Foreigners from Atletico Madrid, Barcelona and Real Madrid are among those with the most La Liga appearances in the competition’s history.
While it may seem like Lionel Messi was plying his trade in Spain far longer than Antoine Griezmann has been, the Frenchman’s inability to get injured has allowed him to match a long-standing record.
With Messi off in Miami, the Frenchman will soon take the outright record but who else is on the list? Here are the top 10 most-capped foreign players in La Liga history.
=10. Mauro Silva and Inaki Williams
Sharing 10th spot, for now, is current Athletic Bilbao player Williams and former Real Deportivo midfielder Mauro Silva.
While Williams is still playing for Bilbao, meaning the number 10 spot will soon be his alone, Silva played in the league from 1992 to 2005.
Spending his entire time at Deportivo, the 1994 World Cup winner made 369 total appearances for the club and was a crucial part of the teams that won the league, two Copa del Reys and three supercups.
Williams meanwhile is 10th on Athletic’s all-time top appearances and given the Basque club’s rule of only selecting players from the area, Williams is also the only foreign player having declared for Ghana in 2022.
9. Roberto Carlos
The free kick maestro himself, Carlos made 370 appearances which was also the speed in mph he seemed to kick the ball.
A player many consider to be the best left-back ever, Carlos was one of the original Galacticos at the Bernabeu. While in Spain, the Brazilian won three Champions Leagues and four league titles but never got his hands on the Copa del Rey.
Although for a player with a World Cup winner’s medal and two Copa America triumphs, we are sure he is not too fussed about missing out on Spain’s domestic cup.
8. Valery Karpin
The current manager of the Russian national team played for three clubs in Spain from 1994 to 2005.
He started at Real Sociedad having joined from Spartak Moscow and spent a year at Valencia in 1996 before moving to Celta Vigo the following season.
He played 168 times for the Sky Blues before heading north and back to Sociedad.
Overall, he made 384 appearances in La Liga, placing him eighth in the all-time list.
=6. Marcelo and Luka Modric
The recently-retired Marcelo made a name for himself for being Madrid’s marauding left back.
Not always the most defensively sound, Marcelo summed up Madrid’s playing style of ‘we will just score more than you’ during 386 league games there.
Whilst in the Spanish capital. Marcelo won five Champions Leagues, six league titles and two Copa del Reys in one of the best Madrid sides of all time.
He left the club in 2022, returning to his home of Brazil before retiring last year.
As for Modric, he may well be three years older than his former team-mate but he continues to play at the highest level.
The Croatian is ninth in Madrid’s all-time-top appearances and is still a key part of Carlo Ancelotti’s squad.
His contract ends this summer but there is every indication that Modric’s time at the Bernabeu is not over just yet.
Three of Xavi's picks have since retired and one plays in Qatar.
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5. Dani Alves
Arriving in Spain with Sevilla, attacking right-back Alves played 175 times for the southern side before completing a move to Barcelona for €32.5 million in 2008.
Alves would go on to spend eight years at the Camp Nou and became not just the best right back in the world but one of the best of all time. Creating a telepathic relationship with Messi, Alves was a cruel part to the Barcelona side that dominated world football.
By the time he left Barcelona the first time, he had won everything club football had to offer. After spells at Juventus, PSG and Sao Paulo, Alves returned to Barcelona for 14 games.
He retired in 2023 but was charged with rape and sentenced to four-and-a-half years in prison. Having paid a €1 million bail, Alves was released but prohibited from leaving Spain.
4. Ivan Rakitic
Given the unenviable task of replacing Xavi at Barcelona, Raktic provided the physically combined with technical ability that Luis Enrique wanted in his new-look side.
An often underappreciated player, Rakitic scored the opening goal of the 2015 Champions League final and won 11 trophies with the Camp Nou side.
He returned to Sevilla in 2020 where he won the Europa League before moving to Al Shabab in 2024.
However, Rakitic played just eight times in Saudi Arabia before moving back to Croatia with Hajduk Split.
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3. Karim Benzema
The French striker may have had to play second fiddle to the likes of Cristiano Ronaldo and Gareth Bale but Benzema was just as important as the other big-name players.
He was at Madrid for 14 years, winning the 2022 Ballon d’Or once Ronaldo had left, and scored 238 times, making him the club’s second top scorer in history.
The Frenchman then moved to Saudi and Al-Ittihad where he continues to play to this day.
=1. Lionel Messi and Antoine Griezmann
Lionel Messi in La Liga hardly needs explaining but in case you have been living under a particularly large rock, the Argentine broke just about every record going.
Top goalscorer in La Liga history, top assist provider in La Liga history, most goals scored in a La Liga season, most assists in a La Liga season, most braces scored in La Liga, most hat-tricks scored in La Liga, most hat-tricks scored in a La Liga season, only player to be top goalscorer and top assist provider in the same season, only player to score 30+ goals in 7 different seasons.
The list goes on and on and on.
Football, not just La Liga, has a before Messi period and after him as he pretty much rewrote the record books. He is the competition’s top scorer and up until very recently was the outright appearance holder for a foreigner. He is ninth in the all-time top appearances makers.
Barcelona’s money troubles meant a teary goodbye in 2021 but while the eight-time Ballon d’Or winner has been playing elsewhere, Griezmann has gone on to match Messi’s league appearances.
The Atletico Madrid player’s 86 minutes against Barcelona was the 520th league appearance of his career, putting him level with Messi.
Missing just 25 games through injury in his whole career, the Frenchman at the age of 33 looks likely to add plenty of games to the record.