Fabian Ruiz aims for 50th cap as Spain chases World Cup glory, with NFT market watching
The PSG midfielder's World Cup run is drawing attention on the pitch and in the digital collectibles market
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.