The six players who have played 1000+ games in the 21st century: Messi, Ronaldo…

Former Barcelona, Real Madrid and Tottenham stars are among the six players who have played over 1000 games in the 21st century.

While most professional players will be lucky to play 500 games throughout their career, others have stood the test of time and have played well over 1000.

Using stats gathered by the International Federation of Football History & Statistics, here are the six players who have played over 1000 games at the top level in the 21st century.

Note: while players such as Gianluigi Buffon, Frank Lampard, Raul, Javier Zanetti and Xavi have made over 1000 career appearances, they didn’t play all of their games in the 21st century, meaning they don’t quite qualify for this list.

Joao Moutinho – 1034 games

Still going strong for Braga today at the age of 38, Moutinho has played a whopping 1034 games since making his debut back in 2004.

Impressively, he’s made 146 appearances at international level, making him the second-most capped Portuguese player of all time.

Moutinho played his 1000th back in January against Porto and the former Wolves and Monaco star still seems to have some life in those legs of his yet.

Dani Alves – 1056 games

Considered by many as the best right-back of his generation, Alves racked up 1056 top-level appearances for club and county.

The Brazilian spent his peak years at Barcelona and also enjoyed stints with Bahia, Sevilla, Juventus, PSG, Sao Paulo and UNAM.

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Luka Modric – 1073 games

The Croatian’s longevity at the top level needs to be studied. Still making a difference for Carlo Ancelotti’s side today, we wouldn’t be surprised if he reached 1200 games before he retires.

While the 39-year-old is by no means a guaranteed starter at Real Madrid these days, he’s still made 22 appearances for the club across all competitions this season.

Along with his stellar record at club level, Modric is still going strong on the international stage too. Having made 184 international appearances, he’s Croatia’s most-capped player of all time by quite some distance.

“With me, you never know,” Modric told reporters in September when discussing when he will retire.

“We have to take it game by game. I can’t think about the future. When I no longer feel the fire in me, I’ll retire.”

Lionel Messi – 1083 games

Since making his debut for Barcelona in 2004, Messi has averaged 54 appearances per season for club and country. That’s some going.

While Messi’s rate of appearances have started to slow down since moving to the United States due to injury, he’s still got plenty of magic left in his boots yet.

Inter Miami are reportedly confident that the 37-year-old will extend his contract with the club as they aim to tie him down until the end of 2026.

“I’m very confident [Messi will] be opening our new stadium in 2026,” Inter Miami co-owner Jorge Mas told GiveMeSport.

“I’ll be sitting with Leo at some point in the offseason. I’m optimistic that as long as Leo’s health holds up, we’ll be seeing him in pink.”

READ: Comparing Lionel Messi’s Inter Miami record after 39 matches with Ronaldo’s at Al-Nassr

Fabio – 1215 games

Not to be confused with the full-back who played for Manchester United, we’re talking about the Fluminense goalkeeper here.

Having spent his entire professional career playing in Brazil, there’s a good chance that you’ve never heard of Fabio who is still playing today aged 44.

The Brazilian spent the bulk of his career playing for Cruzeiro between 2005 and 2021 where he made over 900 appearances.

Since 2022, he’s been playing for Fluminense and impressively, he’s still the first-choice goalkeeper at the club today.

Unsurprisingly, he’s the oldest player who has featured in the Brazilian Serie A this season.

Cristiano Ronaldo – 1255 games

Who else? Still scoring goals for fun in Saudi Arabia, Ronaldo has made more appearances than any other player in the 21st century.

Of his 1255 games, 217 of them came for Portugal while the remaining 1038 came at club level for Sporting, Manchester United, Real Madrid, Juventus and now Al-Nassr.

Given Ronaldo now seems hellbent on scoring 1000 career goals before he retires, we can’t see him hanging up his boots anytime soon.

Also considering the 2026 World Cup is just a few years away, we wouldn’t be surprised if he’s still playing for Portugal well into his forties.