List of Official Appearances Records
Most Official Appearances (Top Level)
Consecutive Seasons Data
NB: compilation of lits in progress; totals as of Jun 30, 2023. - mostly famous players with verified statistics. - the sources: club books or historical websites, old press. - the statistics of some players in Brazilian competitions in 1980s-1990s need to be confirmed (incl. Fabio, Ceni etc.). - player statistics for reserve and amateur teams is mostly incomplete. included: - all leagues (incl. regional-, reserve-, amateur-) - national, regional and international cups - all selections: A, B, Ol, U, league, armee, senior, regional, city, etc. (against the same selections) - other official tournaments and games (organized by the football union), e.g. all-star games (MLS, South Korea, Japan), FIFA/UEFA sel. and others. - all cancelled games 1 Shilton, Peter England 1949 1965-1997 1503 2 Matthews, Stanley England 1915 1930-1965 1263+ 3 Clemence, Raymond England 1948 1965-1988 1260+ 4 Fabio Brazil 1980 1997- 1247+** 5 Ronaldo, Cristiano Portugal 1985 2001- 1240* 6 Ceni, Rogério Brazil 1973 1990-2015 1232+ 7 Jennings, Patrick North Ireland 1945 1962-1986 1205+ 8 Hutchison, Thomas Scotland 1947 1965-1994 1183+ 9 Buffon, Gianluigi Italy 1978 1993-2023 1179 10 Xavi Spain 1980 1997-2019 1163 11 Endō, Yasuhito Japan 1980 1997- 1156* 12 Roberto Carlos Brazil 1973 1991-2011 1147 13 Marcelinho Paraíba Brazil 1975 1991-2020 1125 14 Casillas, Iker Spain 1981 1998-2019 1119 15 Zanetti, Javier Argentina 1973 1992-2014 1114 16 Moore, Robert England 1941 1957-1978 1111 17 Peters, Martin England 1943 1959-1983 1106 18 Messi, Lionel Argentina 1987 2004- 1103* 19 James, Robert Wales 1957 1973-1998 1102+ 20 Callaghan, Ian England 1942 1960-1982 1094 21 Lampard, Frank England 1978 1994-2016 1091 22 Dalglish, Kenneth Scotland 1951 1966-1990 1088 # 23 McGleish, Scott Scotland 1974 1993-2023 1086 24 Zinho Brazil 1967 1985-2007 1085 25 Bailie, Noel North Ireland 1971 1989-2011 1085 26 Ferguson, Glenn North Ireland 1969 1986-2011 1084 27 Ford, Anthony England 1959 1975-2002 1082 28 Dani Alves Brazil 1983 2001- 1081* 29 Seaman, David England 1963 1982-2004 1079 30 Meredith, William Wales 1874 1891-1924 1079+ # 31 Rivaldo Brazil 1972 1989-2015 1076+ 32 Ball, James Alan England 1945 1962-1984 1071 33 Cureton, James England 1975 1993-2022 1071 34 Raúl González Blanco Spain 1977 1994-2015 1065 35 Giggs, Ryan Wales 1973 1990-2014 1058 36 James, David England 1970 1989-2014 1054 37 Iniesta, Andrés Spain 1984 2000- 1053* 38 Modric, Luka Croatia 1985 2003- 1050* 39 Neal, Philip England 1951 1967-1990 1048 40 Maldini, Paolo Italy 1968 1985-2009 1048 41 Charlton, Robert England 1937 1954-1981 1047 42 Lorimer, Peter Scotland 1946 1962-1986 1044 43 Ze Roberto Brazil 1974 1994-2017 1043 44 Hayles, Barrington Jamaica/England 1972 1989-2023 1040+ 45 Hollins, John England 1946 1963-1984 1038 46 Moutinho, João Portugal 1986 2004- 1037* 47 Leighton, James Scotland 1958 1977-2000 1036 48 Miura, Kazuyoshi Japan 1967 1986- 1031+* 49 Rooke, Ronald England 1911 1929-1961 1029+ 50 Mills, Michael England 1949 1965-1988 1028 51 Alexander, Graham Scotland 1971 1991-2012 1025 52 Hartford, Richard Asa Scotland 1950 1967-1991 1022 53 Irwin, Denis Ireland 1965 1982-2004 1021 54 Sergio Ramos Spain 1986 2002- 1018* 55 Seedorf, Clarence Netherland 1976 1992-2013 1017 56 Southall, Neville Wales 1957 1980-2000 1017 57 Speed, Gary Wales 1969 1986-2009 1016 58 Cush, Wilbur North Ireland 1928 1945-1970 1011+ 59 Shaw, Charles Scotland 1885 1900-1926 1011+ 60 Henry, Thierry France 1977 1992-2014 1010 61 Reina, Jose "Pepe" Spain 1982 1999- 1009* 62 Wilkins, Raymond England 1956 1972-1997 1008 63 Zubizarreta, Andoni Spain 1961 1979-1998 1008 64 Sheringham, Edward England 1966 1983-2008 1007 65 Milner, James England 1986 2002- 1007* 66 Matthäus, Lothar Germany 1961 1978-2000 1005 67 Humphries, William North Ireland 1936 1953-1977 1004 68 Paine, Terence England 1939 1956-1980 1003 69 Romario Brazil 1966 1984-2009 1003 70 Pearce, Stuart England 1962 1978-2002 1002 71 Ibrahimovic, Zlatan Sweden 1981 1999-2023 1001 72 Redfearn, Neil England 1965 1982-2008 1000+ 73 Strachan, Gordon Scotland 1957 1972-1997 1000 74 McCall, Stuart Scotland 1964 1982-2004 1000 75 Kelly, James North Ireland 1911 1925-1957 1000+ 76 Alexandro de Souza/Alex Brazil 1977 1995-2014 997 77 Schmeichel, Peter Dania 1963 1981-2003 997+ 78 Perryman, Stephen England 1951 1966-1990 996+ 79 Jardine, "Sandy" Scotland 1948 1966-1988 996+ 80 Beardsley, Peter England 1961 1979-1999 991+ 81 Aldridge, John Ireland 1958 1976-1998 990+ 82 Wark, John Scotland 1957 1973-1997 988 83 Magno Alves Brazil 1976 1993-2021 986 84 Miller, William Scotland 1955 1971-1990 985 85 Figo, Luis Portugal 1972 1988-2009 984+ 86 Narey, David Scotland 1956 1973-1995 980+ 87 Nene Brazil 1981 2000- 979+* 88 Peacock, Robert North Ireland 1928 1945-1969 978+ 89 Fulton, Robert North Ireland 1906 1921-1947 976+ NB: * indicates player is still active (at last update); + indicates number is a lower bound - player may have played more; # corrected or added data after last update (only inactive players). ** without Fabio's statistics for União Bandeirante and Atlético Paranaense (1997-1999, around 40 matches). These statistics need verification. Notes: there may be other players with 1000 or more matches.
included: - top leagues (incl. Brazilian regional leagues, serie A); - national and international cups; - national, league and U23 selections. NB: preliminary list 1 Shilton, Peter 1233 2 Ceni, Rogério 1228 3 Ronaldo, Cristiano 1207* 4 Fabio 1159+** 5 Zanetti, Javier 1081 6 Buffon, Gianluigi 1078 7 Zinho 1078 8 Clemence, Raymond 1070 9 Roberto Carlos 1066 10 Dani Alves 1060* 11 Ferguson, Glenn 1056 17 Messi, Lionel 1051* 12 Jennings, Patrick 1049 13 Casillas, Iker 1048 14 Ze Roberto 1042 15 Raúl González Blanco 1040 16 Endō, Yasuhito 1036* 18 Maldini, Paolo 1032 19 Giggs, Ryan 1031 20 Xavi 1023 21 Bailie, Noel 1017 22 Modric, Luka 1013* 23 Lampard, Frank 1010 24 Rivaldo 1006
10 consecutive seasons Neal, Philip 1975-1985 662 (missed only 4 games in this period for FC Liverpool) Clemence, Raymond 1972-1982 657 Ceni, Rogério 1999-2008 653 Dalglish, Kenneth 1972-1982 653 (first player with 4 seasons 70+ games) Hughes, Emlyn 1968-1978 637 Messi, Lionel 2008-2018 631 Griezmann, Antoine 2013-2023 614 Casillas, Iker 2002-2012 610 Zubizarreta, Andoni 1985-1995 606 Roberto Carlos 1996-2006 603 Ronaldo, Cristiano 2004-2014 602 Xavi 2003-2013 601 Peters, Martin 1964-1974 601 Shilton, Peter 1978-1988 599 Zinho 1992-2001 599 10 consecutive seasons (before 1950) Fulton, Robert 1930-1940 506 Shaw, Charles 1907-1917 503 Gray, Douglas 1927-1937 498 Kelly, James 1931-1941 494 Morton, Alan 1920-1930 471 15 consecutive seasons Ceni, Rogério 1997-2011 954 Clemence, Raymond 1970-1985 930+ Dalglish, Kenneth 1971-1986 919 Roberto Carlos 1991-2006 908 Messi, Lionel 2008-2023 894 Neal, Philip 1971-1986 893+ Ronaldo, Cristiano 2003-2018 891 Zubizarreta, Andoni 1982-1997 886 Xavi 1999-2014 879 15 consecutive seasons (before 1950) Fulton, Robert 1927-1942 739 (missed almost 100 games in this period due to injuries and his job as a school teacher) Shaw, Charles 1907-1922 736 (missed only 12 games in this period for Queens Park Rangers and Celtic FC) Gray, Douglas 1927-1942 732
Thanks to Dorian Leveque (England).
Author welcomes any additional data on possibly missing matches
Prepared and maintained by Vladimir Kolos for the Rec.Sport.Soccer Statistics Foundation
Author: Vladimir Kolos
(vkoloss@mail.ru)
Last updated: 17 Jan 2024
(C) Copyright Vladimir Kolos and RSSSF 2009/24
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