Italy's World Cup-winning goalkeeper and Juventus's towering presence in goal across three decades — widely considered the finest keeper of the modern era.
Gianluigi Buffon was born in Carrara in 1978 and made his Serie A debut for Parma at 17 (1995–2001) before Juventus paid a then world-record fee for a goalkeeper — £33 million — in 2001. He spent two spells at the club (2001–2018, 2019–2021) making 685 appearances and winning 10 Serie A titles and 5 Coppa Italia. A season at PSG (2018–19) and a farewell at Parma (2021–23) extended his career to a remarkable 1,008 professional appearances. He earned 176 Italy caps — a world record at the time — keeping 63 international clean sheets and winning the 2006 World Cup. His 476 career clean sheets is one of the highest totals ever recorded. He was Serie A Goalkeeper of the Year 12 times and named the world's best goalkeeper on multiple occasions. He kept a clean sheet in 974 minutes of World Cup football — a tournament record. He never won the Champions League despite two finalist appearances (2003, 2015). He announced his retirement in 2023 at 45 — one of the longest elite careers in football history.
Champions League finalist 2003, 2015 (Juventus)
Career Honours
- Champions League finalist 2003, 2015 (Juventus)
- Serie A 10x
- Coppa Italia 5x
- FIFA World Cup 2006 (Italy)
- UEFA Euro 2012 finalist
- Serie A Goalkeeper of Year 12x