Legends such as Ramos, Villa, Guardiola, Torres and more made the cut as the 25 best Spanish players in football history.
Andres Iniesta has been named as the greatest Spanish footballer of all time. Iker Casillas and Amancio joined the former Barcelona captain to round off the top three of this surprise ranking.
The Spanish edition of men’s magazine Esquire released a list of the best players to represent the national team ahead of Euro 2020. Former Barcelona and Real Madrid stars unsurprisingly dominated. In fact, Fernando Torres was the highest-placed player to have not played for either club in 11th.
15 of the 25 footballers on the list represented Real Madrid at one stage of their careers, whereas only eight former Barcelona players made the cut in comparison. Former goalkeeper Ricardo Zamora is the only one to have played for both sides in this ranking.
Some bold calls were made as well. Ramos, who is the highest-capped player in La Roja’s history, is only 18th on the list. He may have won two European titles and a World Cup, but it didn’t count for much in the end. Xavi fared no better in 23rd either.
The 25 best Spanish footballers of all time
Pos | Player | Caps | Goals |
---|---|---|---|
1 | Andres Iniesta | 131 | 14 |
2 | Iker Casillas | 167 | 102 (clean sheets) |
3 | Amancio | 42 | 11 |
4 | Luis Aragonés | 11 | 3 |
5 | Carles Puyol | 100 | 3 |
6 | Pep Guardiola | 47 | 5 |
7 | Santillana | 56 | 15 |
8 | David Villa | 98 | 59 |
9 | Emilio Butragueño | 69 | 26 |
10 | Fernando Hierro | 89 | 29 |
11 | Fernando Torres | 110 | 38 |
12 | Iribar | 49 | 42 |
13 | Luis Suarez | 32 | 13 |
14 | Paco Gento | 43 | 5 |
15 | Quini | 35 | 8 |
16 | Raul | 102 | 44 |
17 | Ricardo Zamora | 46 | 42 |
18 | Sergio Ramos | 170 | 21 |
19 | Telmo Zarra | 20 | 20 |
20 | Camacho | 81 | 0 |
21 | Xavi Hernández | 133 | 12 |
22 | Gordillo | 75 | 3 |
23 | Míchel | 66 | 21 |
24 | Arconada | 68 | 62 |
25 | Juanito | 34 | 8 |