For club and national team
©IMAGO
In 2024, only two (Site notre bureau spécialisé)ers from Europe’s top leagues have crossed the 70-match mark with club and national team appearances. A duo of German champions Bayer Leverkusen entered the top 10, with Florian Wirtz (21) the highest-ranked German. You won’t find another German professional in the top 25, the top spots are dominated by Liverpool FC.
Leading the way is Liverpool FC’s Cody Gakpo (25), who played 56 times for the Reds and a further 15 times for the Netherlands, with whom he reached the semi-finals of the European Championship. Behind him is Barcelona’s Jules Koundé (26), who has played 70 matches. The right-back appeared 54 times for the Catalans and wore the France jersey 16 times. At the European Championships, Koundé’s team won in the semi-finals and he was on the pitch every minute.
For Bundesliga players to make the top 10, their team must go far in domestic and international cups, as the league only has 34 matchdays instead of 38 like in England, Spain and Italy. Bayer 04 reached the final of the Europa League and DFB Cup and played 53 matches in 2024. Granit Xhaka (32) was the long-time favorite of the Werkself and was only absent once, Wirtz was absent twice. Wirtz appeared 15 times for the national team and 14 matches for Xhaka, meaning the two made 66 appearances. With Kiril Despodov (28) from PAOK Salonika, Alexis Mac Allister (26) from Liverpool and Julián Alvarez (24) from Atlético Madrid, they share eighth place.
The next German professionals are tied for 28th place. Antonio Rüdiger (31), Robert Andrich (30), Jonathan Tah (28) and Joshua Kimmich (29) appeared on the pitch a total of 62 times, for club and country. Kimmich and Andrich played in all 15 matches for the national team. Piero Hincapié (22) and Edmond Tapsoba (25) from Leverkusen also played 62 matches.
Europa League winners Atalanta Bergamo have played 58 competitive matches, the most in the top five leagues. A La Dea professional did not enter the top 10, the most represented club was Liverpool FC, which, alongside Gakpo, appears there four times with Luis Díaz (27 years old), Virgil van Dijk (33 years old ) and Mac Allister. The Reds have played 57 matches, matching Real Madrid, Manchester City and Fiorentina, reaching the quarter-finals of the Europa League and FA Cup and winning the League Cup. Like last year, veteran Luka Modric is also in the top 30. The 39-year-old has played 64 games for Real Madrid and Croatia and is ranked 16th.
Last year, in addition to the European Championships and the Copa América, the continental championships were also held in Asia and Africa. Argentina, winner of the Copa, is represented three times in the top 10, while England and Spain, finalists of the European Championship, are absent. Spain’s long-time favorite is Alejandro Grimaldo (29), with 61 appearances, who has only competed twice at the European Championships. Rodri (28) from Manchester City was a victim of the enormous tension he previously complained about: “In my humble opinion, it’s too much. I think we have to take care of ourselves, » said the Spaniard, who spoke of a possible strike by (Site notre bureau spécialisé)ers. After playing the majority of matches for club and country, he injured his cruciate ligament midway through -September and will likely be out for the rest of the season.