Who has made the most UEFA club competition appearances?
Wednesday, March 15, 2023
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Cristiano Ronaldo is ahead of Iker Casillas on the all-time list, with 197 outings to date.
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All-time UEFA club competition appearances*
197: Cristiano Ronaldo (Sporting CP, Manchester United, Real Madrid, Juventus)**
188: Iker Casillas (Real Madrid, Porto)
183: Pepe Reina (Barcelona, Villarreal, Liverpool, Napoli, Bayern München, AC Milan, Lazio)**
174: Paolo Maldini (AC Milan)
173: Xavi Hernández (Barcelona)
167: Gianluigi Buffon (Parma, Juventus, Paris Saint-Germain)
167: Lionel Messi (Barcelona, Paris Saint-Germain)**163: Clarence Seedorf (Ajax, Real Madrid, Inter, AC Milan)
161: Raúl González (Real Madrid, Schalke)
160: Javier Zanetti (Inter)
159: Ryan Giggs (Manchester United)
155: Dani Alves (Sevilla, Barcelona, Juventus, Paris Saint-Germain)
153: Karim Benzema (Lyon, Real Madrid)**
150: Jamie Carragher (Liverpool)
150: Zlatan Ibrahimović (Ajax, Juventus, Inter, Barcelona, AC Milan, Paris Saint-Germain, Manchester United)**
Cristiano Ronaldo has climbed ahead of the now-retired Iker Casillas, having already broken his record for UEFA Champions League appearances when he contested his 178th game in the competition against Villarreal.
The 150+ club is made up of three goalkeepers, four defenders, three midfielders and five forwards. Karim Benzema became the latest player on the list when he started for Real Madrid away to Shakhtar Donetsk on 11 October 2022.
Aside from Ronaldo and Benzema, the other front men to feature are Messi, who reached the mark in November 2020, Raúl González, a long-time talisman at the Santiago Bernabéu whose final campaign in the Spanish capital (2009/10) crossed over with Ronaldo's first, and Zlatan Ibrahimović, who got there in AC Milan's game against Liverpool on 7 December 2021.
*UEFA club competitions means European Champion Clubs' Cup/UEFA Champions League, UEFA Cup/UEFA Europa League, UEFA Europa Conference League, European/South American Cup, UEFA Cup Winners' Cup, UEFA Super Cup and UEFA Intertoto Cup. Clubs listed are those for whom a player has appeared in UEFA competition.
** includes 2022/23