List of Official Appearances Records
Most Official Appearances (Top Level)
NB: compilation of lits in progress; totals as of Dec 18, 2022. - mostly famous players with verified statistics. - the sources: club books or historical websites, old press. - the statistics of some players in Brazilian competitions in 1980-1990th need to be confirmed. - 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 Ceni, Rogério Brazil 1973 1990-2015 1232+ 5 Fabio Brazil 1980 1997- 1226* 6 Jennings, Patrick North Ireland 1945 1962-1986 1205+ 7 Hutchison, Thomas Scotland 1947 1965-1994 1183+ 8 Ronaldo, Cristiano Portugal 1985 2001- 1181* 9 Xavi Spain 1980 1997-2019 1163 10 Buffon, Gianluigi Italy 1978 1993- 1163* 11 Roberto Carlos Brazil 1973 1991-2011 1147 12 Endō, Yasuhito Japan 1980 1997- 1132* 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 Zinho Brazil 1967 1985-2007 1085 22 Bailie, Noel North Ireland 1971 1989-2011 1085 23 Ferguson, Glenn North Ireland 1969 1986-2011 1084 24 Ford, Anthony England 1959 1975-2002 1082 25 Dani Alves Brazil 1983 2001- 1080* 26 Seaman, David England 1963 1982-2004 1079 27 McGleish, Scott Scotland 1974 1993- 1078* 28 Meredith, William Wales 1874 1891-1924 1078+ 29 Rivaldo Brazil 1972 1989-2015 1076+ 30 Ball, James Alan England 1945 1962-1984 1068 31 Cureton, James England 1975 1993-2022 1066 32 Raúl González Blanco Spain 1977 1994-2015 1065 33 Messi, Lionel Argentina 1987 2004- 1060* 34 Giggs, Ryan Wales 1973 1990-2014 1058 35 James, David England 1970 1989-2014 1054 36 Maldini, Paolo Italy 1968 1985-2009 1048 37 Charlton, Robert England 1937 1954-1981 1044 38 Ze Roberto Brazil 1974 1994-2017 1043 39 Lorimer, Peter Scotland 1946 1962-1986 1043 40 Neal, Philip England 1951 1968-1989 1042 41 Iniesta, Andrés Spain 1984 2000- 1037* 42 Leighton, James Scotland 1958 1977-2000 1036 43 Rooke, Ronald England 1911 1929-1961 1029+ 44 Mills, Michael England 1949 1965-1988 1028 45 Miura, Kazuyoshi Japan 1967 1986- 1026+* 46 Alexander, Graham Scotland 1971 1991-2012 1025 47 Hartford, Richard Asa Scotland 1950 1967-1991 1022 48 Irwin, Denis Ireland 1965 1982-2004 1021 49 Dalglish, Kenneth Scotland 1951 1966-1990 1018 50 Hollins, John England 1946 1963-1984 1017 51 Seedorf, Clarence Netherlands 1976 1992-2013 1017 52 Southall, Neville Wales 1957 1980-2000 1017 53 Speed, Gary Wales 1969 1986-2009 1016 54 Cush, Wilbur North Ireland 1928 1945-1970 1011+ 55 Shaw, Charles Scotland 1885 1900-1926 1011+ 56 Henry, Thierry France 1977 1992-2014 1010 57 Wilkins, Raymond England 1956 1972-1997 1008 58 Zubizarreta, Andoni Spain 1961 1979-1998 1008 59 Sheringham, Edward England 1966 1983-2008 1007 60 Matthäus, Lothar Germany 1961 1978-2000 1005 61 Paine, Terence England 1939 1956-1980 1003 62 Humphries, William North Ireland 1936 1953-1976 1003 63 Romario Brazil 1966 1984-2009 1002 64 Pearce, Stuart England 1962 1978-2002 1002 65 Redfearn, Neil England 1965 1982-2008 1000+ 66 Strachan, Gordon Scotland 1957 1972-1997 1000 67 McCall, Stuart Scotland 1964 1982-2004 1000 68 Alexsandro de Souza/Alex Brazil 1977 1995-2014 997 69 Schmeichel, Peter Denmark 1963 1981-2003 997+ 70 Perryman, Stephen England 1951 1966-1990 996+ 71 Jardine, "Sandy" Scotland 1948 1966-1988 996+ 72 Ibrahimovic, Zlatan Sweden 1981 1999- 996* 73 Moutinho, João Portugal 1986 2004- 995* 74 Beardsley, Peter England 1961 1979-1999 991+ 75 Aldridge, John Ireland 1958 1976-1998 990+ 76 Wark, John Scotland 1957 1973-1997 988 77 Magno Alves Brazil 1976 1993-2021 986 78 Figo, Luis Portugal 1972 1988-2009 984+ 79 Modric, Luca Croatia 1985 2003- 983* 80 Narey, David Scotland 1956 1973-1995 980+ 81 Peacock, Robert North Ireland 1928 1945-1969 978+ 82 Sergio Ramos Spain 1986 2002- 978* 83 Fulton, Robert North Ireland 1906 1921-1947 976+ 84 Kelly, James North Ireland 1911 1925-1956 975+ 85 Reina, Jose "Pepe" Spain 1982 1999- 974* 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 1148* 4 Fabio 1121* 5 Zanetti, Javier 1081 6 Buffon, Gianluigi 1080* 7 Zinho 1078 8 Clemence, Raymond 1070 9 Roberto Carlos 1066 10 Dani Alves 1059* 11 Ferguson, Glenn 1056 12 Jennings, Patrick 1049 13 Casillas, Iker 1048 14 Ze Roberto 1042 15 Raúl González Blanco 1040 16 Endō, Yasuhito 1033* 17 Maldini, Paolo 1032 18 Giggs, Ryan 1031 19 Xavi 1023 20 Bailie, Noel 1013 21 Lampard, Frank 1010 22 Messi, Lionel 1008* 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: 21 Dec 2022
(C) Copyright Vladimir Kolos and RSSSF 2009/22
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