Abel Ruiz · Biography

Abel Ruiz Ortega was born on 28 January 2000 in Almussafes, in the province of Valencia, and came through the youth ranks at Valencia before moving to FC Barcelona’s La Masia. A centre-forward, he left Barcelona in 2020 for Portuguese side SC Braga, where he spent four and a half seasons, and in June 2024 he returned to Spain to join Girona. With Spain’s youth teams he won the European Under-17 Championship, the European Under-19 Championship and Olympic gold at Paris 2024.

Youth years at Valencia and Barcelona

He started out at Valencia’s academy, where he played from 2008 to 2012. That year, aged twelve, he moved to Barcelona’s academy and worked his way up through every age group to the Juvenil A side. In November 2016 the club extended his contract to 2019. He was part of the Barcelona youth team that won the 2017-18 UEFA Youth League, the club’s second title in that competition.

Barcelona B and the first team

He made his debut for the reserve side on 9 April 2017, coming on in the second half of a 2-0 away win at Badalona in the Segunda División B. The team won promotion that season, and his professional debut followed on 28 August 2017 in the Spanish second division, a 3-0 defeat to Tenerife. In all, he played 68 games for Barcelona B and scored 9 goals between 2017 and 2020.

He first played for the senior team on 7 March 2018 in the Supercopa de Catalunya final against Espanyol, scoring the last kick of the shoot-out that won Barcelona the trophy. His official La Liga debut came on 12 May 2019, off the bench in a 2-0 win over Getafe at the Camp Nou. It was his only league appearance for the first team, but it earned him a winner’s medal for La Liga 2018-19.

Four and a half years at SC Braga

On 31 January 2020 he joined SC Braga on loan with an obligation to buy set at €8 million, while Barcelona kept a buy-back option. His European debut came on 20 February 2020 in the Europa League round of 32 first leg against Rangers in Glasgow, a 3-2 defeat. In Portugal he established himself as the striker of a side that regularly played in Europe, and he stayed in the Primeira Liga until the summer of 2024.

With Braga he won two trophies: the 2020-21 Taça de Portugal and the 2023-24 Taça da Liga. Over those four and a half seasons he played more than 180 competitive matches for the club.

Return to Spain with Girona

On 27 June 2024 Girona announced his signing on a five-year deal. According to the Spanish press, the fee was around €9 million plus a percentage of any future sale. The Catalan club had just qualified for the Champions League for the first time, and Abel Ruiz arrived as the centre-forward for that European campaign. Before playing for his new club, he joined Spain’s Olympic squad.

Spain youth teams

He made his Under-17 debut on 25 October 2015 against Andorra and scored. At the 2016 European Under-17 Championship in Azerbaijan he scored four goals, and Spain lost the final to Portugal on penalties. A year later, in Croatia, he captained the team that won the 2017 European Under-17 Championship, and in October of that year he was a runner-up at the Under-17 World Cup in India after losing the final to England. He finished his time in that age group as the all-time top scorer of Spain’s Under-17 side.

With the Under-18s he won the 2018 Mediterranean Games in Tarragona, and with the Under-19s the 2019 European Championship in Armenia. He played for the Under-21s from 2019 to 2023 and was a runner-up at the 2023 European Under-21 Championship in Georgia and Romania. On 8 June 2021 he made his senior Spain debut in a friendly against Lithuania, which Spain won 4-0.

Olympic gold in Paris

Santi Denia picked him for the Paris 2024 Olympic Games, where he wore the captain’s armband. He scored in the quarter-final against Japan (3-0), and on 9 August 2024 Spain beat France 5-3 after extra time in the final at the Parc des Princes. It was Spain’s second Olympic gold medal in men’s football, 32 years after Barcelona 1992.