📸 Xavi, Spain footballer: Photo Gallery (Photo: 10)

📄 Summary

Xavi

Spain

25 January 1980

multiplayer

11.8M @xavi Xavi Instagram

Xavi , commonly known as Xavi Hernández (Spanish: [ˈʃaβj eɾˈnandeθ]) or simply Xavi, is a Spanish professional football manager and former player who most recently managed La Liga club Barcelona. Widely regarded as one of the greatest players of all time, Xavi was renowned for his exceptional passing, vision, and positioning. He is the all-time Spanish top assist provider in the UEFA Champions League with 30 assists. He spent most of his playing career at Barcelona and is one of the few players to make over 1,000 professional career appearances.

Xavi joined La Masia, the Barcelona youth academy, at age 11 and made his first-team debut against Mallorca in August 1998, age 18. For Barcelona, he played 767 official matches, a former club record—now held by Lionel Messi—and scored 85 goals. With the initial management guidance by Pep Guardiola and using the tiki-taka football philosophy, Xavi was part of a widely lauded midfield combination trio with Andrés Iniesta and Sergio Busquets; from 2008 to 2015 the trio together were instrumental in Barcelona's exceptional on-field successes in 7 seasons, winning five La Liga titles, three Copa del Rey titles and three Champions League titles, including two continental trebles (all three titles simultaneously) in 2008–09 and 2014–15. Xavi was the first player in the club's history to play 150 European and FIFA Club World Cup matches combined. In 2015, he left Barcelona for Al Sadd, where he won four trophies before retiring in 2019.

With Spain, Xavi won the FIFA World Youth Championship in 1999, and the Olympic silver medal at the 2000 Olympics. He made his senior team debut in 2000 and he was capped 133 times for Spain. Xavi played an integral role in Spain's 2010 FIFA World Cup win, as well as their UEFA Euro 2008 and UEFA Euro 2012 victories. He was named Player of the Tournament at UEFA Euro 2008 and was named in the UEFA Euro Team of the Tournament in 2008 and 2012. With two assists in the UEFA Euro 2012 Final, Xavi became the first player to make assists in two separate European finals. After the 2014 FIFA World Cup, Xavi announced his retirement from international football.

Xavi came third place in both the 2009 FIFA World Player of the Year and FIFA Ballon d'Or, followed by third place in the Ballon d'Or in 2010 and 2011. In 2011, he was runner up to Messi for the UEFA Best Player in Europe Award. Xavi was awarded the Prince of Asturias Award in 2012. He was awarded the IFFHS World's Best Playmaker award four consecutive times from 2008 to 2011. He was named in the FIFA FIFPro World XI six times from 2008 to 2013, and in the UEFA Team of the Year five times from 2008 to 2012. In 2020, Xavi was named in the Ballon d'Or Dream Team, a greatest all-time XI published by France Football.

After retirement, Xavi transitioned to management. In May 2019, he became manager of Qatar Stars League club Al Sadd, where he won seven trophies in less than three years. In November 2021, Xavi was appointed as manager at his former club Barcelona. He won the 2023 Supercopa de España title and the 2022–23 La Liga title in his first full season as the club's manager.

▤ Read more

📋 Profile & Career

: Xavi as a manager of Al Sadd in 2020

⚽ Personal information:
Full name: Xavier Hernández Creus
Date of birth: (1980-01-25) 25 January 1980 (age 45)
Place of birth: Terrassa, Catalonia, Spain
Height: 1.70 m (5 ft 7 in)
Position(s): Midfielder

⚽ Youth career:
1991–1997: Barcelona

⚽ Senior career*:
Years: Team Apps (Gls)
1997–1999: Barcelona B 55 (3)
1998–2015: Barcelona 505 (58)
2015–2019: Al Sadd 82 (20)
Total: 642 (81)

⚽ International career:
1997: Spain U17 10 (2)
1997–1998: Spain U18 10 (0)
1998–2014: Catalonia 12 (2)
1999: Spain U20 6 (2)
1998–2001: Spain U21 26 (7)
2000: Spain U23 6 (2)
2000–2014: Spain 133 (13)

⚽ Managerial career:
2019–2021: Al Sadd
2021–2024: Barcelona

📰 Google News (RSS)

Xavi Simons’ first match since joining Tottenham did not go to plan, played out of position - Spurs Web

✐ Spurs Web
Sat, 06 Sep 2025 13:00:00 GMT

Simons explains how Werner helped him pick Spurs over Chelsea - London Evening Standard

Simons explains how Werner helped him pick Spurs over Chelsea  London Evening Standard
Xavi Simons happy with Tottenham Hotspur move, won’t reveal if Bayern Munich made attempt  Bavarian Football Works
Why Tottenham may have Timo Werner to thank for beating Chelsea to Xavi Simons  Spurs Web