Wander Thoughts

Cristiano Ronaldo is fourth on the list of the top appearance-makers in football history, but he could potentially advance to the top spot before choosing to retire from his illustrious career.

As of his fortieth birthday, Ronaldo has played 1,265 matches in his career, the vast majority of them for clubs Real Madrid (438), Manchester United (346) and the Portuguese national team (217). In fact, he has played over a hundred more games than his long-time rival Lionel Messi.

Here are the only three players in the history of football who have made more appearances than Cristiano Ronaldo.

3. Paul Bastock – 1,284+ appearances

One person who is hardly a well-known player, Bastock is the textbook example of a journeyman in the lower leagues.

The goalkeeper began his career at Coventry City in the mid-1980s, as a part of the 1987 Sky Blues that won the FA Youth Cup. This team defeated a Southampton Under-18s side that included Alan Shearer and Matt Le Tissier en route to lifting the trophy.

Contrary to his opponents, he never reached the pinnacle of success, but went on to represent more than 20 different clubs in the lower divisions of the English football league system over a career spanning nearly 35 years.

It was not until 2023, when he was in his fifties, that Bastock finally retired at National League club Boston United, while also serving as assistant manager to Norwich City legend Ian Culverhouse.

2. Fabio - Over 1,345 appearances

No, not Rafael's duplicate. That one, a former teammate of Ronaldo's at Manchester United, retired last year after 295 appearances for club and country.

He was born 10 years before the other Fabio, but still manages to make a living from the game. He started his career at Uniao Bandeirante as far back as 1997.

He has spent his entire career in Brazil, with nearly all his appearances (955!) for Cruzeiro, having played for the club in a remarkable 16-year period between 2005 and 2021.

You might have assumed that he would've retired when he left Cruzeiro in his forties, but then he joined their top-flight rivals, Fluminense – where he's now added almost another 200 games to his total.

The 44-year-old finally obtained the Copa Libertadores in 2023, commencing in the final against Boca Juniors, and last year he made a further 59 appearances in all tournaments.

Even for a goalkeeper which has an absolutely outrageous level of longevity.

1. Peter Shilton – 1,396 appearances

Another player, who surpasses Ronaldo in outfield appearances.

Astonishingly, Shilts made his debut for the Foxes ahead of the 1966 World Cup, and functioned as a reserve for Wimbledon, Coventry City, and West Ham in the Premier League, although he did not participate in a single match for any of these teams.

He eventually made his final appearances in a football career with Leyton Orient in the third division back in the 1996-97 season, when he was 48 years old - a brief tenure that made him the first (and still only) player to play over a thousand games in the Football League.

He is England's most-capped player of all time having played 125 games, and played over 300 games for Leicester City who are his hometown club, also over 200 for Nottingham Forest, Derby County and Southampton and more than 100 for Stoke City.

Ronaldo is now 130 appearances behind and it's not far-fetched to assume he could one day surpass Shilton's record.

He'd have to play for at least two more full seasons at Al Nassr, but considering his goal of scoring 1000 goals and a new contract being rumored, we wouldn't rule out the possibility of that happening.

Meanwhile, Fabio is preparing for another season as Fluminense's top goalkeeper - which is to say the experienced English goalkeeper might even find himself demoting to third choice in the coming years.