Ranking the 10 players with most appearances in the 21st century

#5 Lionel Messi - 929

Lionel Messi has recently moved to PSG.

Lionel Messi is one of the best players to have graced the beautiful game. During an illustrious two-decade-long career for club and country, he has scored goals and won trophies galore.

The six-time Ballon d'Or winner has tallied a staggering 1077 goal contributions in club football (672 goals, 305 assists) - all for Barcelona - where he won a record ten La Liga titles and two continental trebles in 778 appearances across 17 seasons.

Messi has also performed well in international football, recently becoming Argentina's most capped player (151 appearances) in their triumphant Copa America 2021 campaign, where he scored four goals and provided five assists.

Lionel Messi becomes Argentina's all-time leading appearance maker with his 148th cap 🇦🇷 pic.twitter.com/qi0HKIMIyR

— B/R Football (@brfootball) June 28, 2021

Now at Ligue 1 giants PSG, whom he joined this summer after Barcelona failed to renew his contract, Messi will look to continue his staggering exploits and scale new peaks.

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#T4 Dani Alves - 941

Dani Alves has had a legendary career.

Dani Alves is a quintessential modern-day full-back, who is still going strong at the age of 39.

One of the best right-backs in football history, Alves has won the most titles (40) of any player. He has won league titles in three different countries - Spain, Italy and France. However, it was at Barcelona, where he made his name as a world-class full-back, winning 25 titles at the club, including two continental trebles.

Dani Alves is the first footballer ever to win 40 trophies 😳🏆🏆🏆🏆🏆🏆🏆🏆🏆🏆🏆🏆🏆🏆🏆🏆🏆🏆🏆🏆🏆🏆🏆🏆🏆🏆🏆🏆🏆🏆🏆🏆🏆🏆🏆🏆🏆🏆🏆#CopaAmerica pic.twitter.com/ngy2itsibD

— Goal (@goal) July 7, 2019

Alves, who has won 118 caps for Brazil, made nearly 400 appearances for Barcelona, his most at a single club, scoring 21 goals and registering an impressive 102 assists. The Serie A and Ligue 1 winner recently won the gold medal at the Tokyo Olympics 2020 with the Selecao.

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#T4 Gianluigi Buffon - 941

Gianluigi Buffon

Regarded by many as one of the finest goalkeepers to have graced the game, Gianluigi Buffon has had a stellar career for club and country.

The 43-year-old recently rejoined his boyhood club Parma, who are plying their trade in Serie B, after an illustrious near two-decade-long stint at Italian giants Juventus.

In nearly 700 games for the Bianconeri, the 2006 FIFA World Cup winner kept an impressive 322 clean sheets and won ten Serie A titles, among others.

Buffon's tally of 299 Serie A clean sheets (for two clubs) is 23 clear of another legendary Italian custodian, Dino Zoff.

Over 20 years later, Gianluigi Buffon makes his comeback for Parma. pic.twitter.com/1a9KdDTUtB

— Football Tweet (@Football__Tweet) August 21, 2021

Buffon played a key role in Italy's 2006 FIFA World Cup triumph, pulling off a sensational save off Zinedine Zidane in the closing moments of the game before the Azzurri triumphed in a penalty shootout. He kept an impressive 76 clean sheets in a record 176 appearances for the Euro 2020 winners.