For club & national team
©IMAGO
In 2024, only two footballers from Europe’s top leagues have broken the 70-game mark with appearances for club and national team. A duo from German champions Bayer Leverkusen made it into the top 10, Florian Wirtz (21) is the highest-placed German. You won’t find another German professional in the top 25, the top places are dominated by Liverpool FC.
At the top is Cody Gakpo (25) from Liverpool FC, who played 56 times for the Reds and an additional 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 made 70 appearances. The right-back appeared 54 times for the Catalans and wore the France jersey 16 times. At the European Championships, Koundé’s team was over in the semi-finals and he was on the field every minute.
In order for Bundesliga players to make it into the top 10, their team has to go far in the national and international cup competitions, because the league only has 34 match days instead of 38, like in England, Spain and Italy. Bayer 04 reached the finals of both the Europa League and the DFB Cup and played 53 games in 2024. Granit Xhaka (32) was the Werkself’s long-running favorite and was only absent once, Wirtz was missing twice. Wirtz appeared 15 times for the national team and 14 games for Xhaka, meaning both made 66 appearances. Together with Kiril Despodov (28) from PAOK Saloniki, Liverpool’s Alexis Mac Allister (26) 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 field a total of 62 times for club and country. Kimmich and Andrich played all 15 games for the national team. Leverkusen’s Piero Hincapié (22) and Edmond Tapsoba (25) also played 62 games.
Europa League winner Atalanta Bergamo played 58 competitive games, the most in the top five leagues. A professional from La Dea did not make it into the top 10, the most frequently represented club was Liverpool FC, which, alongside Gakpo, is there four times with Luis Díaz (27), Virgil van Dijk (33) and Mac Allister. The Reds made 57 appearances, matching Real Madrid, Manchester City and Fiorentina as they reached the quarter-finals of the Europa League and FA Cup and won the League Cup. Like last year, veteran Luka Modric is also in the top 30. The 39-year-old 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. Copa winner Argentina is represented in the top 10 three times, while the European Championship finalists England and Spain are missing there. Spain’s long-running favorite is Alejandro Grimaldo (29) with 61 appearances, who only appeared twice at the European Championships. Manchester City’s Rodri (28) fell victim to the massive strain that he previously complained about: “In my humble opinion, this is too much. I think we have to take care of ourselves,” said the Spaniard, who spoke about a potential strike by footballers. After playing the majority of games for club and country, he injured his cruciate ligament in mid-September and will probably be out for the rest of the season.