time European champion with Los Blancos, he scooped the Ballon d’Or in 1957 and 1959.
A metronome in human form, Xavi lined up in some of the most incredible midfields of all time, getting his hands on winner’s medal after winner’s medal for Barcelona and Spain alike.
Part of a select crop of players to have made over 1,000 professional appearances, he won everything there was to win throughout his enviable career, finishing as top assist provider in LaLiga on two occasions and also once in the Champions League.
There’s one stat that sums up Xavi’s quality perhaps better than any: throughout the 2010 World Cup, he completed 91% of his passes. Can we say for sure that he’s actually human?
Instantly assured of iconic status as the scorer of Spain’s winning goal against then Netherlands in the 2010 World Cup final, Andres Iniesta will rightly go down as one of the greatest midfielders ever to play the game.
An exquisite technician capable of making the most complex pieces of skill utterly effortless, Iniesta won it all with Barcelona – forming a formidable midfield trio with Sergio Busquets and Xavi – and his country.
Inimitable in his brilliance, he holds the distinction of being the only player to be named man of the match in a World Cup, Euros and Champions League final.
