Talk:List of men's footballers with 1,000 or more official appearances

Andoni Zubizarreta

I think it's a fairly recent addition, his games for Alavés B (reserve team in 4th tier, 32 senior matches) have now been added to Bdfutbol so have been updated on his own article. Tried to do so here but the page size is so huge that it won't load in edit mode. Can someone with more powerful tools at their disposal please add those 32 appearances and move him up the list? Thanks... Crowsus (talk) 04:31, 12 April 2024 (UTC)

Hello! It has been done. Thank you for informing. Kind regards, Lorry Gundersen (talk) 20:07, 13 April 2024 (UTC)

Ivan Rakitić

Hello! As he is nearing to 1,000 matches and I am currently looking at his numbers, and hence their sources, I noticed he has a match on his WP bio-article club career section for Nordstern Basel, but I failed to find a reliable source claiming that, so can anyone provide a reliable source so this match to be also included? If anyone can, feel free to do so. For the time being, without a source, it cannot be added/counted. Kind regards, Lorry Gundersen (talk) 20:22, 13 April 2024 (UTC)

Cristiano record

Yesterday, the media was abuzz with Cristiano's new record, as he played his 1,226th match in his career, surpassing Rogero Ceni, who played 1,225, to become the most appearance in football history. But when I saw this list, I was surprised by the difference in numbers and arrangement of players, but after I counted Cristiano’s matches without the matches of the youth teams, it appeared to me that the matches actually numbered 1,226. I know that there have been discussions in the past about this topic, but I find it really necessary to think and not count youth and amateur matches. --15:56, 12 June 2024 (UTC) Mishary94 (talk) 15:56, 12 June 2024 (UTC)

I completely agree with you. Youth and amateur matches should not count. Juanan412 (talk) 18:41, 23 June 2024 (UTC)

Hello! Why they should not count? Kind regards, Lorry Gundersen (talk) 19:40, 23 June 2024 (UTC)

Hello! Assuming by "Cristiano" you mean Cristiano Ronaldo, no, he hasn't the most appearances in football history, but the most appearances in top-level, only according to what IFFHS deemed last as top level (based on their last publication: https://www.iffhs.com/posts/3680), even though their previous one had many more matches for Fábio (footballer, born 1980) (see here: https://iffhs.com/posts/3147), which now doesn't without any explanation at all why so many matches were removed. Anyway, regarding the matches that are included, there have been many discussions in the past (like you also said) and you can see in the archived talks why they are included. Now, why do you find it really necessary to not count these matches? You did not explain why, while the reasoning they are added has been thoroughly explained. Kind regards, Lorry Gundersen (talk) 19:39, 23 June 2024 (UTC)

All sites and sources when mentioning a specific statistic do not include youth teams. The reader always searches for the official matches of major teams (this includes club matches and FIFA matches for national teams). If there is an objection regarding removing youth matches, I suggest creating another list regarding matches for the main teams (like this list) -- Mishary94 (talk) 13:11, 26 June 2024 (UTC)

Hello! This is not correct at all. As explained, many times, in the archived talks here and in the WP:Footy's section, most sites, sources and football databases include international youth numbers and this article has been created taken this into account. In addition, the same thing stands also for the WP (Wikipedia) bio-articles of the footballers, i.e. international youth numbers hold additional significance in WP, apart from statistical significance. Kind regards, Lorry Gundersen (talk) 21:31, 26 June 2024 (UTC)

There may be a justification for not removing youth team matches, but this does not prevent us from creating a separate list without youth matches, so that we allow the reader all the options according to reliable sources. -- Mishary94 (talk) 01:56, 27 June 2024 (UTC)

I find it really interesting to create a new list without youth matches, even not first tier matches could be deleted. Some players have games like in 7th or 6th tier. Juanan412 (talk) 07:25, 29 June 2024 (UTC)

Edin Džeko

Hello! As he is nearing to 1,000 matches, does anyone have any reference/know any source about whether he played or not in any cup match for Željezničar? His WP bio-article had him as playing in all 6 cup matches the club played during 2003–04 and 2004–05 seasons, for which I highly doubt; these totals, as well as the ones regarding the Czech Cup, were added unsourced long time ago, as one can locate from viewing the edit history, however things have been easier for the Czech Cup, as I could locate lineups or match report for all cup matches Teplice, for which there are according stats in the club's site by the way, played and his totals there were 2 (0) and not 3 (1), as he didn't play in one match (let about score); see lineups for the one match he didn't play here, and for Ústí nad Labem I could find references only for 2 matches, so it's 2+ (1+) instead of 4 (2), though it's likely to have also played in the remaining 2 matches, so, if one has a reliable source for more cup matches there, feel free to share. Kind regards, Lorry Gundersen (talk) 17:24, 2 September 2024 (UTC)

Youth football

FCBWanderer recently removed youth appearances and was almost instantly reverted by Lorry Gundersen. I think this needs discussing. Also tagging in Mishary94 and Juanan412 from the above recent discussion. All my warmest wishes, ItsKesha (talk) 11:19, 27 September 2024 (UTC)

Yeah I wonder why youth national goals are unofficial by consensus in goal rankings here but not youth appearances. FCBWanderer (talk) 11:47, 27 September 2024 (UTC)

I think there seems to be a similar consensus growing/established. You'd say, for example, Peter Shilton has 125 England caps. You wouldn't include schoolboy stats in that sentence. I am in favour of their removal. All my warmest wishes, ItsKesha (talk) 12:07, 27 September 2024 (UTC)

Yes, I support that the list should only include matches of major teams (official and friendly FIFA matches for national teams, and official club matches only), without including youth teams. In all statistical pages, goals or matches of reserve teams are not included, except in this article, and I do not know why. Mishary94 (talk) 14:11, 27 September 2024 (UTC)

I don't think they should be included. From memory, consensus was achieved last year to remove reserve team appearances in reserve team leagues so it is possible to get consensus on this page. We don't include youth appearances for club sides so it seems illogical to include them for international. In the lede it states "Regarding youth football, only matches with national teams are counted, as such data for club levels cannot be found for the majority of the players" but that seems a weak argument - either include youth appearances for Club and International or include for neither. ColchesterSid (talk) 21:13, 28 September 2024 (UTC)

Many thanks for the contributions Mishary94, FCBWanderer and ColchesterSid. It may be quick but I'm going to be bold in the absence of any counter opinions and begin removing. All my warmest wishes, ItsKesha (talk) 08:20, 29 September 2024 (UTC)

Youth goals should be eliminated also from the page. For example Cristiano is listed here with 921. FCBWanderer (talk) 11:34, 29 September 2024 (UTC)

Oh absolutely. I'm not entirely sure why goals are listed on this article tbh, but that would be great if you could assist with that. All my warmest wishes, ItsKesha (talk) 15:09, 29 September 2024 (UTC)

Under-23 football

I've not made a decision as to whether include under-23's, again this should be reached by consensus. As far as I know U23 is basically the Olympic team, but the British teams don't compete in the Olympics. Should British appearances at that age level be included? All my warmest wishes, ItsKesha (talk) 09:48, 29 September 2024 (UTC)

U23 goals are not regarded as official goals, hence the same criteria should be applied here. FCBWanderer (talk) 11:30, 29 September 2024 (UTC)

There's a bit of complexity here. In Europe at least U23 was the age group for younger players until 1976/77 when UEFA switched to U21. The Olympics is a separate issue - that switched from all ages to U23 in 1992 although since 1996 a limited number of overage players are allowed ColchesterSid (talk) 19:15, 29 September 2024 (UTC)

So that means, if we have an agreed consensus, we remove the U23 appearances of the following: Shilton, Hutchison, Clemence, Ball, Zubizarreta, Callaghan, Bailie? Any others (i.e. more modern players) will need a more rigorous conversation I imagine. All my warmest wishes, ItsKesha (talk) 20:19, 29 September 2024 (UTC)

I would keep the U23 apps for the moment. FCBWanderer (talk) 20:40, 8 October 2024 (UTC)