Spain’s best XI – based entirely objectively, statistically on 2025-26 form | OneFootball

Spain are looking to repeat history from 2010 by going from European champions to world champions too at this summer’s World Cup – but have they taken their form players?

We’ve turned to football stats website WhoScored and their comprehensive player ratings, said by themselves to be “considered to be the most accurate, respected and well-known performance indicators in the world of football.”

A good way to judge, then, who the best Spanish players have been in Europe’s top five leagues this season.

“The ratings are based on a unique, comprehensive statistical algorithm, calculated live during the game,” WhoScored explained.

“There are over 200 raw statistics included in the calculation of a player’s/team’s rating, weighted according to their influence within the game.

“Every event of importance is taken into account, with a positive or negative effect on ratings weighted in relation to its area on the pitch and its outcome.”

Using those ratings, here is the best-rated Spain XI from across the 2025-26 campaign (league only).

The big headline when the squad was announced was the complete lack of Real Madrid players – and these figures suggest that was justified…

GK: Joan Garcia (7.08)

You might have expected to see Premier League Golden Glove winner David Raya here, but his rating was only 6.65.

The fact Raya has been given the number one shirt over Garcia is interesting, but there’s a chance neither of them start over Unai Simon at the World Cup.

Simon’s rating was the lowest of the three at 6.59, but he was playing for the worst team out of them.

Garcia became a La Liga champion at the first time of asking after his cross-city move from Espanyol to Barcelona.

RB: Eric Garcia (7.02)

The other Garcia is Barca’s title-winning squad split his gametime between centre-back and right-back.

Tottenham Hotspur’s Pedro Porro would be a more natural choice at right-back, but given how his club’s season went, it won’t come as much of a surprise that his rating was lower.

CB: Jacobo Ramon (7.02)

No place on the plane for Como defender Ramon, but his time might come – especially if Real Madrid buy him back and he proves himself there.

Ramon, a Spain under-21 international, helped Cesc Fabregas’ side qualify for the Champions League for the first time in their history, playing in 32 Serie A games and boasting a pass completion rate above 91%.

CB: Kike Salas (7.10)

Another player overlooked for the World Cup squad, who like Ramon has only played for Spain up to under-21 level, Salas played 26 times in La Liga for Sevilla this season.

LB: Alex Grimaldo (7.38)

When you look at the number of goal contributions Grimaldo has got from left wing-back this season, it’s no surprise his rating is so high.

Just the eight goals and eight assists in the Bundesliga for the Bayer Leverkusen defender, who’ll now be vying with Chelsea’s 6.74-rated Marc Cucurella for World Cup gametime.

CM: Pedri (7.25)

One of the top assist providers in La Liga this season with Barcelona, Pedri is set to play in his fourth major international tournament.

Pretty good going for someone who’s still only 23.

CM: Pablo Fornals (7.06)

A blast from the not-so-distant past brings us to ex-West Ham playmaker Fornals.

In his second season back in Spain with Real Betis, he scored nine goals and six assists to help his side secure a long-awaited return to the Champions League.

It wasn’t quite enough for him to break back into the national team. At 30, he might have missed his last chance of going to a World Cup.

CM: Fermin Lopez (7.10)

Ruled out of the World Cup through injury, Lopez did a reverse Fornals by scoring six goals and adding nine assists in La Liga this season.

The Barcelona attacking midfielder usually played in the number 10 role but sometimes drifted to the left wing.

He’ll be hoping to be coming into his prime at the age of 27 by the time of the next World Cup. He’s some player.

RW: Lamine Yamal (8.23)

This one was inevitable.

Still only 18 and set to light up his first World Cup, having shone for Spain at Euro 2024, Yamal was the highest-rated Spaniard of them all this season.

With 16 goals and 11 assists in La Liga, Barca’s number 10 was the only player to reach double figures in both categories.

LW: Dani Olmo (7.04)

It feels like we’re shoehorning Olmo in a bit here since he usually plays more centrally, but the alternative would have been Mikel Oyarzabal at 7.03 and he spent the season as a striker.

Besides, like his fellow Barca attacking midfielder Lopez, Olmo can drift to the left, so we’re saying it’s fine.

All in all, he scored seven goals and set up eight more on the way to Barca’s title win. He’s Spain’s bearer of the number 10 shirt this summer.

Nico Williams, for what it’s worth, got a rating of 6.91.

CF: Toni Martinez (7.09)

Bit of a curveball up front, with Alaves frontman Martinez coming out on top.

He scored 14 goals in La Liga this season for a side who only finished one point above the relegation zone.

Martinez boasted the best average of aerial duels won per game – 4.8 – in all of La Liga, but the 28-year-old hasn’t represented his country since under-19 level.