List of Official Appearances Records
Most Official Appearances (Top Level)
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- 1245+* 5 Ceni, Rogério Brazil 1973 1990-2015 1232+ 6 Jennings, Patrick North Ireland 1945 1962-1986 1205+ 7 Ronaldo, Cristiano Portugal 1985 2001- 1204* 8 Hutchison, Thomas Scotland 1947 1965-1994 1183+ 9 Buffon, Gianluigi Italy 1978 1993- 1179 * 10 Xavi Spain 1980 1997-2019 1163 11 Endō, Yasuhito Japan 1980 1997- 1149 * 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 James, Robert Wales 1957 1973-1998 1102+ 19 Callaghan, Ian England 1942 1960-1982 1094 20 Lampard, Frank England 1978 1994-2016 1091 21 McGleish, Scott Scotland 1974 1993- 1086 * 22 Messi, Lionel Argentina 1987 2004- 1085 * 23 Zinho Brazil 1967 1985-2007 1085 24 Bailie, Noel North Ireland 1971 1989-2011 1085 25 Ferguson, Glenn North Ireland 1969 1986-2011 1084 26 Ford, Anthony England 1959 1975-2002 1082 27 Dani Alves Brazil 1983 2001- 1081 * 28 Seaman, David England 1963 1982-2004 1079 29 Meredith, William Wales 1874 1891-1924 1078+ 30 Rivaldo Brazil 1972 1989-2015 1076+ 31 Ball, James Alan England 1945 1962-1984 1071 # 32 Cureton, James England 1975 1993-2022 1070 # 33 Raúl González Blanco Spain 1977 1994-2015 1065 34 Giggs, Ryan Wales 1973 1990-2014 1058 35 James, David England 1970 1989-2014 1054 36 Neal, Philip England 1951 1967-1990 1048 # 37 Maldini, Paolo Italy 1968 1985-2009 1048 38 Charlton, Robert England 1937 1954-1981 1047 # 39 Lorimer, Peter Scotland 1946 1962-1986 1044 # 40 Ze Roberto Brazil 1974 1994-2017 1043 41 Iniesta, Andrés Spain 1984 2000- 1042 * 42 Hollins, John England 1946 1963-1984 1038 # 43 Leighton, James Scotland 1958 1977-2000 1036 44 Miura, Kazuyoshi Japan 1967 1986- 1029+* 45 Rooke, Ronald England 1911 1929-1961 1029+ 46 Mills, Michael England 1949 1965-1988 1028 47 Alexander, Graham Scotland 1971 1991-2012 1025 48 Hartford, Richard Asa Scotland 1950 1967-1991 1022 49 Modric, Luca Croatia 1985 2003- 1021 * 50 Irwin, Denis Ireland 1965 1982-2004 1021 51 Dalglish, Kenneth Scotland 1951 1966-1990 1018 52 Seedorf, Clarence Netherland 1976 1992-2013 1017 53 Southall, Neville Wales 1957 1980-2000 1017 54 Moutinho, João Portugal 1986 2004- 1017 * 55 Speed, Gary Wales 1969 1986-2009 1016 56 Cush, Wilbur North Ireland 1928 1945-1970 1011+ 57 Shaw, Charles Scotland 1885 1900-1926 1011+ 58 Henry, Thierry France 1977 1992-2014 1010 59 Wilkins, Raymond England 1956 1972-1997 1008 60 Zubizarreta, Andoni Spain 1961 1979-1998 1008 61 Sheringham, Edward England 1966 1983-2008 1007 62 Matthäus, Lothar Germany 1961 1978-2000 1005 63 Humphries, William North Ireland 1936 1953-1977 1004 # 64 Paine, Terence England 1939 1956-1980 1003 65 Romario Brazil 1966 1984-2009 1003 # 66 Sergio Ramos Spain 1986 2002- 1003 * 67 Pearce, Stuart England 1962 1978-2002 1002 68 Reina, Jose "Pepe" Spain 1982 1999- 1001 * 69 Ibrahimovic, Zlatan Sweden 1981 1999- 1001 * 70 Redfearn, Neil England 1965 1982-2008 1000+ 71 Strachan, Gordon Scotland 1957 1972-1997 1000 72 McCall, Stuart Scotland 1964 1982-2004 1000 73 Kelly, James North Ireland 1911 1925-1957 1000+ 74 Alexandro de Souza/Alex Brazil 1977 1995-2014 997 75 Schmeichel, Peter Dania 1963 1981-2003 997+ 76 Perryman, Stephen England 1951 1966-1990 996+ 77 Jardine, "Sandy" Scotland 1948 1966-1988 996+ 78 Beardsley, Peter England 1961 1979-1999 991+ 79 Aldridge, John Ireland 1958 1976-1998 990+ 80 Wark, John Scotland 1957 1973-1997 988 81 Magno Alves Brazil 1976 1993-2021 986 82 Miller, William Scotland 1955 1971-1990 985 83 Figo, Luis Portugal 1972 1988-2009 984+ 84 Narey, David Scotland 1956 1973-1995 980+ 85 Peacock, Robert North Ireland 1928 1945-1969 978+ 86 Fulton, Robert North Ireland 1906 1921-1947 976+ 87 Joaquín Spain 1981 1999- 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). 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 1171 * 4 Fabio 1127+* 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 12 Jennings, Patrick 1049 13 Casillas, Iker 1048 14 Ze Roberto 1042 15 Raúl González Blanco 1040 16 Endō, Yasuhito 1035 * 17 Messi, Lionel 1033 * 18 Maldini, Paolo 1032 19 Giggs, Ryan 1031 20 Xavi 1023 21 Bailie, Noel 1017 22 Lampard, Frank 1010 23 Rivaldo 1006
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: 7 Jul 2023
(C) Copyright Vladimir Kolos and RSSSF 2009/23
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