Neuer set an absolute record among goalkeepers at the World Cup

The goalkeeper of Bayern Munich and the German national team, Manuel Neuer, officially entered his name in the history of the world championships as the goalkeeper with the most number of matches played. As reported by the statistics portal Opta, the 40-year-old German played his 21st match in the final stages of the World Cup after playing in the match of the group stage of the World Cup against the Ivory Coast national team. Thanks to this, he surpassed the previous achievement of the former goalkeeper of the French national team Hugo Lloris, who has 20 matches at the world championships. This record could not happen, because after the 2024 home European Championship, Manuel Neuer officially announced the end of his performances for the national team. However, the situation changed dramatically closer to the start of the 2026 World Cup. After a personal conversation with Bundesliga head coach Julian Nagelsmann, the experienced goalkeeper changed his mind and agreed to help the team at the tournament in North America. Manuel Neuer is a living legend of German football and one of the main architects of Germany's victory at the 2014 World Cup in Brazil, where he also won the Golden Glove as the tournament's best goalkeeper.