Iker Casillas

Verified Timeline

Lore & Background

Casillas started his career with the Real Madrid youth team, eventually gaining promotion to the main team in 1999, where he became the youngest goalkeeper to play in the final of the Champions League, and to win the title, at 19 years and four days. Casillas became the first choice goalkeeper at Real Madrid, winning two Champions Leagues and La Liga titles in his first three seasons, establishing himself as one of the best goalkeepers in the world. During his highly successful career in Madrid, Casillas won all major club titles, including five La Liga titles, four Supercopa de España titles, two Copa del Rey titles, three UEFA Champions Leagues, two UEFA Super Cups, two Intercontinental Cups and the FIFA Club World Cup. After 25 years with Real Madrid, Casillas joined FC Porto in 2015 on a free transfer, where he won the Primeira Liga and a Supertaça Cândido de Oliveira title. While at Porto, he broke the record for most consecutive seasons played in the UEFA Champions League (20) and amassed the most appearances in the competition (177). He ended his playing career in February 2020, after almost a year on the sidelines following a heart attack he suffered during a training session with Porto in May 2019.

In Their Own Story

The 2007–08 season was a fruitful season for Casillas, as he helped Real Madrid reclaim their 31st La Liga title and conceded only 32 goals in 36 matches to claim the Zamora Trophy. On 14 February 2008, he and club captain Raúl were awarded contracts for life; Casillas signed a contract extension that would keep him at the club until 2017, with an automatic extension if he played 30 competitive matches during the final season of the contract and a buy-out clause of £113 million. In February 2009, Casillas equalled Paco Buyo's record of 454 matches played for a goalkeeper and has since surpassed it to become Real Madrid's most-capped goalkeeper of all time at only 27 years old. During the 2009–10 season on 4 October in a game against Sevilla, Casillas made an extraordinary save, running from one side of his goal to the other to deny Diego Perotti in a one-on-one, close-range encounter. After the match, he received praise from fellow Spanish goalkeepers and England goalkeeper Gordon Banks, who stated, "Casillas' reflexes are incredible. If he continues to play this well he will become one of the best goalkeepers in the history of the game."

Reader's Guide

Casillas began his career in Real Madrid's youth system, known as La Fábrica, during the 1990–91 season. On 27 November 1997, at age 16 and still a junior, he was first called up to the senior team squad to face Rosenborg in the UEFA Champions League, although he remained on the bench throughout. After spending a season with the C-team in the fourth tier, during which they won their regional group, he came into contention as the club's first-choice between the posts. In starting the 1999–2000 UEFA Champions League group stage fixture against Olympiakos on 15 September 1999, he became the youngest goalkeeper ever to feature in the competition at the time, aged 18 years and 177 days; a record which was only broken in October 2017 by Mile Svilar. Three days earlier, Casillas had made his La Liga debut in a 2–2 draw against Athletic Bilbao at San Mamés Stadium. In May 2000, he became the youngest ever goalkeeper to play in and win a Champions League final when Real Madrid defeated Valencia 3–0, just four days after his 19th birthday. Casillas lost his place in the side to backup César Sánchez after poor performances in the 2001–02 campaign, but redeemed himself when Sánchez suffered an injury in the final minutes of the 2002 Champions League Final. Casillas came on and pulled off several key saves to deny a rampant Bayer Leverkusen the Champions League crown. Real Madrid won 2–1. The 2007–08 season was a fruitful season for Casillas, as he helped Real Madrid reclaim their 31st La Liga title and conceded only 32 goals in 36 matches to claim the Zamora Trophy. On 14 February 2008, he and club captain Raúl were awarded contracts for life; Casillas signed a contract extension that would keep him at the club until 2017, with an automatic extension if he played 30 competitive matches during the final season of the contract and a buy-out clause of £113 million. His performances earned him a spot in the UEFA Team of the Year for the second time. In February 2009, Casillas equalled Paco Buyo's record of 454 matches played for a goalkeeper and has since surpassed it to become Real Madrid's most-capped goalkeeper of all time at only 27 years old. During the 2009 summer transfer window, some Spanish media reported that Manchester City had launched a record £129 million bid for the goalkeeper. The club denied the rumours, however, saying that no such offer had been made. Man

Did You Know?

• Casillas was born on 20 May 1981 in Móstoles, province of Madrid.
• He has a brother, seven years younger, named Unai, who used to play as a central midfielder for CD Móstoles.
• On one occasion as a young child, when he was seven or eight, Casillas forgot to post his father's football predictions for the weekend; his father had correctly predicted all 15 results, and the family lost out on an es
• Casillas is one of six players to represent Spain at four World Cups.
• He holds the record for the most clean sheets for the Spain national team.