Fabian Ruiz is on the verge of achieving a record that most footballers only dream of. The Paris Saint-Germain midfielder is about to make his 50th cap for Spain, and the timing couldn’t be more dramatic: a World Cup final.
As of Spain’s quarter-final victory on 10 July 2026, Ruiz has 48 caps to his name, all without a single defeat. Forty-eight international matches, zero losses.
What Ruiz brings to Spain’s engine room
Ruiz scored Spain’s opening goal in a 2–1 win over Belgium at Sophie’s Stadium on 10 July, his first goal in a World Cup competition of his career. Thus, he raised his international tally to 7 goals from 48 international matches.
Spain named him in its 2026 World Cup squad on May 25.
Where cryptocurrencies and collectibles meet the World Cup
A Panini NFT Prizm World Cup Soccer card featuring Ruiz recently sold for $3. Three dollars. For comparison, during the NFT boom of 2021, NFTs of sports cards from major international players were fetching prices that made traditional card collectors feel like they missed a memo.
Ruiz also has a presence at Sorare, a blockchain-based fantasy football platform where digital player cards are tracked and traded as on-chain collectibles. Sorare cards for players at his level exist within a broader ecosystem in which platforms like CryptoSlam monitor trading volume and activity.
The Sorare model links card utility to actual match performance, meaning that a player with a strong tournament directly influences the behavior of the active user of the platform. Ruiz’s goal in the World Cup quarter-finals is not just a football event. It’s a Sorare recording event.
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