List of Spain national football team captains explained

Men's team

Captain chronology

The captains of the Spain men's national team since 1913:

• Source^[1]

Name		Span	Tournaments as captain	Reserve captains
		1913
		1920	Summer Olympics 1920	Mariano Arrate (1920)
		1921–1923		Paulino Alcántara (1921–22) Josep Samitier (1922–23)
		1923
		1924
		1924-1928	Summer Olympics 1924 Summer Olympics 1928	Josep Samitier (1924–25) José María Peña (1925) Ricardo Zamora (1927–28) José Maria Yermo (1928)
		1928–1936	World Cup 1934 qualifying World Cup 1934	José María Peña (1930) Josep Samitier (1931) Jacinto Quincoces (1934–36)
		1936
		1941
		1942
		1945–1946
		1947
		1947
		1948–1949
		1949–1950	World Cup 1950 qualifying World Cup 1950	Agustín Gaínza (1950) Telmo Zarra (1950)
		1950–1955	World Cup 1954 qualifying	Antonio Puchades (1954) Marcelino Campanal (1955)
		1955–1956 1959–1962	European Nations Cup 1960 qualifying World Cup 1962 qualifying World Cup 1962	Antoni Ramallets (1955, 1960–61) Marcelino Campanal (1957) Luis Suárez (1960) László Kubala (1961) Paco Gento (1961–62) Enrique Collar (1961)
		1957–1958	World Cup 1958 qualifying	José María Zárraga (1958)
		1962–1963	European Nations Cup 1964 qualifying	Feliciano Rivilla (1963)
		1963 1965–1969	World Cup 1966 Euro 1968 qualifying World Cup 1970 qualifying	Ignacio Zoco (1966–69) Jesús Glaría (1966–69) Severino Reija (1966–67) Gallego (1968–69) Pirri (1968)
		1964–1965	European Nations Cup 1964 World Cup 1966 qualifying
	Amancio	1970–1974	Euro 1972 qualifying World Cup 1974 qualifying	Luis Aragonés (1970) Pirri (1971) Gallego (1972) Isacio Calleja (1972) Luis Suárez (1972) Tonono (1972) Juan Sol (1973) Txetxu Rojo (1973) José Claramunt (1973)
		1974–1975		Carles Rexach (1974) Juan Manuel Asensi (1978)
	Pirri	1975–1978	Euro 1976 qualifying World Cup 1978 qualifying World Cup 1978	Juan Sol (1976) Quini (1978) Juan Manuel Asensi (1978)
		1978–1980	Euro 1980 qualifying Euro 1980	Vicente del Bosque (1978–80) Eugenio Leal (1978) Quini (1979) Migueli (1979) Dani (1980) Carlos Santillana (1980)
		1980–1985	Tour of South America (1981) World Cup 1982 Euro 1984 qualifying Euro 1984	José Antonio Camacho (1983–1984)
		1985
		1985–1988	World Cup 1986 qualifying World Cup 1986 Euro 1988 qualifying Euro 1988	Víctor Muñoz (1985–88) Rafael Gordillo (1987–88)
		1988–1992	World Cup 1990 qualifying World Cup 1990 Euro 1992 qualifying World Cup 1994 qualifying	Andoni Zubizarreta (1989–91) Manolo (1990) José Mari Bakero (1992) Míchel (1992)
		1992–1994	World Cup 1994 qualifying	Andoni Zubizarreta (1993–94) Txiki Begiristain (1993) Fernando Hierro (1993)
		1994–1998	World Cup 1994 Euro 1996 qualifying Euro 1996 World Cup 1998 qualifying World Cup 1998	Fernando Hierro (1994–96) Miguel Ángel Nadal (1994) Abelardo Fernández (1998)
		1998–2002	Euro 2000 qualifying Euro 2000 World Cup 2002 qualifying World Cup 2002	Sergi Barjuán (1998–2001) Luis Enrique (1999) Abelardo Fernández (2000–01) Miguel Ángel Nadal (2002)
		2002–2006	Euro 2004 qualifying Euro 2004 World Cup 2006 qualifying World Cup 2006	Gaizka Mendieta (2002) Santiago Cañizares (2003) Joseba Etxeberria (2004) Iker Casillas (2004–06) Fernando Torres (2005)
		2006–2016	Euro 2008 qualifying Euro 2008 Conference Cup 2009 World Cup 2010 qualifying World Cup 2010 Euro 2012 qualifying Euro 2012 Conference Cup 2013 World Cup 2014 qualifying World Cup 2014 Euro 2016 qualifying Euro 2016	David Albelda (2006) Carles Puyol (2007–13) Xavi (2007–14) Joaquín (2007) Xabi Alonso (2008–13) Sergio Ramos (2010–16) Fernando Torres (2012) David Villa (2012) Andrés Iniesta (2014) Cesc Fàbregas (2015–16)
		2016–2021	World Cup 2018 qualifying World Cup 2018 Nations League A 2018–19 Euro 2020 qualifying Nations League A 2020–21	David Silva (2016) Andrés Iniesta (2017–18) Isco (2018) Raúl Albiol (2019) Sergio Busquets (2020–21) Koke (2020)
		2021–2022	Euro 2020 Nations League A 2022–23 Nations League Finals 2021 World Cup 2022 qualifying World Cup 2022	Jordi Alba (2021) César Azpilicueta (2021) Koke (2021–22) Álvaro Morata (2022)
		2023	Nations League Finals 2023 Euro 2024 qualifying	Álvaro Morata (2023) Rodri (2023)
	Álvaro Morata	2023–	Euro 2024 qualifying Euro 2024	Jesús Navas (2023–2024) Rodri (2024) Mikel Oyarzabal (2024)

Captains by appearances as captain

Caps as of 14 July 2024

	Player	Spain career	Caps as captain	Total caps	First captaincy	Age
1	Iker Casillas	2000–2016	104	167	3 September 2004
2	Sergio Ramos	2005–2021	54	180	3 June 2010
3	Andoni Zubizarreta	1985–1998	50	126	11 October 1989
4	Luis Arconada	1977–1985	48	68	24 September 1980
5	Raúl González	1996–2006	42	102	18 August 1999
6	Fernando Hierro	1989–2002	32	89	2 June 1993
7	Emilio Butragueño	1983–1992	31	69	14 September 1988
8	Ricardo Zamora	1920–1936	24	46	17 April 1927
	José Antonio Camacho	1975–1988		81	21 December 1983
10	Sergio Busquets	2009–2022	20	143	7 October 2020
11	Agustín Gaínza	1945–1955	19	33	2 April 1950
12	Pirri	1966–1978	18	41	17 October 1968
13	Álvaro Morata	2014–	15	80	26 March 2022
	Joan Segarra	1951–1962		25	27 November 1955
	Francisco Gento	1955–1969		43	11 June 1961
16	Amancio Amaro	1962–1974	14	42	11 February 1970
	Juan Manuel Asensi	1969–1980		41	24 May 1978
18	Ferran Olivella	1957–1965	10	18	11 March 1964
	Xavi Hernández	2001–2016		133	22 August 2007
20	Jesús Garay	1953–1965	9	29	10 March 1957
21	Josep Samitier	1920–1931	8	21	17 December 1922
22	Abelardo Fernández	1991–2001	7	54	3 June 1998
	Xabier Alonso	2003–2014		114	18 June 2008
24	Epi Fernández	1941–1949	6	15	21 March 1948
	Enrique Collar	1955–1963		16	13 November 1961
	José Claramunt	1968–1975		23	21 October 1973
	Rafael Gordillo	1978–1988		75	26 May 1985
	Koke Resurrección	2013–2022		70	11 November 2020
29	Pedro Vallana	1920–1928	5	12	2 September 1920
	Víctor Muñoz	1981–1988		60	18 March 1985
	José Mari Bakero	1987–1994		30	9 September 1992
	Jordi Alba	2011–2023		93	14 June 2021
33	Jacinto Quincoces	1928–1936	4	25	1 June 1934
	Ignacio Eizaguirre	1945–1952		18	12 June 1949
	Antoni Ramallets	1950–1961		35	18 May 1955
	Jesús Glaría	1962–1969		20	23 October 1966
	Severino Reija	1962–1967		20	7 December 1966
	Miguel Ángel Nadal	1991–2002		62	10 June 1994
	Sergi Barjuan	1994–2002		56	18 November 1998
	Carles Puyol	2000–2013		100	17 October 2007
41	José María Belauste	1920	3	3	28 August 1920
	Mariano Arrate	1920–1923		6	29 August 1920
	Paulino Alcántara	1921–1923		5	9 October 1921
	Guillermo Gorostiza	1930–1941		19	12 January 1941
	Ramón Gabilondo	1941–1942		5	15 March 1942
	Juan Antonio Ipiña	1936–1946		6	11 March 1945
	Ignacio Zoco	1961–1969		25	20 July 1966
	Francisco Gallego	1966–1973		36	2 May 1968
	Quini	1970–1982		35	29 March 1978
	Andrés Iniesta	2006–2018		131	12 October 2014
	Francesc Fàbregas	2006–2016		110	31 March 2015
52	José María Peña	1925–1930	2	21	4 October 1925
	José María Yermo	1927–1928		5	1 June 1928
	Marcelo Campanal	1952–1957		11	19 June 1955
	Luis Regueiro	1927–1936		25	26 April 1936
	Luis Suárez	1957–1972		32	26 October 1960
	Juan Cruz Sol	1970–1976		28	2 May 1973
	Vicente del Bosque	1975–1980		18	13 December 1978
	Txiki Begiristain	1988–1994		22	31 March 1993
	Luis Enrique	1991–2002		62	13 November 1999
	Gaizka Mendieta	1988–1994		40	16 October 2002
	Fernando Torres	2003–2014		110	3 September 2005
	David Silva	2006–2018		125	12 November 2016
	Rodri Hernández	2018–		56	28 March 2023
	Jesús Navas	2009–		56	16 November 2023
66	César Rodríguez	1945–1952	1	12	26 January 1947
	Eduardo Herrerita	1934–1947		6	2 March 1947
	Telmo Zarra	1945–1951		20	16 July 1950
	Antonio Puchades	1949–1954		23	14 March 1954
	José María Zárraga	1955–1958		8	15 October 1958
	László Kubala	1953–1961		19	2 April 1961
	Feliciano Rivilla	1960–1965		26	13 June 1963
	Luis Aragonés	1965–1972		11	10 November 1970
	Isacio Calleja	1961–1972		13	23 May 1972
	Tonono Alfonso	1967–1972		22	19 October 1972
	Txetxu Rojo	1969–1978		18	17 October 1973
	Carles Rexach	1969–1978		15	20 November 1974
	Eugenio Leal	1977–1978		14	21 December 1978
	Migueli Bernardo	1974–1980		32	14 November 1979
	Dani Ruiz-Bazán	1977–1981		25	26 March 1980
	Carlos Santillana	1975–1985		56	18 June 1980
	Manolo Sánchez	1988–1992		28	26 May 1990
	Míchel	1985–1992		66	14 October 1992
	Santiago Cañizares	1993–2006		46	30 April 2003
	Joseba Etxeberria	1997–2004		53	31 March 2004
	David Albelda	2001–2008		51	11 October 2006
	Joaquín Sánchez	2002–2008		51	6 June 2007
	David Villa	2005–2017		98	14 November 2012
	Isco Alarcón	2013–2019		38	18 November 2018
	Raúl Albiol	2007–2021		58	15 October 2019
	Marc Cucurella	2021–		10	8 June 2021
	César Azpilicueta	2013–2022		44	5 September 2021
	Mikel Oyarzabal	2016–		37	22 March 2024

Women's team

Captain chronology

The captains of the Spain women's national team since 1971:

Name		Span	Tournaments as captain	Reserve captains
	Conchi Sánchez	1971–1981	Trofeo dell'Adriatico (1972)
Inmaculada Castañón	1983–1988	1987 European Competition qualifying 1989 European Competition qualifying	Mercedes Gaitero (1984) Ángeles Olmo (1985)
Montserrat González	1989–1990
Eli Artola	1990–1991		Ixiar Bakero (1991)
Ixiar Bakero	1991–1994
Beatriz García	1995–1996	Grand Hotel Varna Tournament 1995 Euro 1997 qualifying Tournament Slovakia (1996)
Arantza del Puerto	1996–2005	Euro 1997 World Cup 1999 qualifying Euro 2001 qualifying World Cup 2003 qualifying Euro 2005 quilifying Torneo de Maspalomas (2005)	Judith Corominas (1998) Mar Prieto (1998) Yolanda Mateos (1998–2000)
Maider Castillo	2005–2007		Raquel Cabezón (2007)
Itziar Gurrutxaga	2007–2008		Vanesa Gimbert (2008) Melisa Nicolau (2008)
	Vanesa Gimbert	2008
	Melisa Nicolau	2008–2010		Sandra Vilanova (2009–10)
	Sandra Vilanova	2011–2013	Euro 2013 qualifying Euro 2013	Adriana Martín (2011) Ruth García (2012) Verónica Boquete (2013)
	Verónica Boquete	2013–2017		Ruth García (2014–16) Sonia Bermúdez (2015–17) Marta Torrejón (2015–17) Irene Paredes (2016) Amanda Sampedro (2017)
	Marta Torrejón	2017–2019	Euro 2017 World Cup 2019 qualifying Cyprus Cup 2018 Algarve Cup 2019 World Cup 2019	Irene Paredes (2017–19) Amanda Sampedro (2018) Victoria Losada (2018) Alexia Putellas (2019) Virginia Torrecilla (2019)
	Irene Paredes	2019–2022	Euro 2022 qualifying SheBelieves Cup 2020 World Cup 2023 qualifying Arnold Clark Cup 2022 Euro 2022	Jennifer Hermoso (2020–22) Amanda Sampedro (2020) Dolores Gallardo (2021) Alexia Putellas (2021–22) Ivana Andrés (2021)
	Ivana Andrés	2022–2023	Cup of Nations 2023 World Cup 2023	Esther González (2022–23) Irene Guerrero (2023) Olga Carmona (2023)
		2023 2024–	Nations League A 2023–24 Summer Olympics 2024	Irene Paredes (2023–24) Olga Carmona (2023)
	Irene Paredes	2024–	Nations League Finals 2024 Euro 2025 qualifying

Captains by appearances as captain

Caps as of 16 July 2024

	Player	Spain career	Caps as captain	Total caps	First captaincy	Age
1	Arantza del Puerto	1990–2005	40	71	27 June 1996
2	Irene Paredes	2011–	38	107	4 March 2016
3	Verónica Boquete	2005–2017	26	56	12 February 2013
4	Marta Torrejón	2007–2019	25	90	21 September 2015
5	Inmaculada Castañón	1983–1988	17	17	5 February 1983
	Sandra Vilanova	2003–2013		46	21 November 2009
7	Ixiar Bakero	1985–1998	13	23	21 October 1990
8	Ivana Andrés	2013–	11	53	21 October 2021
9	Beatriz García	1988–1998	10	33	3 April 1995
10	Jennifer Hermoso	2012–	9	114	5 March 2020
11	Maider Castillo	1996–2007	8	48	29 September 2005
	Ruth García	2005–2016		52	21 June 2012
	Alexia Putellas	2013–		119	1 March 2019
14	Itziar Gurrutxaga	1998–2008	6	37	27 Oct 2007
15	Amanda Sampedro	2015–2020	5	53	8 April 2017
16	Melisa Nicolau	2004–2013	4	31	30 October 2008
	Olga Carmona	2021–		40	31 July 2023
18	Montserrat González	1983–1990	3	17	4 November 1989
	Eli Artola	1986–1992		18	2 May 1990
	Yolanda Mateos	1996–2001		26	13 September 1998
	Esther González	2016–		46	11 October 2022
22	Judith Corominas	1992–1998	2	25	31 May 1998
	Vanesa Gimbert	1997–2010		40	2 October 2008
	Adriana Martín	2005–2015		39	17 September 2011
	Sonia Bermúdez	2008–2017		61	11 February 2015
	Dolores Gallardo	2013–2022		38	13 April 2021
	Irene Guerrero	2019–2023		26	22 February 2023
28	Mercedes Gaitero	1983–1988	1	13	17 March 1984
	Ángeles Olmo	1983–1988		17	27 April 1985
	Mar Prieto	1985–2000		62	14 June 1998
	Raquel Cabezón	1998–2007		38	30 May 2007
	Vicky Losada	2010–2020		65	8 November 2018
	Virginia Torrecilla	2013–2020		66	17 May 2019

See also

• List of Spain men's international footballers
• List of Spain women's international footballers

Notes and References

1. https://eu-football.info/_players.php?id=185&data=10