A number of the male footballers who have reached international status with Spain were not born in the country. Some were born overseas and moved there at a young age (as far as this list is concerned, more often they were the children of Spanish migrants who decided to return, rather than migrant newcomers from other parts of the world) while others became naturalised citizens of Spain after living there for the required period and never being selected by their homeland – for some countries, including those of Latin America, this process requires only a few years of residency, which has allowed several Brazil-born players to play for Spain having only moved there in the course of their professional careers. Prior to the 1960s, players were not tied to a single national team having appeared for them, and some of the leading foreign players in the Spanish league in the 1950s thus were selected on residency grounds.
This list does not include players born in non-peninsular Spain (the Canary Islands, Balearic Islands, Ceuta and Melilla, all of which have provided at least one player for the national team), nor any internationals of other heritage who were born in Spain.
List of players Caps as of 20 July 2026. layers in bold are those who later served as captain of the national team. NameSpain capsYears activeNation of birth Eduardo Arbide1 1921 Paulino Alcántara5 1921–1923 Spanish East Indies Juan Errazquin 6 1925–1928 Emilio Sagi Liñán1 1926 Marcelino Gálatas1 1927 Ramón Zabalo11 1931–1936 Jesús Alonso Fernández3 1942 Francisco Martin Arencibia (es)1 1942 László Kubala19 1953–1961 Héctor Rial5 1955–1958 Heriberto Herrera1 1957 Alfredo Di Stéfano31 1957–1961 José Santamaría16 1958–1962 Eulogio Martinez8 1959–1962 Ferenc Puskás4 1961–1962 Vicente Jara1 1966 José Eulogio Gárate18 1967–1975 Juan Carlos Touriño1 1972 José Luis López Peinado4 1972–1973 Spanish Morocco Rubén Óscar Valdez9 1972–1974 Heraldo Bezerra1 1973 Roberto Juan Martínez5 1973–1974 José Antonio Ramos Huete4 1975–1977 Spanish Morocco Rubén Cano12 1977–1979 Roberto López Ufarte15 1977–1982 Juan Carlos Heredia3 1978–1979 Gerardo Miranda9 1981–1985 Juani Escamilla11983 Spanish MoroccoLis Franco31983Carmencita Rodríguez11983 Álvaro Cervera4 1991–1992 Spanish Guinea Thomas Christiansen2 1993 Pier Luigi Cherubino1 1994 Donato Gama da Silva12 1994–1996 Juan Antonio Pizzi22 1994–1998 Armando Álvarez2 1996–1997 Suzie Grech71999–2001 Catanha3 2000 Luis Cembranos1 2000 Curro Torres5 2001–2002 Mariano Pernía11 2006–2007 Marcos Senna28 2006–2010 Thiago Alcântara46 2011–2021 Diego Costa24 2014–2018 Rodrigo28 2014–2023 Damaris Egurrola12019 Ansu Fati10 2020– Aymeric Laporte54 2021– Joselu17 2023–2024 Robin Le Normand27 2023– Dean Huijsen7 2025– Edna Imade82025–Ornella Vignola12026– Female footballer
List by country of birth
MalesCountryTotal1363332222211111111
FemalesCountryTotal2221
See also List of Spain men's international footballers List of Spain women's international footballers Oriundo Spanish nationality law
Notes
References
External links Spain national team players (with place of birth) at BDFutbol Todos los jugadores (all the players) at Selección Española de Fútbol (official site)