RIO DE JANEIRO (AP) — Brazilian club Fluminense says goalkeeper Fabio has broken the world record for most competitive soccer matches played with his 1,391st appearance, surpassing the mark set by former England goalkeeper Peter Shilton in the 1990s.
Fluminense said the 44-year-old Fabio pulled ahead of Shilton in the team's 2-0 win over Colombian club America de Cali in the round of 16 of the Copa Sudamericana. Fluminense advanced 4-1 on aggregate.
Fabio was honored by his club after the match at Maracana Stadium in Rio de Janeiro with a commemorative plaque and an image marking the record. Fluminense’s goalkeeper wore a patch mentioning the milestone.
South America’s soccer governing body CONMEBOL also congratulated him on reaching 1,391 career appearances.
“It is a tremendous satisfaction to reach this record wearing the Fluminense jersey, which opened the doors for me,” Fabio said. “Now it’s time to keep playing and strive for new achievements with every game.”
There is no single official soccer body that tracks players’ appearances across domestic and international competitions, which makes record-keeping complicated and subject to disputes about what counts as a competitive match.
However, Shilton was widely seen as the record-holder for most competitive games played. Guinness World Records had him at 1,390 appearances in all competitions, though Shilton's personal count is 1,387. The discrepancy comes down to which matches should count as official senior appearances.
Fabio began his career in the late 1990s, playing mostly with Brazilian club Cruzeiro. He has 976 appearances with Cruzeiro, 235 with Fluminense, 150 with Vasco da Gama and 30 with Uniao Bandeirante.
Fabio helped lead Fluminense, which he joined in 2022, to the semifinals of the Club World Cup earlier this year. He was a key player in the team’s maiden Copa Libertadores title in 2023.
Fabio played for Brazil's youth teams but never for the country's senior squad.
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The Associated Press
