List of Spain national football captains

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
	Juan Arzuaga	1913
	José María Belauste	1920	Summer Olympics 1920	Mariano Arrate (1920)
	Mariano Arrate	1921–1923		Paulino Alcántara (1921–22) Josep Samitier (1922–23)
	Paulino Alcántara	1923
	Manuel Meana	1924
	Pedro Vallana	1924-1928	Summer Olympics 1924 Summer Olympics 1928	Josep Samitier (1924–25) José María Peña (1925) Ricardo Zamora (1927–28) José Maria Yermo (1928)
	Ricardo Zamora	1928–1936	World Cup 1934 qualifying World Cup 1934	José María Peña (1930) Josep Samitier (1931) Jacinto Quincoces (1934–36)
	Luis Regueiro	1936
	Guillermo Gorostiza	1941
	Ramón Gabilondo	1942
	Juan Antonio Ipiña	1945–1946
	César	1947
	Herrerita	1947
	Epi Fernández	1948–1949
	Ignacio Eizaguirre	1949–1950	World Cup 1950 qualifying World Cup 1950	Agustín Gaínza (1950) Telmo Zarra (1950)
	Agustín Gaínza	1950–1955	World Cup 1954 qualifying	Antonio Puchades (1954) Marcelino Campanal (1955)
	Joan Segarra	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)
	Jesús Garay	1957–1958	World Cup 1958 qualifying	José María Zárraga (1958)
	Enrique Collar	1962–1963	European Nations Cup 1964 qualifying	Feliciano Rivilla (1963)
	Paco Gento	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)
	Ferran Olivella	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)
	José Claramunt	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)
	Juan Manuel Asensi	1978–1980	Euro 1980 qualifying Euro 1980	Vicente del Bosque (1978–80) Eugenio Leal (1978) Quini (1979) Migueli (1979) Dani (1980) Carlos Santillana (1980)
	Luis Arconada	1980–1985	Tour of South America (1981) World Cup 1982 Euro 1984 qualifying Euro 1984	José Antonio Camacho (1983–1984)
	Rafael Gordillo	1985
	José Antonio Camacho	1985–1988	World Cup 1986 qualifying World Cup 1986 Euro 1988 qualifying Euro 1988	Víctor Muñoz (1985–88) Rafael Gordillo (1987–88)
	Emilio Butragueño	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)
	José Mari Bakero	1992–1994	World Cup 1994 qualifying	Andoni Zubizarreta (1993–94) Txiki Begiristain (1993) Fernando Hierro (1993)
	Andoni Zubizarreta	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)
	Fernando Hierro	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)
	Raúl	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)
	Iker Casillas	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)
	Sergio Ramos	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)
	Sergio Busquets	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)
	Jordi Alba	2023	Nations League Finals 2023 Euro 2024 qualifying	Álvaro Morata (2023) Rodri (2023)
	Álvaro Morata	2023–	Euro 2024 qualifying	Rodri (2023) Jesús Navas (2023) Mikel Oyarzabal (2024)

Captains by appearances as captain

Caps as of 26 March 2024

#	Player	Spain career	Caps as captain	Total caps	First captaincy	Age
1	Iker Casillas	2000–2016	104	167	3 September 2004	23 years, 3 months and 14 days
2	Sergio Ramos	2005–2021	54	180	3 June 2010	24 years, 2 months and 4 days
3	Andoni Zubizarreta	1985–1998	50	126	11 October 1989	27 years, 11 months and 15 days
4	Luis Arconada	1977–1985	48	68	24 September 1980	26 years, 2 months and 29 days
5	Raúl González	1996–2006	42	102	18 August 1999	22 years, 1 month and 22 days
6	Fernando Hierro	1989–2002	32	89	2 June 1993	25 years, 2 months and 10 days
7	Emilio Butragueño	1983–1992	31	69	14 September 1988	25 years, 1 month and 23 days
8	Ricardo Zamora	1920–1936	24	46	17 April 1927	26 years, 2 months and 27 days
	José Antonio Camacho	1975–1988		81	21 December 1983	28 years, 6 months and 13 days
10	Sergio Busquets	2009–2022	20	143	7 October 2020	32 years, 2 months and 21 days
11	Agustín Gaínza	1945–1955	19	33	2 April 1950	27 years, 10 months and 5 days
12	Pirri	1966–1978	18	41	17 October 1968	23 years, 6 months and 6 days
13	Joan Segarra	1951–1962	15	25	27 November 1955	28 years and 12 days
	Francisco Gento	1955–1969		43	11 June 1961	27 years, 7 months and 21 days
15	Amancio Amaro	1962–1974	14	42	11 February 1970	30 years, 3 months and 26 days
	Juan Manuel Asensi	1969–1980		41	24 May 1978	28 years, 8 months and 1 day
17	Ferran Olivella	1957–1965	10	18	11 March 1964	27 years, 8 months and 17 days
	Xavi Hernández	2001–2016		133	22 August 2007	27 years, 6 months and 28 days
19	Jesús Garay	1953–1965	9	29	10 March 1957	26 years and 6 months
20	Josep Samitier	1920–1931	8	21	17 December 1922	20 years, 10 months and 16 days
	Álvaro Morata	2014–		71	26 March 2022	29 years, 5 months and 3 days
21	Abelardo Fernández	1991–2001	7	54	3 June 1998	28 years, 1 month and 15 days
	Xabier Alonso	2003–2014		114	18 June 2008	26 years, 6 months and 24 days
24	Epi Fernández	1941–1949	6	15	21 March 1948	28 years, 10 months and 27 days
	Enrique Collar	1955–1963		16	13 November 1961	27 years and 21 days
	José Claramunt	1968–1975		23	21 October 1973	27 years, 3 months and 5 days
	Rafael Gordillo	1978–1988		75	26 May 1985	28 years, 3 months and 2 days
	Koke Resurrección	2013–2022		70	11 November 2020	28 years, 10 months and 3 days
29	Pedro Vallana	1920–1928	5	12	2 September 1920	22 years, 9 months and 4 days
	Víctor Muñoz	1981–1988		60	18 March 1985	28 years and 3 days
	José Mari Bakero	1987–1994		30	9 September 1992	29 years, 6 months and 29 days
	Jordi Alba	2011–2023		93	14 June 2021	32 years, 2 months and 24 days
33	Jacinto Quincoces	1928–1936	4	25	1 June 1934	28 years, 10 months and 15 days
	Ignacio Eizaguirre	1945–1952		18	12 June 1949	28 years, 7 months and 5 days
	Antoni Ramallets	1950–1961		35	18 May 1955	30 years, 10 months and 14 days
	Jesús Glaría	1962–1969		20	23 October 1966	24 years, 9 months and 21 days
	Severino Reija	1962–1967		20	7 December 1966	28 years and 12 days
	Miguel Ángel Nadal	1991–2002		62	10 June 1994	27 years, 10 months and 13 days
	Sergi Barjuan	1994–2002		56	18 November 1998	26 years, 10 months and 21 days
	Carles Puyol	2000–2013		100	17 October 2007	29 years, 5 months and 4 days
41	José María Belauste	1920	3	3	28 August 1920	31 years, 3 months and 13 days
	Mariano Arrate	1920–1923		6	29 August 1920	28 years and 17 days
	Paulino Alcántara	1921–1923		5	9 October 1921	24 years and 1 day
	Guillermo Gorostiza	1930–1941		19	12 January 1941	31 years, 10 months and 28 days
	Ramón Gabilondo	1941–1942		5	15 March 1942	29 years
	Juan Antonio Ipiña	1936–1946		6	11 March 1945	33 years, 6 months and 16 days
	Ignacio Zoco	1961–1969		25	20 July 1966	26 years, 11 months and 20 days
	Francisco Gallego	1966–1973		36	2 May 1968	24 years, 1 month and 28 days
	Quini	1970–1982		35	29 March 1978	28 years, 6 months and 6 days
	Andrés Iniesta	2006–2018		131	12 October 2014	30 years, 5 months and 1 day
	Francesc Fàbregas	2006–2016		110	31 March 2015	27 years, 10 months and 27 days
52	José María Peña	1925–1930	2	21	4 October 1925	30 years, 5 months and 15 days
	José María Yermo	1927–1928		5	1 June 1928	24 years, 11 months and 11 days
	Marcelo Campanal	1952–1957		11	19 June 1955	23 years, 4 months and 6 days
	Luis Regueiro	1927–1936		25	26 April 1936	27 years, 9 months and 25 days
	Luis Suárez	1957–1972		32	26 October 1960	25 years, 5 months and 24 days
	Juan Cruz Sol	1970–1976		28	2 May 1973	25 years, 7 months and 19 days
	Vicente del Bosque	1975–1980		18	13 December 1978	27 years, 11 months and 20 days
	Txiki Begiristain	1988–1994		22	31 March 1993	28 years, 7 months and 19 days
	Luis Enrique	1991–2002		62	13 November 1999	29 years, 6 months and 5 days
	Gaizka Mendieta	1988–1994		40	16 October 2002	28 years, 6 months and 19 days
	Fernando Torres	2003–2014		110	3 September 2005	21 years, 5 months and 14 days
	David Silva	2006–2018		125	12 November 2016	30 years, 10 months and 4 days
64	César Rodríguez	1945–1952	1	12	26 January 1947	26 years, 6 months and 20 days
	Eduardo Herrerita	1934–1947		6	2 March 1947	32 years, 7 months and 25 days
	Telmo Zarra	1945–1951		20	16 July 1950	29 years, 5 months and 26 days
	Antonio Puchades	1949–1954		23	14 March 1954	28 years, 9 months and 10 days
	José María Zárraga	1955–1958		8	15 October 1958	28 years and 2 months
	László Kubala	1953–1961		19	2 April 1961	33 years, 9 months and 23 days
	Feliciano Rivilla	1960–1965		26	13 June 1963	26 years, 9 months and 23 days
	Luis Aragonés	1965–1972		11	10 November 1970	32 years, 3 months and 13 days
	Isacio Calleja	1961–1972		13	23 May 1972	35 years, 5 months and 17 days
	Tonono Alfonso	1967–1972		22	19 October 1972	29 years, 1 month and 24 days
	Txetxu Rojo	1969–1978		18	17 October 1973	26 years, 8 months and 19 days
	Carles Rexach	1969–1978		15	20 November 1974	27 years, 10 months and 7 days
	Eugenio Leal	1977–1978		14	21 December 1978	24 years, 7 months and 8 days
	Migueli Bernardo	1974–1980		32	14 November 1979	27 years, 10 months and 26 days
	Dani Ruiz-Bazán	1977–1981		25	26 March 1980	28 years, 8 months and 27 days
	Carlos Santillana	1975–1985		56	18 June 1980	27 years, 9 months and 26 days
	Manolo Sánchez	1988–1992		28	26 May 1990	25 years, 4 months and 9 days
	Míchel	1985–1992		66	14 October 1992	29 years, 6 months and 21 days
	Santiago Cañizares	1993–2006		46	30 April 2003	33 years, 4 months and 12 days
	Joseba Etxeberria	1997–2004		53	31 March 2004	25 years, 7 months and 25 days
	David Albelda	2001–2008		51	11 October 2006	29 years, 1 month and 10 days
	Joaquín Sánchez	2002–2008		51	6 June 2007	25 years, 10 months and 16 days
	David Villa	2005–2017		98	14 November 2012	30 years, 11 months and 11 days
	Isco Alarcón	2013–2019		38	18 November 2018	26 years, 6 months and 28 days
	Raúl Albiol	2007–2021		58	15 October 2019	33 years, 2 months and 14 days
	Marc Cucurella	2021–		2	8 June 2021	22 years, 10 months and 17 days
	César Azpilicueta	2013–2022		44	5 September 2021	32 years and 8 days
	Rodri Hernández	2018–		49	28 March 2023	26 years, 9 months and 6 days
	Jesús Navas	2009–		51	16 November 2023	37 years, 11 months and 22 days
	Mikel Oyarzabal	2016–		27	22 March 2024	26 years, 11 months and 5 days

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	Euro 1991 qualifying
Eli Artola		1990–1991		Ixiar Bakero (1991)
Ixiar Bakero		1991–1994	Euro 1993 qualifying Grand Hotel Varna Tournament 1992 Torneig Internacional Ciutat de Tarragona (1993) Euro 1995 qualifying
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	World Cup 2007 qualifying	Raquel Cabezón (2007)
Itziar Gurrutxaga		2007–2008	Euro 2009 qualifying	Vanesa Gimbert (2008) Melisa Nicolau (2008)
	Vanesa Gimbert	2008	Euro 2009 qualifying Play-offs
	Melisa Nicolau	2008–2010	World Cup 2011 qualifying	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	World Cup 2015 qualifying World Cup 2015 Algarve Cup 2017 Euro 2017 qualifying	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)
	Alexia Putellas	2023	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 10 April 2024

#	Player	Spain career	Caps as captain	Total caps	First captaincy	Age
1	Arantza del Puerto	1990–2005	40	71	27 June 1996	25 years, 3 months and 19 days
2	Irene Paredes	2011–	35	104	4 March 2016	24 years and 8 months
3	Verónica Boquete	2005–2017	26	56	12 February 2013	25 years, 10 months and 3 days
4	Marta Torrejón	2007–2019	25	90	21 September 2015	25 years, 6 months and 25 days
5	Inmaculada Castañón	1983–1988	17	17	5 February 1983	23 years, 7 months and 6 days
	Sandra Vilanova	2003–2013		46	21 November 2009	28 years, 10 months and 20 days
7	Ixiar Bakero	1985–1998	13	23	21 October 1990	21 years, 2 months and 27 days
8	Ivana Andrés	2013–	11	53	21 October 2021	27 years, 3 months and 8 days
9	Beatriz García	1988–1998	10	33	3 April 1995	24 years, 11 months and 11 days
10	Jennifer Hermoso	2012–	9	113	5 March 2020	29 years, 9 months and 25 days
11	Maider Castillo	1996–2007	8	48	29 September 2005	29 years, 1 month and 26 days
	Ruth García	2005–2016		52	21 June 2012	25 years, 2 months and 26 days
13	Alexia Putellas	2013–	7	115	1 March 2019	25 years and 25 days
14	Itziar Gurrutxaga	1998–2008	6	37	27 Oct 2007	30 years, 6 months and 23 days
15	Amanda Sampedro	2015–2020	5	53	8 April 2017	23 years, 9 months and 13 days
16	Melisa Nicolau	2004–2013	4	31	30 October 2008	24 years, 4 months and 10 days
	Olga Carmona	2021–		40	31 July 2023	23 years, 1 month and 19 days
18	Montserrat González	1983–1990	3	17	4 November 1989	24 years, 4 months and 5 days
	Eli Artola	1986–1992		18	2 May 1990	22 years, 6 months and 7 days
	Yolanda Mateos	1996–2001		26	13 September 1998	26 years, 6 months and 18 days
	Esther González	2016–		46	11 October 2022	29 years, 10 months and 3 days
22	Judith Corominas	1992–1998	2	25	31 May 1998	31 years, 6 months and 21 days
	Vanesa Gimbert	1997–2010		40	2 October 2008	28 years, 5 months and 13 days
	Adriana Martín	2005–2015		39	17 September 2011	23 years, 10 months and 10 days
	Sonia Bermúdez	2008–2017		61	11 February 2015	30 years, 2 months and 27 days
	Dolores Gallardo	2013–2022		38	13 April 2021	27 years, 10 months and 3 days
	Irene Guerrero	2019–2023		26	22 February 2023	26 years, 2 months and 10 days
28	Mercedes Gaitero	1983–1988	1	13	17 March 1984	24 years, 8 months and 17 days
	Ángeles Olmo	1983–1988		17	27 April 1985	23 years and 7 months
	Mar Prieto	1985–2000		62	14 June 1998	29 years, 3 months and 13 days
	Raquel Cabezón	1998–2007		38	30 May 2007	28 years, 8 months and 15 days
	Vicky Losada	2010–2020		65	8 November 2018	27 years, 8 months and 3 days
	Virginia Torrecilla	2013–2020		66	17 May 2019	24 years, 8 months and 8 days

See also

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

Notes

References