Fabian Ruiz aims for 50th cap as Spain chases World Cup glory, with NFT market watching

Fabian Ruiz is about to hit a number that most footballers only dream about. The Paris Saint-Germain midfielder is on the verge of earning his 50th cap for Spain, with the timing couldn’t be more dramatic: a World Cup Final.

As of Spain’s quarter-final victory on July 10, 2026, Ruiz had 48 international appearances to his name, all of them without a single defeat. Forty-eight caps, zero losses.

What Ruiz brings to Spain’s engine room

Ruiz scored Spain’s opening goal in a 2-1 win over Belgium at SoFi Stadium on July 10, his first goal in World Cup competition across his career. It brought his international tally to 7 goals from 48 caps.

Spain named him in their 2026 World Cup squad back on May 25.

Where crypto 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, sports card NFTs from major international players were fetching prices that made traditional card collectors feel like they’d missed a memo.

Ruiz also has a presence on Sorare, the 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 that platforms like CryptoSlam monitor for trading volume and activity.

Sorare’s model ties card utility to actual match performance, meaning a player having a strong tournament directly affects the platform’s active user behavior. A Ruiz goal in a World Cup quarter-final is not just a football highlight. It’s a Sorare scoring event.

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