The Summer of Stars kicks off on FOX with the European Championship in Germany and the United States-hosted Copa América. Both tournaments will feature the world’s best soccer players, but how many of them are all-time great players?
*All-time stats and records for individuals mentioned below refer to men’s national team only
More All-Time XIs: England, Germany
Caps: 167Clean sheets: 74Notable clubs: Real Madrid
Iker Casillas accomplished everything a player can at the club level during his 16-year career with Real Madrid, winning the La Liga title five times, the Copa del Rey twice and the UEFA Champions League three times. But his crowning achievement came at the international level with Spain, when he won the 2010 FIFA World Cup in South Africa as Spain’s No. 1 goalkeeper and captain. Spain only conceded two goals in the 2010 World Cup, with Casillas tallying five clean sheets. Casillas also won the Euros with Spain in 2008 and 2012. He ended his career in Portugal with Porto FC.
Shaun Botterill /Allsport
Caps: 180Notable clubs: Real Madrid
Sergio Ramos earned the title of Spain’s all-time caps leader by being a reliable presence in La Roja’s back line for 16 years, with his first senior international appearance coming in 2005, when he was 18 years old. Ramos wasn’t just a skilled defender, though — he’s also famous for being a clutch penalty-taker, scoring from the spot in the Euro 2008 final against Germany and in the semifinals of the Euro 2012 quarterfinals against Cristiano Ronaldo’s Portugal. Ramos retired from international duty in 2023. He still plays at the club level with Sevilla, though his most successful years came in Madrid, where he won five La Liga titles, two Copa del Reys and an unprecedented four Champions League titles. When Casillas left Madrid, he assumed the role of captain at the club and international level. He also enjoyed a brief stint alongside Lionel Messi at Paris Saint-Germain.
AFP PHOTO / MIGUEL RIOPA
Caps: 100Notable clubs: FC Barcelona
Though the Spanish national team has been home to many Barcelona legends in its rich history, Carles Puyol is the only Barcelona-lifer on this list. Known for his long, curly hair and fearless style of one-on-one defending, Puyol is regarded as one of the best center backs and captains of all time. He first wore the captain’s armband for Barcelona in 2004, and it wasn’t until he retired in 2014 that he relinquished his role. As Barcelona’s captain, he won six La Liga titles, three Copa del Reys and three Champions League titles. With Spain, he won the Euros in 2008 and the World Cup in 2010, starting at center back in both matches. One of his three international goals came in the 2010 World Cup, when he scored the only goal against Germany in the semifinal, sending Spain through to the final.
Photo by Tony Marshall/EMPICS via Getty Images)
Caps: 89Notable clubs: Real Madrid
Even for a club as historic as Real Madrid, which has been home to some of the world’s best center backs for more than a century, Fernando Hierro’s name has stood the test of time due to his ability to affect the game in a variety of ways from the back line. Not only was Hierro a tenacious defender, but he was also a gifted passer and a consistent source of goals, something that’s uncommon for a center back. In fact, Hierro’s 163 goals for club and country are the third-most all-time for a central defender. Only Argentina’s Daniella Passarella and the Netherlands’ Ronald Koeman have scored more all-time. Those goals contributed to six La Liga titles from 2004 to 2013, two Copa del Reys and three Champions League titles. Hierro never won a trophy with Spain.
(Photo by Alexander Hassenstein/Bongarts/Getty Images)
Caps: 81Notable clubs: Real Madrid
In 1978, at the height of his career, José Antonio Camacho sustained a knee injury that kept him sidelined for two years. Even with that lost time, Camacho won 18 trophies — including nine league titles from 1975 to 1989 — during his 16 years at Madrid. Upon making his return from injury, Camacho played a crucial role in Madrid’s back-to-back UEFA Cup triumphs. He also made 577 appearances for the club, which puts him ninth on the all-time list for club appearances.
(Photo by Peter Robinson/EMPICS via Getty Images)
Caps: 114Notable clubs: Liverpool, Real Madrid, Bayern Munich
England, Spain, Germany: success followed Xabi Alonso wherever he went as a player, and that’s no coincidence. As a defensive midfielder, Alonso controlled the flow of the match with his work rate and ability to ping passes from deep in the midfield. His most memorable performance came in the 2006 Champions League final — now known as the Miracle of Istanbul — where Alonso came on as a substitute and led Liverpool to a comeback victory over a stacked AC Milan side. Alonso left Liverpool for Madrid in 2009, and he won the Champions League with the Spanish giants again in 2014. With the Spanish national team, he won the Euros twice and the World Cup once.
AFP Photo/Javier Soriano
Caps: 133Notable clubs: FC Barcelona
Regarded as one of the greatest midfielders of all time, Xavi’s otherworldly vision was instrumental to the success of both the Spanish national team and Barcelona for nearly two decades. Though not a prolific goalscorer or an outstanding defender for a central midfielder, Xavi’s innate ability to find open space made the Spanish “Tiki-taka” style of play impossible to play against for most of the 2000s and 2010s. His career accomplishments include two European Championships and a World Cup with Spain, and three Champions Leagues and nine Spanish league titles with Barcelona. His 767 appearances with Barcelona are also only second to Lionel Messi’s 778 all-time appearances for the club.
Picture by Nuno Correia, Allsport UK /Allsport
Caps: 131Notable clubs: FC Barcelona
Xavi might have been regarded as the greatest Spanish midfielder of all time had it not been for his running mate in the midfield, Andrés Iniesta. Like Xavi, Iniesta had a knack for setting up his teammates, but unlike his midfield partner, Iniesta also excelled with the ball at his feet, resulting in him often spending time on the wing for both club and country. Iniesta’s case for the greatest Spanish player of all time was solidified for many in 2010, when he scored the lone goal in the World Cup final against the Netherlands and brought Spain its first-ever World Cup title. Iniesta didn’t win Player of the Tournament at the 2010 World Cup, but he did two years later at Euro 2012 after Spain won its third consecutive major trophy. Iniesta started in all three finals.
(Photo credit should read MIGUEL RIOPA/AFP via Getty Images)
Caps: 102Goals: 44Notable clubs: Real Madrid
Raúl isn’t regarded as the greatest forward to ever play for Real Madrid; he wasn’t even the best attacker of his era — that title, of course, belongs to Ronaldo Nazário. But Raúl is arguably the best Spanish goalscorer Los Blancos have ever produced, and even then, the numbers are hard to argue over. He’s third all-time on Real Madrid’s goalscoring list and holds the record for most appearances for the club by a margin of 16 games. His production played a key role in Madrid winning six La Liga titles and three Champions League titles.
(Photo by PASCAL GEORGE/AFP via Getty Images
Caps: 59Goals: 98Notable clubs: FC Barcelona, Atlético Madrid
Spain’s all-time leading goalscorer “El Guaje” has a trophy cabinet filled with hardware from both the international and club level. Villa broke out at Euro 2008, leading all goalscorers in the competition with four goals, including a hat-trick in Spain’s 4-1 win over Russia in the group stage. Villa continued to flaunt his goalscoring prowess two years later at the 2010 World Cup in South Africa, scoring five goals, tied for the tournament-high. Following the 2010 World Cup, Villa completed a high-profile transfer to Barcelona, where he won two La Liga titles and a Champions League title playing alongside Lionel Messi in Pep Guardiola’s front line.
(Photo by Luis Bagu/Getty Images)
Caps: 110Goals: 38Notable clubs: Atlético Madrid, Liverpool, Chelsea FC
Fernando “El Niño” Torres didn’t reach the heights that many of his peers did at the club level due to a combination of injuries and a steep fall-off in production, but his international resume is as good as anyone’s, winning two Euros with Spain (2008 and 2012) and scoring the match-winner against Germany in the 2008 final, and lifting the World Cup in 2010. Torres is third on Spain’s all-time scoring list, only trailing the two other attackers on the list. His peak at the club level included a third-place Ballon d’Or finish in 2008, when he starred for Liverpool in the Premier League.
(JOSE JORDAN/AFP via Getty Images)
Alfredo Di Stéfano, Gerard Piqué, Jordi Alba, Sergio Busquets, Luis Suarez
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