Who has made the most UEFA club competition appearances?
Wednesday, November 29, 2023
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Cristiano Ronaldo is ahead of Iker Casillas on the all-time list, with 197 outings at the pinnacle of world club football; Luka Modrić, Sergio Ramos and Thomas Müller are the latest to pass 150 appearances.
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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)
188: Pepe Reina (Barcelona, Villarreal, Liverpool, Napoli, 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)
157: Karim Benzema (Lyon, Real Madrid)
156:Toni Kroos (Bayern, Real Madrid)**
155: Dani Alves (Sevilla, Barcelona, Juventus, Paris Saint-Germain)
151: Luka Modrić (Dinamo Zagreb, Tottenham, Real Madrid)**
151: Sergio Ramos (Sevilla, Real Madrid, Paris Saint-Germain)**
150: Jamie Carragher (Liverpool)
150: Zlatan Ibrahimović (Ajax, Juventus, Inter, Barcelona, AC Milan, Paris Saint-Germain, Manchester United)
150: Thomas Müller (Bayern)
Cristiano Ronaldo 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, five defenders, five midfielders and six forwards. Toni Kroos joined the list when he started in Real Madrid's UEFA Champions League quarter-final second leg at Chelsea on 18 April 2023; his former club-mate Karim Benzema had brought up 150 away to Shakhtar Donetsk on 11 October 2022.
Another Real Madrid great, Luka Modrić, reached the landmark on Matchday 3 of the 2023/24 UEFA Champions League as the Spanish side visited Braga, while his former team-mate Sergio Ramos brought up his own 150 on the same evening in Sevilla's home game against Arsenal. Thomas Müller did the same on Matchday 5 as Bayern took on Copenhagen; he is one of five players on the list to have only played for one club in UEFA competition.
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 2023/24