Gianluigi Buffon, an Italian goalkeeper, announced his retirement from football on Wednesday. Over the course of his 28-year career, he accomplished remarkable feats for both club and nation.
Buffon, who won the World Cup in 2006, also won a Ligue 1 championship with Paris St. Germain and 10 Serie A championships with Juventus.
“That’s all, everyone! You gave everything to me. I gave it all to you. In a statement, Buffon claimed, “We accomplished it together.”
One of the best goalkeepers in history, he finished his career at Parma in the second division of Italy after suffering from ailments in his final campaign.
Buffon moved to Juventus from Parma in 2001, where he spent the majority of his career—aside from a year at Paris Saint-Germain in 2018–19—before going back to Turin and then to Parma in June 2021.
When he was just 13 years old, Buffon started his career in Parma’s youth system, originally playing in midfield before switching to the position of goalkeeper due to his height and physical characteristics.
At the age of 17, he made his Serie A debut for Parma in a scoreless draw with AC Milan in November 1995.
Buffon was named Uefa Club Footballer of the Year in 2003 and played a league-record 657 times in the Italian top division.
Having played 176 times for Italy, he has the most international caps of any goalkeeper in history. He retired from international football in 2018 after Italy failed to qualify for the 2018 World Cup in Russia.