MOST EXPERIENCED PLAYERS IN EUROPEAN CLUB COMPETITIONS
Picture : Cristiano Ronaldo sovereign leader.
Most experienced players in European club competitions
We update the ranking of players who have played the most games in major European club tournaments over their history.
The “Club” of those who have reached the 150-game mark is rapidly extending. It now has 26 players, while a year ago there were only 19.
But at the same time, Cristiano Ronaldo’s record (197 games) will, apparently, not be broken soon. His runner-up, 42-year-old Pepe Reina, although he continues his career in European football (in Como), is unlikely to appear in Europe again. And the rest are still at a considerable distance from the Portuguese.
| MOST GAMES | MAJOR | EUROPEAN CLUB COMPETITIONS | |||
| Player | Games | Country | Years | Breakdown by clubs | |
| 1 | Cristiano Ronaldo | 197 | Portugal | 2002-2022 | Sporting 3, Manchester United 68, Real Madrid 103, Juventus 23 |
| 2 | Pepe Reina | 192 | Spain | 2000- | Barcelona 11, Villarreal 52, Liverpool 84, Napoli 32, Milan 6, Lazio 7 |
| 3 | Iker Casillas | 186 | Spain | 1999-2019 | Real Madrid 155, Porto 31 |
| 4 | Xavi | 173 | Spain | 1998-2015 | Barcelona 173 |
| 5 | Paolo Maldini | 168 | Italy | 1985-2009 | Milan 168 |
| 6 | Gianluigi Buffon | 167 | Italy | 1996-2020 | Parma 36, Juventus 126, PSG 5 |
| 7 | Lionel Messi | 167 | Argentina | 2004-2023 | Barcelona 153, PSG 14 |
| 8 | Luka Modrić | 165 | Croatia | 2006- | Dinamo Zagreb 18, Tottenham 15, Real Madrid 132 |
| 9 | Toni Kroos | 164 | Germany | 2007-2024 | Bayern 50, Real Madrid 114 |
| 10 | Clarence Seedorf | 161 | Netherlands | 1992-2012 | Ajax 16, Real Madrid 26, Inter 17, Milan 102 |
| 11 | Javier Zanetti | 160 | Argentina | 1995-2013 | Inter 160 |
| 12 | Thomas Müller | 160 | Germany | 2009- | Bayern 160 |
| 13 | Raúl | 158 | Spain | 1995-2012 | Real Madrid 135, Schalke 23 |
| 14 | Ryan Giggs | 158 | Wales | 1991-2014 | Manchester United 158 |
| 15 | Karim Benzema | 157 | France | 2005-2023 | Lyon 19, Real Madrid 138 |
| 16 | Dani Alves | 155 | Brazil | 2004-2019 | Sevilla 47, Barcelona 85, Juventus 12, PSG 11 |
| 17 | João Moutinho | 155 | Portugal | 2005- | Sporting 53, Porto 34, Monaco 37, Wolverhampton 17, Braga 14 |
| 18 | Manuel Neuer | 154 | Germany | 2007- | Schalke 27, Bayern 127 |
| 19 | Robert Lewandowski | 153 | Poland | 2008- | Lech Poznań 16, Borussia Dortmund 36, Bayern 79, Barcelona 22 |
| 20 | Sergio Ramos | 152 | Spain | 2004-2023 | Real Madrid 133, PSG 8, Sevilla 11 |
| 21 | Ivan Rakitić | 152 | Croatia | 2005- | Basel 10, Schalke 19, Sevilla 59, Barcelona 61, Hajduk 3 |
| 22 | Bibras Natcho | 151 | Israel | 2006- | Hapoel Tel Aviv 27, Rubin 40, CSKA Moscow 33, Olympiacos 8, |
| Partizan Belgrade 43 | |||||
| 23 | Jamie Carragher | 150 | England | 1997-2013 | Liverpool 150 |
| 24 | Zlatan Ibrahimović | 150 | Sweden | 2001-2021 | Ajax 27, Juventus 19, Inter 22, Barcelona 11, PSG 33, |
| Manchester United 12, Milan 26 | |||||
| 25 | Ángel Di María | 150 | Argentina | 2007- | Benfica 47, Real Madrid 39, PSG 54, Juventus 10 |
| 26 | Henrikh Mkhitaryan | 150 | Armenia | 2007- | Pyunik 6, Metalurh Donetsk 6, Shakhtar 21, Borussia Dortmund 32, |
| Manchester United 16, Arsenal 17, Roma 27, Inter 25 |