Top five European national capped players

CAIRO – 2 July 2017: Egyptian footballer Ahmed Hassan is the most capped International player in football history, he earned 184 caps in 16 years playing for the Egyptian national team.

In Europe, many great players earned their debut for their national teams from a young age and continued playing for a long time until they became the most capped players in their national team’s history.

5 - Lothar Mattaus .. 154 caps

Mattaus first called up to play for West Germany in the UEFA European Football Championship 1980 in Italy. His team won the competition and he played in five FIFA World Cup competitions and four European Cup competitions.

He won the 1990 FIFA World Cup in Italy, he also won UEFA European Football Championship 1980. He played for the West Germany team and the reunified Germany team. Mattaus earned 154 caps, starting in June 1980 and the earning his last cap in June 2000.

4- Martin Reim .. 157 caps

Reim was not as popular as Mattaus, having played his entire career for local teams in Estonia where he won the Estonian League seven times.

Reim played for the first time with his national team in a 1-1 draw against Slovenia, this match was the first match for Estonia after gaining independence and the first match ever for the Slovenian national team. Reim capped 157 games for Estonia scoring 14 goals for the team.

3-Vitālijs Astafjevs .. 167 caps

Astafjevs is the most popular Latvian player ever. He won the Latvian League eight times and played abroad in Austria, England and Russia.

Astafjevs, Latvian midfielder, earned 167 caps for Latvia and captained the Latvian national team in the 2004 EUFA European Championship in Portugal.

2- Iker Casillas .. 167 caps

Casillas earned his debut for the national team at 19 years old against Sweden in 2000 and he was a part of the Spanish squad in UEFA Euro 2000.

Casillas became Spain’s first choice goalkeeper in the 2002 world cup where they reached the quarterfinals. Casillas, since then became the first choice for Spain and played in all international competitions until the 2014 world cup.

Casillas captained the Spanish national team, winning the UEFA EURO 2008 and 2012 and the 2010 world cup in South Africa.

1- Gianluigi Buffon .. 169 caps

If Buffon maintains his performance with his current team, Juventus, and joins the Italian squad in the 2018 world cup in Russia, he will be the first male footballer ever to play in six world cup competitions, Buffon also played in four UEFA competitions with the Italian national team.

Buffon was the starting goalkeeper in the Italia squad, winning the 2006 FIFA World Cup in Germany.

Buffon is 15 matches away from Ahmed Hassan’s record. If Buffon is able to stay in shape and keep up his performance he will break the Egyptian midfielder’s record.