Most Serie A appearances: Serie A was the most prestigious and competitive league for decades before the English top flight took over the crown. Hence, it has always been difficult for anyone to represent a club in the division. However, today we will be looking at the select few, who have done it over and over for record breaking times.
The Italian top flight is renowned for hosting players who boast the highest longevity among any other league. Hence, it would only be fair to take a closer look at the players who made the most appearances in the league among the many legends to have done it over the decades.
Most Serie A appearances: Top 50
| Rank | Nation | Player | Appearances | Goals | Seasons played | Years active | Club(s) |
| 1 | Italy | Gianluigi Buffon | 657 | − | 24 | 1995−2006 2007–2018 2019–2021 | 168 appearances for Parma
489 appearances for Juventus |
| 2 | Italy | Paolo Maldini | 647 | 29 | 25 | 1984−2009 | 647 appearances for Milan |
| 3 | Italy | Francesco Totti | 619 | 250 | 25 | 1992–2017 | 619 appearances for Roma |
| 4 | Argentina | Javier Zanetti | 615 | 12 | 19 | 1995−2014 | 615 appearances for Internazionale |
| 5 | Italy | Gianluca Pagliuca | 592 | − | 19 | 1987−2005 2006−2007 | 198 appearances for Sampdoria
165 appearances for Internazionale 206 appearances for Bologna 23 appearances for Ascoli |
| 6 | Italy | Dino Zoff | 570 | − | 20 | 1961−1962 1963−1965 1966−1983 | 4 appearances for Udinese
93 appearances for Mantova 143 appearances for Napoli 330 appearances for Juventus |
| 7 | Slovenia | Samir Handanović | 566 | – | 18 | 2004−2006 2008– | 182 appearances for Udinese
3 appearances for Treviso 1 appearance for Lazio 380 appearances for Internazionale |
| 8 | Italy | Pietro Vierchowod | 562 | 38 | 20 | 1980−2000 | 30 appearances for Como
28 appearances for Fiorentina 30 appearances for Roma 358 appearances for Sampdoria 21 appearances for Juventus 16 appearances for Milan 79 appearances for Piacenza |
| 9 | Italy | Fabio Quagliarella | 556 | 182 | 20 | 1999−2000 2001–2002 2005–2023 | 55 appearances for Torino
33 appearances for Ascoli 277 appearances for Sampdoria 73 appearances for Udinese 34 appearances for Napoli 84 appearances for Juventus |
| 10 | Italy | Roberto Mancini | 541 | 156 | 19 | 1981−2000 | 30 appearances for Bologna
424 appearances for Sampdoria 87 appearances for Lazio |
| 11 | Italy | Silvio Piola | 537 | 274 | 21 | 1929–1943 1946–1947 1948–1954 | 127 appearances for Pro Vercelli
227 appearances for Lazio 28 appearances for Juventus 155 appearances for Novara |
| 12 | Italy | Enrico Albertosi | 532 |
− |
21 | 1958−1980 | 185 appearances for Fiorentina
177 appearances for Cagliari 170 appearances for Milan |
| 13 | Italy | Gianni Rivera | 527 | 128 | 21 | 1958−1979 | 26 appearances for Alessandria
501 appearances for Milan |
| 14 | Italy | Giuseppe Bergomi | 519 | 23 | 19 | 1980−1999 | 519 appearances for Internazionale |
| 15 | Italy | Alberto Gilardino | 514 | 188 | 18 | 1999–2017 | 17 appearances for Piacenza
39 appearances for Hellas Verona 96 appearances for Parma 94 appearances for Milan 132 appearances for Fiorentina 50 appearances for Genoa 36 appearances for Bologna 33 appearances for Palermo 14 appearances for Empoli 3 appearances for Pescara |
| 16 | Italy | Ciro Ferrara | 500 | 27 | 21 | 1984−2005 | 247 appearances for Napoli
253 appearances for Juventus |
| 17 | Italy | Giovanni Galli | 496 | − | 18 | 1977−1995 | 259 appearances for Fiorentina
98 appearances for Milan 98 appearances for Napoli 31 appearances for Torino 10 appearances for Parma |
| 18 | Italy | Tarcisio Burgnich | 494 | 6 | 19 | 1958−1976 | 8 appearances for Udinese
13 appearances for Juventus 31 appearances for Palermo 358 appearances for Internazionale 84 appearances for Napoli |
| 19 | North Macedonia | Goran Pandev | 493 | 101 | 18 | 2003−2014 2015–2022 | 20 appearances for Ancona
159 appearances for Lazio 46 appearances for Internazionale 92 appearances for Napoli 176 appearances for Genoa |
| Italy | Andrea Pirlo | 58 | 19 | 1994–1995 1997−2015 | 40 appearances for Brescia
22 appearances for Internazionale 28 appearances for Reggina 284 appearances for Milan 119 appearances for Juventus |
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| 21 | Italy | Giuseppe Favalli | 486 | 7 | 20 | 1989−1990 1991−2010 | 59 appearances for Cremonese
298 appearances for Lazio 49 appearances for Internazionale 80 appearances for Milan |
| 22 | Italy | Giancarlo De Sisti | 478 | 50 | 19 | 1960−1979 | 222 appearances for Roma
256 appearances for Fiorentina |
| Italy | Alessandro Del Piero | 188 | 18 | 1993−2006 2007−2012 | 478 appearances for Juventus | ||
| Italy | Angelo Peruzzi |
− |
20 | 1987−2007 | 16 appearances for Roma
29 appearances for Hellas Verona 208 appearances for Juventus 33 appearances for Internazionale 192 appearances for Lazio |
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| 25 | Italy | Andrea Consigli | 475 | − | 14 | 2008−2010 2011– | 153 appearances for Atalanta
322 appearances for Sassuolo |
| Italy | Giacinto Facchetti | 59 | 18 | 1960−1978 | 475 appearances for Internazionale | ||
| 27 | Italy | Franco Baresi | 470 | 12 | 18 | 1977−1997 | 470 appearances for Milan |
| 28 | Italy | Pietro Ferraris | 469 | 123 | 18 | 1929−1950 | 86 appearances for Pro Vercelli
83 appearances for Napoli 139 appearances for Internazionale 104 appearances for Torino 57 appearances for Novara |
| 29 | Italy | Antonio Candreva | 468 | 79 | 15 | 2008
2009– |
3 appearances for Udinese
19 appearances for Livorno 16 appearances for Juventus 31 appearances for Parma 18 appearances for Cesena 151 appearances for Lazio 124 appearances for Internazionale 71 appearances for Sampdoria 35 appearances for Salernitana |
| 30 | Italy | Sergio Cervato | 466 | 45 | 16 | 1948−1964 | 316 appearances for Fiorentina
62 appearances for Juventus 88 appearances for SPAL |
| 31 | Italy | Franco Causio | 460 | 66 | 18 | 1967−1986 | 305 appearances for Juventus
22 appearances for Palermo 83 appearances for Udinese 24 appearances for Internazionale 26 appearances for Lecce |
| 32 | Italy | José Altafini | 459 | 216 | 18 | 1958−1976 | 205 appearances for Milan
180 appearances for Napoli 74 appearances for Juventus |
| Italy | Daniele De Rossi | 43 | 17 | 2002–2019 | 459 appearances for Roma | ||
| Italy | Sergio Pellissier | 112 | 17 | 2002−2007 2008–2019 | 459 appearances for Chievo | ||
| 35 | Italy | Alessandro Costacurta | 458 | 3 | 20 | 1987−2007 | 458 appearances for Milan |
| 36 | Italy | Roberto Baggio | 452 | 205 | 19 |
1985−2004 |
94 appearances for Fiorentina
141 appearances for Juventus 51 appearances for Milan 30 appearances for Bologna 41 appearances for Internazionale 95 appearances for Brescia |
| 37 | Italy | Dario Dainelli | 446 | 11 | 18 | 2000–2018 | 14 appearances for Lecce
13 appearances for Hellas Verona 60 appearances for Brescia 141 appearances for Fiorentina 57 appearances for Genoa 161 appearances for Chievo |
| France | Sébastien Frey | − | 15 | 1998−2013 | 35 appearances for Internazionale
30 appearances for Hellas Verona 132 appearances for Parma 175 appearances for Fiorentina 74 appearances for Genoa |
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| 39 | Italy | Antonio Di Natale | 445 | 209 | 14 | 2002−2016 | 60 appearances for Empoli
385 appearances for Udinese |
| 40 | Italy | Giampiero Boniperti | 443 | 178 | 15 | 1946−1961 | 443 appearances for Juventus |
| 41 | Italy | Mario Corso | 436 | 78 | 16 | 1958−1974 | 413 appearances for Internazionale
23 appearances for Genoa |
| 42 | Italy | Leonardo Bonucci | 431 | 32 | 15 | 2006
2009– |
1 appearance for Internazionale
38 appearances for Bari 357 appearances for Juventus 35 appearances for Milan |
| 43 | Italy | Giorgio Chiellini | 430 | 27 | 17 | 2004–2006 2007–2022 | 37 appearances for Fiorentina
393 appearances for Juventus |
| 44 | Italy | Giacomo Mari | 426 | 24 | 14 | 1946−1960 | 113 appearances for Atalanta
133 appearances for Juventus 70 appearances for Sampdoria 110 appearances for Padova |
| 45 | Italy | Francesco Janich | 425 |
− |
16 | 1956−1972 | 38 appearances for Atalanta
93 appearances for Lazio 294 appearances for Bologna |
| 46 | Italy | Amedeo Amadei | 423 | 174 | 16 | 1936−1956 | 182 appearances for Roma
70 appearances for Internazionale 171 appearances for Napoli |
| 47 | Italy | Paolo Cannavaro | 422 | 12 | 18 | 1999–2006 2007–2018 | 92 appearances for Parma
24 appearances for Hellas Verona 197 appearances for Napoli 109 appearances for Sassuolo |
| Italy | Luca Marchegiani | 422 | − | 16 | 1988−2005 | 113 appearances for Torino
243 appearances for Lazio 66 appearances for Chievo |
|
| 49 | Italy | Fabio Cannavaro | 421 | 14 | 15 | 1992−2006 2009−2010 | 58 appearances for Napoli
212 appearances for Parma 50 appearances for Internazionale 101 appearances for Juventus |
| 50 | Italy | Morgan De Sanctis | 419 | − | 17 | 1997−2007 2009−2016 | 3 appearances for Juventus
194 appearances for Udinese 147 appearances for Napoli 75 appearances for Roma |
1. Gianluigi Buffon 657 appearances
The most legendary goalkeeper in the league’s history. Few could argue against the fact that Gianluigi Buffon is the most legendary player in his position this sport has ever witnessed. The Italian has managed to register 657 appearances to his name. All but 168 of those appearances for Buffon came with his two spells at Juventus. While those 168 had come at his boyhood club Parma.
This number would certainly be higher, if not for his one season in the Serie B with Juventus and that season at PSG. There is little doubt that the veteran could have found a club in the top division if he had not returned to his old club in Serie B. Which would have added to this already unfathomable record.
2. Paolo Maldini 647 appearances
From the GOAT of one position we move to another. Paolo Maldini in the eyes of many is the greatest defender to have graced football. Maldini made 647 appearances in the Serie A. He represented the same club, AC Milan in his career that spanned over 25 years. During his time with the club, Maldini won seven Scudettos and five Champions League titles.
3. Francesco Totti 619 appearances
It is common to see goalkeepers dominating the all time appearance record due to their longevity. Next up it is also not uncommon to see defenders in the list. Less prevalent are midfielders on those lists. However, the career of a forward has always been shorter than any other player. Particularly in the modern era.
In such a case, Francesco Totti has made 619 appearances in Serie A. More impressively, he did it while representing the same club throughout his career. Due to this, unfortunately, the Italian has won just five club trophies and just has one league title to his name. Er Bimbo de Oro also had a career spanning nearly 25 years.
The appearances managed by these three legends seems almost impossible to beat. In terms of current players Samir Handanović and Fabio Quagliarella are the closest. However, given the gap and their age that is not a possibility.
