1923–29: early years

Villarreal CF was founded as Club Deportivo Villarreal on 10 March 1923 "to promote all sports especially Football." The stadium was rented for 60 pesetas a month and ticket prices were set at half a peseta for men and a quarter of a peseta for children. Women were granted free admission.^[3] On 17 June 1923, Castellón, a modern rival of the club, played the first match against a club named after Miguel de Cervantes. On 21 October of that year, Villarreal played their first game ever, playing against Castellón.^[3] Villarreal started off with a kit of white shirts and black shorts, reflected in their first badge.^[4]

1929–98: time in lower divisions

Villarreal entered regional competitions within the Spanish football pyramid from 1929 to 1930 onwards. The 1934–35 season saw the team lose to Cartagena when a win would have seen them promoted to the nationwide Second Division.^[3] The following season saw Villarreal win the First Division of the region before the outbreak of the Spanish Civil War.^[3]

When the war finished in 1939, the club played again in the Second Division of the region.^[3] However, CD Villarreal was dissolved in the early 1940s, and in 1942, CA Foghetecaz, an acronym for the club's founders (Font, Gil, Herrero, Teuler, Catalá and Zaragoza), was one of several clubs established in its place. On 25 August 1947, the new club joined the Valencian Football Federation and in 1950 renamed itself as CAF Villarreal, where the F stood for Foghetecaz.^[4]

The name changed again to the current Villarreal CF in June 1954, with a badge similar to the present one.^[4] They finished seventh and then fourth twice in the First regional league before being promoted to the Tercera Liga (Third Nationwide) as champions in 1956. They were relegated in 1960–61 after finishing 14th.^[3]

The club adopted their present badge in the middle of 1966.^[4] In 1966–67, Villarreal returned to the Tercera as champions. In 1970, they reached the national Segunda for the first time.^[3] After narrowly avoiding relegation in their first season, they were relegated the following season. In 1975–76, they were relegated from the Tercera to the Regionals, but were promoted back again the next season. In 1986–87, Villarreal were promoted to the Segunda Liga B.^[3] In 1990, they finished 18th and were relegated back to the Tercera.

There were back-to-back promotions as the club returned to Segunda B and finished second, earning promotion to Segunda A for the first time. From 1992 to 1993, Villarreal were often in low or mid-table positions, but reached the play-offs in 1997–98 by finishing fourth.^[5] The two-legged play-off was against Compostela. Villarreal hosted the first leg which was a 0–0 draw, but the second leg at the home of the Galician team was a 1–1 draw, thus Villarreal were promoted on the away goals rule.

1998–2012: La Liga and European debuts

Villarreal's La Liga debut started with a match against reigning European champions Real Madrid at the Santiago Bernabéu Stadium on 31 August 1998 where they lost 4-1 despite taking the lead after 3 minutes.^[6] The first home game was against Celta de Vigo^[5] the week after. Because of a difficult season, Villarreal were relegated to the Segunda División for the 1999–2000 season, but by finishing third, they were then promoted back to the Primera División.

Arsenal FC vs Villarreal CF 2008–09 UEFA Champions League quarter-finals

After finishing seventh on their return to the Primera, Villarreal finished in 15th place for two-straight seasons.^[5] Villarreal competed in the UEFA Intertoto Cup in the middle of 2002, defeating FH of Iceland, Torino of Italy, and Troyes of France. They lost in the final to compatriots Málaga, 2–1 on aggregate.^[7]

In the middle of 2003, they defeated the Dutch team Heerenveen in the final of the Intertoto Cup, thereby qualifying for the UEFA Cup. In their major European debut, Villarreal reached the semi-finals of the UEFA Cup, losing to neighbours and eventual champions Valencia. In the league, Villarreal finished in eighth place. In the middle of 2004, Villarreal retained the Intertoto Cup, beating compatriots Atlético Madrid on penalties after the final finished 2–2 on aggregate. This qualified them to the UEFA Cup. They lost in the quarter-finals of the 2004–05 UEFA Cup to Dutch side AZ, losing 3–2 on aggregate. During the same season, Villarreal finished in third place in La Liga, earning the club their first direct qualification to a European tournament, the Champions League. The club's centre-forward Diego Forlán won the Pichichi Trophy for top scorer in the league, with 25 goals.

Villarreal defeated the English Premier League's Everton in a play-off for the Champions League group stages. The group saw Villarreal go undefeated, drawing both games against Manchester United and achieving a draw and a win each against Lille of France and Benfica of Portugal. The win over Benfica was away and both teams advanced to the last 16.^[8]

The club then drew 3–3 against Rangers of Scotland in the Last 16, advancing on away goals due to a 2–2 draw at Ibrox. In the quarter-finals, Villarreal beat Internazionale on away goals after finishing 2–2 on aggregate. The club bowed out in the semi-finals against Arsenal, losing 1–0 away at Highbury. Juan Román Riquelme had a penalty saved by Jens Lehmann in the home game, which finished 0–0. Arsenal went on to lose in the final in Paris to another Spanish club, Barcelona. Villarreal finished seventh in La Liga, which only earned an Intertoto Cup position.

Chart of Villarreal CF league performance 1929–2023

Villarreal contested the Intertoto Cup in the middle of 2006 and was knocked out in its first game, to Maribor of Slovenia. The first leg was lost 2–1 at home and the away game was a 1–1 draw.^[9] The team finished 5th in La Liga and qualified for the UEFA Cup. Villarreal gained their best-ever league position in 2008, finishing second to Real Madrid by eight points, and also reached the last 32 in that season's UEFA Cup. After defeating BATE Borisov of Belarus in a play-off, the team won Group C unbeaten.^[10] Their group opponents were Fiorentina of Italy, Mladá Boleslav of Czech Republic, IF Elfsborg of Sweden, and AEK Athens of Greece.

In the last 32, Villarreal were defeated by eventual champions Zenit Saint Petersburg, losing the first leg 1–0 in Russia to a Pavel Pogrebnyak goal. The second leg was won 2–1 by Villarreal at El Madrigal, but Zenit advanced on away goals.

The club automatically qualified for the 2008–09 UEFA Champions League by finishing second in La Liga the previous season. They drew Manchester United, for the second consecutive campaign, Celtic, and Aalborg BK. They made a good start by holding current European champions Manchester United to a goal-less draw at Old Trafford, a third 0–0 draw in a row against the English giants. A first win was sealed on 30 September by beating Gordon Strachan's Celtic 1–0 at El Madrigal, courtesy of a Marcos Senna free-kick. On 21 October, during a Champions League match against Aalborg, they scored six goals to three. The Spaniards went through to the knock-out stage after drawing 2–2 with Aalborg in Denmark and drawing goalless once again against Manchester United. In the last group stage match, they lost to an already-eliminated Celtic.

In the knock-out stage, they faced Panathinaikos, who left Villarreal with a 1–1 away advantage, but lost 1–2 in Athens. Villarreal reached the quarter-finals for the second time in two attempts, and were once again paired with Arsenal. The first leg saw a 1–1 draw by a Marcos Senna free kick, equalised by an Emmanuel Adebayor volley. Theo Walcott, Emmanuel Adebayor, and Robin van Persie secured a 3–0 win for Arsenal on the return, knocking Villarreal out of the tournament.

Real Madrid vs. Villarreal in 2011

Despite finishing outside of a European qualifying spot in the domestic league, Villarreal was given a place in the qualifying round of the 2010–11 UEFA Europa League after UEFA determined that Mallorca's financial irregularities precluded them from taking part in the tournament.

A 5–0 home win and a 2–1 away win against Dnepr Mogilev qualified them for the group stage. Villarreal suffered an early setback following a shock 2–0 loss in their away fixture against Dinamo Zagreb. Despite this, however, later wins against Dinamo, Club Brugge and PAOK saw them top their group.

After beating Napoli, Bayer Leverkusen and Twente in the knockout phases, Villarreal qualified for the semi-finals to face tournament favourites Porto. After Villarreal took a 0–1 lead at the Estádio do Dragão, Porto made a remarkable turnaround that ended in a 5–1 defeat for Villarreal. Although Villarreal won the second leg 3–2, Porto's first leg goal total saw them advance to the final on aggregate, where they beat Braga to be crowned champions. Giuseppe Rossi finished as the tournament's second top goalscorer with 11 goals, behind Porto's Radamel Falcao.

2012–present: relegation and European glory

Last match of the 2012–13 season game against UD Almería. Finally, Villarreal won and were promoted to La Liga.

On 13 May 2012, Villarreal were relegated from La Liga after defeat to Atlético Madrid. Following a horrendous season, the club suffered a shattering tragedy when Manolo Preciado, appointed as Villarreal's new manager on 6 June 2012, died of a heart attack later that day.^[11] Following their relegation, there was a mass exodus of players at the club, with star players such as Borja Valero, Diego López, Giuseppe Rossi and Nilmar leaving the side.^[12]

After one year in the Segunda División, Villarreal were promoted back to La Liga on the final day of the season after finishing the year second after champions Elche. The team began its new tenure in the top flight by winning its first three games; the winning streak ended with a tie against Real Madrid at El Madrigal, though the team was undefeated until falling to Real Betis 1–0 on the seventh matchday of the season. The Yellow Submarine finished the 2013–14 campaign in sixth, thus qualifying them for next season's Europa League.

In 2014–15, Villarreal again finished the year in sixth, enough to secure direct qualification to the Europa League group stage. In the 2015–16 season, Villarreal led La Liga for the first time during the sixth and seventh weeks, before falling to fifth place the following week. The club ended the season in 4th place and thus advanced to the 2016–17 UEFA Champions League playoff round. The club progressed to the semi-finals of the 2015–16 Europa League, but were knocked out by Liverpool. Villarreal won the first leg 1–0, but lost 3–0 in Liverpool and 3–1 on aggregate.^[13]

In 2019–20, Villarreal finished fifth, earning a place in the 2020–21 UEFA Europa League. The team went on a memorable run, advancing to the final after knocking out Arsenal 2–1 on aggregate. Facing favoured Manchester United, Villarreal held them to a 1–1 draw after extra time and then won 11–10 in a penalty shoot-out,^[14] winning the club's first ever major trophy. Domestically, they finished seventh, supposedly qualifying for the inaugural UEFA Europa Conference League. However, courtesy of their triumph, Villarreal switched their next year's participation in the inaugural Conference League to the 2021–22 Champions League.^[15][16][17]

At the start of the 2021–22 season, Villarreal competed in the 2021 UEFA Super Cup against Chelsea in Belfast, which ended a 1-1 draw after extra time, but Chelsea managed to win 6-5 in the penalty shootout as captain Raúl Albiol saw his penalty saved by Chelsea goalkeeper Kepa Arrizabalaga. That same season, Villarreal progressed to the semi-finals of the Champions League after knocking out Juventus in the round of 16 and Bayern Munich in the quarter-finals, before losing 5–2 on aggregate to Liverpool.^[18]

Domestic

• Tercera División
  • Winners: 1969–70

European

• UEFA Europa League
  • Winners: 2020–21
• UEFA Intertoto Cup
  • Winners: 2003, 2004

UEFA club coefficient ranking

As of 10 June 2023^[23]

Rank	Team	Points
16	Leipzig	84.000
17	Benfica	82.000
18	Villarreal	82.000
19	Napoli	81.000
20	Porto	81.000

Current squad

As of 5 January 2024^[25]

Note: Flags indicate national team as defined under FIFA eligibility rules. Players may hold more than one non-FIFA nationality.

No. Pos. Nation Player 1 GK  ESP Pepe Reina 3 DF  ESP Raúl Albiol (captain) 4 MF  ESP Santi Comesaña 5 DF  ESP Jorge Cuenca 6 MF  FRA Étienne Capoue 7 FW  ESP Gerard Moreno (3rd captain) 8 DF  ARG Juan Foyth 10 MF  ESP Dani Parejo 11 FW  NOR Alexander Sørloth 12 DF  CIV Eric Bailly 13 GK  DEN Filip Jörgensen 14 MF  ESP Manu Trigueros (vice-captain) 15 FW  ESP José Luis Morales

No. Pos. Nation Player 16 MF  ESP Álex Baena 17 DF  ESP Kiko Femenía 18 DF  ESP Alberto Moreno 19 MF  FRA Francis Coquelin 20 MF  ESP Ramon Terrats 21 FW  ESP Yeremy Pino 22 MF  ESP Denis Suárez 23 DF  ALG Aïssa Mandi 24 DF  ESP Alfonso Pedraza 26 DF  ESP Adrià Altimira 27 FW  MAR Ilias Akhomach 37 DF  ESP Carlos Romero

Reserve team

Note: Flags indicate national team as defined under FIFA eligibility rules. Players may hold more than one non-FIFA nationality.

No. Pos. Nation Player 29 DF  ESP Abraham del Moral 30 FW  ESP Jorge Pascual 31 GK  AND Iker Álvarez 39 DF  ESP Antonio Espigares

No. Pos. Nation Player 40 FW  ESP Álex Forés 42 DF  SRB Stefan Leković (on loan from Red Star Belgrade) 43 FW  ESP Diego Collado

Out on loan

Note: Flags indicate national team as defined under FIFA eligibility rules. Players may hold more than one non-FIFA nationality.

No. Pos. Nation Player — DF  COL Johan Mojica (at Osasuna until 30 June 2024) — MF  ECU Liberman Torres (at Recreativo until 30 June 2024) — MF  COL Luis Quintero (at Amorebieta until 30 June 2024) — FW  ESP Álex Jiménez (at Sestao River until 30 June 2024)

No. Pos. Nation Player — FW  NED Arnaut Danjuma (at Everton until 30 June 2024) — FW  FRA Haissem Hassan (at Sporting Gijón until 30 June 2024) — FW  ARG Thiago Ojeda (at Lugo until 30 June 2024) — FW  CHI Ben Brereton Díaz (at Sheffield United until 30 June 2024)

Most Appearances

Competitive, professional matches only. Bold indicates player is still active at club level. As of 20 February 2023.

Rank	Player	Years	League1	Cup	Europe2	Total
1	Manu Trigueros	2012–present	349	34	68	452
2	Bruno Soriano	2006–2020	324	29	72	425
3	Mario Gaspar	2009–2022	337	26	61	424
4	Marcos Senna	2002–2013	292	16	55	363
5	Santi Cazorla	2004–2006; 2007–2011; 2018–2020	251	20	63	334
6	Cani	2006–2014	259	21	47	327
7	Rodolfo Arruabarrena	2000–2007	219	13	52	284
8	Jaume Costa	2012–2019; 2020–2021	211	19	37	267
	Pascual Donat	1992–2000	237	30	0
9	Javi Venta	2002–2010; 2012–2013	197	15	48	260
10	Sergio Asenjo	2013–2022	228	10	20	258

Goalscorers

Competitive, professional matches only. Appearances, including substitutes, are shown in parentheses. As of 21 February 2023.

Rank	Player	Years	League1	Cup	Europe2	Total	Ratio
1	Gerard Moreno	2012–2013; 2014–2015; 2018–present	74 (175)	12 (17)	19 (41)	105 (233)	0.45
2	Giuseppe Rossi	2007–2012	54 (136)	7 (15)	21 (41)	82 (192)	0.43
3	Adriano García	1986–1987; 1988–1990; 1991–1993	69a (148)	6 (16)	0 (0)	75 (164)	0.46
4	Diego Forlán	2004–2007	54 (106)	1 (7)	4 (15)	59 (128)	0.46
5	Santi Cazorla	2004–2006; 2007–2011; 2018–2020	40 (251)	6 (20)	11 (63)	57 (334)	0.17
6	Cédric Bakambu	2015–2017	31 (75)	4 (5)	12 (25)	47 (105)	0.45
7	Juan Román Riquelme	2003–2006	36 (106)	1 (4)	8 (35)	45 (145)	0.31
8	Víctor	2000–2004	39 (131)	2 (10)	3 (26)	44 (167)	0.26
9	Carlos Bacca	2017–2021	28 (110)	8 (13)	7 (22)	43 (145)	0.3
10	Samuel Chukwueze	2018–2023	21 (145)	9 (14)	7 (38)	37 (197)	0.19