Igor Vladimirovich Akinfeev ( rus, Игорь Владимирович Акинфеев, Igor' Vladimirovich Akinfeyev, p=ˈiɡərʲ vlɐˈdʲimʲɪrəvʲɪtɕ ɐkʲɪnˈfʲe(j)ɪf; born 8 April 1986) is a Russian professional

footballer A football player or footballer is a sportsperson who plays one of the different types of football. The main types of football are association football, American football, Canadian football, Australian rules football, Gaelic football, rugby lea ...

who plays as a

goalkeeper In many team sports that involve scoring goal (sport), goals, the goalkeeper (sometimes termed goaltender, netminder, GK, goalie, or keeper) is a designated player charged with directly preventing the opposing team from scoring by blocking or i ...

for and captains Russian Premier League club

CSKA Moscow CSKA Moscow () is a Russian sports club based in Moscow. It was created in 1911 in the Russian Empire on base of OLLS (Skiing Society, founded 1901). Later, during the Soviet Union, Soviet era, it was the central part of the Armed Forces (sports ...

. He has spent his entire career at CSKA, making more than 700 official appearances. He has won six

Russian Premier League The Russian Premier League (RPL; , ''Rossiyskaya premyer-liga''; РПЛ), also written as Russian Premier Liga, is a professional association football league in Russia and the highest level of the Russian football league system. It was establis ...

titles and eight Russian Cups, as well as the

UEFA Cup The asterisk ( ), from Late Latin , from Ancient Greek , , "little star", is a Typography, typographical symbol. It is so called because it resembles a conventional image of a star (heraldry), heraldic star. Computer scientists and Mathematici ...

2005 2005 was designated as the International Year for Sport and Physical Education and the International Year of Microcredit. The beginning of 2005 also marked the end of the International Decade of the World's Indigenous Peoples, Internationa ...

. He is a record holder for most games played in the Russian top-level league at 596 (as of 24 May 2025). A full international for Russia between 2004 and 2018, he earned 111 caps and was selected in their squads for four

UEFA European Championship The UEFA European Football Championship, less formally the European Championship and informally the Euro or Euros, is the primary association football tournament organised by the Union of European Football Associations (UEFA). The competition ...

s and two

FIFA World Cup The FIFA World Cup, often called the World Cup, is an international association football competition among the senior List of men's national association football teams, men's national teams of the members of the FIFA, Fédération Internatio ...

s. He was named captain of Russia in March 2017, after the retirement of his predecessor Vasili Berezutski. Akinfeev is a member of the Lev Yashin Club and has kept more clean sheets in Russian football than any other goalkeeper.

Early life

Igor Akinfeev was born on 8 April 1986 in the town of Vidnoye, Moscow Oblast. When he was 4 years old his father sent him to the Sports school of CSKA. He has been a goalkeeper since his second training. As a member of the junior

team, he won the Russian Junior Championship in 2002.

Club career

Akinfeev made his professional debut for

at the age of 16, saving a penalty kick and keeping a clean sheet in a 2–0 win over FC Krylia Sovetov Samara. He broke into the starting line-up at the age of 17 in 2003, winning the club's first

in the same season. In 2005, CSKA won a treble of the

Russian Cup and

. During this season, Akinfeev played in all 19 of CSKA's European matches, including the 2005 UEFA Cup Final, which the Army Men won 3–1 against

Sporting CP Sporting Clube de Portugal (), otherwise referred to as Sporting CP or simply Sporting (particularly within Portugal), or as Sporting Lisbon in other countries,

at their opponents'

Estádio José Alvalade The Estádio José Alvalade (; ') is a Football (soccer), football stadium in Lisbon, Portugal, home of Sporting Clube de Portugal. It was built adjacent to the site of the Estádio José Alvalade (1956), older stadium. The stadium is named afte ...

. In 2006, he won a third Russian league title and second Russian Cup with CSKA and was awarded the ''Zvezda'' trophy, for the year's best football player from the former Soviet Union. In the

2006–07 UEFA Champions League The 2006–07 UEFA Champions League was the 15th season of UEFA's premier European club football tournament, the UEFA Champions League, since it was rebranded from the European Cup, and the 52nd season overall. The final was contested by Milan ...

, Akinfeev went 362 minutes without conceding a goal until Ricardo Quaresma scored past him for

FC Porto Futebol Clube do Porto, Order of Prince Henry, MHIH, Order of Merit (Portugal), OM (), commonly known as FC Porto or simply Porto, is a Portuguese professional sports club based in Porto. It is best known for the professional association footbal ...

in his team's fifth group match. This began a record breaking run of 43 consecutive matches without keeping a clean sheet in the Champions League (including qualifying rounds). His Champions League run without a clean sheet finally ended 11 years later, when CSKA Moscow beat

AEK Athens A.E.K. (; Athlitikí Énosis Konstantinoupόleos, ''Athletic Union of Constantinople'') is a major Greek multi-sport club based in Nea Filadelfeia, Attica. The club is more commonly known in European competitions as A.E.K. Athens. Establishe ...

2–0 away in the qualifying stages of the Champions League on 25 July 2017; prior to the match, Akinfeev's last clean sheet in the Champions League had come against

Arsenal An arsenal is a place where arms and ammunition are made, maintained and repaired, stored, or issued, in any combination, whether privately or publicly owned. Arsenal and armoury (British English) or armory (American English) are mostly ...

in November 2006, and the sequence became a record in the competition in October 2013 when he conceded two goals against FC Viktoria Plzen for a 17th consecutive 'non-clean sheet'. In May 2007, Akinfeev sustained a knee injury which kept him out for the remainder of the 2007 Russian Premier League season. CSKA ended the season third in the league behind city rivals Spartak Moscow and champions Zenit St. Petersburg. Akinfeev returned for the 2008 season, starting in all 30 league matches and winning the Russian Cup. In 2009, he again started all 30 Russian Premier League matches and kept a clean sheet in the 1–0 Russian Cup Final defeat of league winners

Rubin Kazan FC Rubin Kazan (; ) is a Russian professional football club based in the city of Kazan. They play in the Russian Premier League. Founded in 1958, Rubin played its first-ever top flight season in 2003. It has remained there through the 2021–2 ...

. In May 2011, Akinfeev captained CSKA to a fifth Russian Cup of his career. In 2012–13, CSKA won their first Russian Premier League title in seven years, with Akinfeev named Russian Footballer of the Year. Akinfeev also saved Yuri Zhirkov's kick in CSKA's penalty shootout win over Anzhi Makhachkala in the 2013 Russian Cup Final. On 1 February 2014, CSKA Moscow announced that Akinfeev had extended his contract CSKA until the summer of 2019. In 2013–14, Akinfeev won a fifth Russian Premier League title. On 14 May 2014, he overtook Lev Yashin as the goalkeeper with the third-highest number of clean sheets in Russian football. On 14 November 2015, he broke this clean sheet record with his 233rd career shutout in the

Russia national football team The Russia national football team () represents Russia in men's international football. It is controlled by the Russian Football Union (, ), the governing body for football in Russia. Russia's home ground is the Luzhniki Stadium in Moscow and ...

's 1–0 win over

Portugal Portugal, officially the Portuguese Republic, is a country on the Iberian Peninsula in Southwestern Europe. Featuring Cabo da Roca, the westernmost point in continental Europe, Portugal borders Spain to its north and east, with which it share ...

. In August 2018, Akinfeev extended his CSKA contract to last until 2022. In December 2018, Akinfeev earned his 300th clean sheet, becoming the first Russian goalkeeper to do so. On 14 August 2021, he played his 489th game in the Russian top tier, repeating the record previously set by Sergei Ignashevich. In his next game on 21 August 2021, he set a new record with 490. On 20 May 2022, Akinfeev extended his contract with CSKA until the end of the 2023–24 season. On 11 June 2023, Akinfeev saved two penalty kicks in the 2023 Russian Cup Final shootout to win the trophy for CSKA. On 24 May 2024, Akinfeev extended his contract with CSKA until the end of the 2025–26 season. On 1 June 2025, Akinfeev saved one penalty kick in the 2025 Russian Cup final shootout to win the Russian Cup for the eighth time.

International career

Akinfeev made his debut for the Russian national team in a friendly match against

Norway Norway, officially the Kingdom of Norway, is a Nordic countries, Nordic country located on the Scandinavian Peninsula in Northern Europe. The remote Arctic island of Jan Mayen and the archipelago of Svalbard also form part of the Kingdom of ...

, which Russia lost 2–3, on 28 April 2004, aged 18 years and 20 days. He thus became the third youngest player to compete for Russia after Eduard Streltsov and Sergey Rodionov and the youngest international footballer ever in the history of the

Russian Federation Russia, or the Russian Federation, is a country spanning Eastern Europe and North Asia. It is the list of countries and dependencies by area, largest country in the world, and extends across Time in Russia, eleven time zones, sharing Borders ...

. He held the record for the youngest national team player for 18 years before being overtaken by Sergei Pinyayev in 2022. He was later included into the Russian

UEFA Euro 2004 The 2004 UEFA European Football Championship, commonly referred to as Euro 2004, was the 12th edition of the UEFA European Championship, a quadrennial association football, football competition contested by the List of men's national associatio ...

squad as the third choice goalkeeper behind Sergei Ovchinnikov and Vyacheslav Malafeev. His major competitive debut was on 30 March 2005, in a 2006 FIFA World Cup qualifier against

Estonia Estonia, officially the Republic of Estonia, is a country in Northern Europe. It is bordered to the north by the Gulf of Finland across from Finland, to the west by the Baltic Sea across from Sweden, to the south by Latvia, and to the east by Ru ...

and he was later promoted to Russia's first-choice goalkeeper after a long-term injury to Malafeev. Akinfeev kept his first choice place under Yuri Semin and later

Guus Hiddink Guus Hiddink (; born 8 November 1946) is a Dutch former football manager and professional player. He enjoyed a long career playing as a midfielder in his native Netherlands. Retired as player in 1982, Hiddink went into management, leading both c ...

. On 6 May 2007, Akinfeev suffered a knee injury in a 1–1 draw against

FC Rostov FC Rostov () is a Russian professionalism in association football, professional football club based in Rostov-on-Don. The club competes in the Russian Premier League, playing their home matches at the Rostov Arena. History Soviet era (1930-199 ...

which put him out of action for four months. As a result, he lost his first choice position to Vyacheslav Malafeev and later Vladimir Gabulov. He returned to the Russian national squad in early November but was deemed unfit for the UEFA Euro 2008 qualifier against

Israel Israel, officially the State of Israel, is a country in West Asia. It Borders of Israel, shares borders with Lebanon to the north, Syria to the north-east, Jordan to the east, Egypt to the south-west, and the Mediterranean Sea to the west. Isr ...

. Akinfeev later re-established his first choice place for Russia at

UEFA Euro 2008 The 2008 UEFA European Football Championship, commonly referred to as UEFA Euro 2008 or simply Euro 2008, was the 13th UEFA European Championship, a quadrennial association football, football tournament contested by the member nations of UEFA ( ...

, and played every match as the nation reached the semi-finals. He was confirmed for the finalized

UEFA Euro 2012 The 2012 UEFA European Football Championship, commonly referred to as UEFA Euro 2012 or simply Euro 2012, was the 14th UEFA European Championship, European Championship for List of men's national association football teams#UEFA (Europe), men's ...

squad on 25 May 2012, but Malafeev played all of Russia's matches and the nation was eliminated in the group stages. On 2 June 2014, Akinfeev was included in Russia's

2014 FIFA World Cup The 2014 FIFA World Cup was the 20th FIFA World Cup, the quadrennial world championship for list of men's national association football teams, men's national Association football, football teams organised by FIFA. It took place in Brazil fr ...

squad, In Russia's first group match of the 2014 FIFA World Cup against

South Korea South Korea, officially the Republic of Korea (ROK), is a country in East Asia. It constitutes the southern half of the Korea, Korean Peninsula and borders North Korea along the Korean Demilitarized Zone, with the Yellow Sea to the west and t ...

, Akinfeev fumbled a long-range shot from Lee Keun-ho, dropping it over the line to give the Koreans the lead. Russia then went on to equalize, and the match finished 1–1. The final group stage match between

Algeria Algeria, officially the People's Democratic Republic of Algeria, is a country in the Maghreb region of North Africa. It is bordered to Algeria–Tunisia border, the northeast by Tunisia; to Algeria–Libya border, the east by Libya; to Alger ...

and Russia on 26 June ended 1–1, advancing Algeria and eliminating Russia. A win for Russia would have seen them qualify, and they led the game 1–0 after six minutes. In the 60th minute of the game, a green laser was shone in Akinfeev's face while he was defending from an Algerian free kick, from which Islam Slimani scored to equalise. Both Akinfeev and Russian coach

Fabio Capello Fabio Capello (; born 18 June 1946) is an Italian former professional association football, football manager (association football), manager and player. As a player, Capello represented SPAL, AS Roma, Roma, AC Milan and Juventus FC, Juventus. H ...

blamed the laser for the decisive conceded goal. On 27 March 2015, in a Euro 2016 Group G qualifier away to

Montenegro , image_flag = Flag of Montenegro.svg , image_coat = Coat of arms of Montenegro.svg , coa_size = 80 , national_motto = , national_anthem = () , image_map = Europe-Mont ...

, Akinfeev was struck in the head by a

flare A flare, also sometimes called a fusée, fusee, or bengala, bengalo in several European countries, is a type of pyrotechnic that produces a bright light or intense heat without an explosion. Flares are used for distress signaling, illuminatio ...

launched from the crowd, 20 seconds after kick-off. The game was called off for 35 minutes while he was treated, and resumed with his substitution for Yuri Lodygin. It was eventually abandoned after a brawl, while Akinfeev was taken to a

Podgorica Podgorica ( cnr-Cyrl, Подгорица; ) is the Capital city, capital and List of cities and towns in Montenegro, largest city of Montenegro. The city is just north of Lake Skadar and close to coastal destinations on the Adriatic Sea. Histor ...

hospital with a neck injury and light burns. Akinfeev played his third

for Russia at

UEFA Euro 2016 The 2016 UEFA European Football Championship, commonly referred to as UEFA Euro 2016 (stylised as UEFA EURO 2016) or simply Euro 2016, was the 15th UEFA European Championship, the quadrennial international men's association football, football ch ...

as the national team finished bottom of

Group B Group B was a set of regulations for Grand tourer, grand touring (GT) cars used in sports car racing and rallying introduced in 1982 by the Fédération Internationale de l'Automobile (FIA). Although permitted to enter a GT class of the World S ...

with only one point from three matches. He was selected as captain for Russia's

2017 FIFA Confederations Cup The 2017 FIFA Confederations Cup was the tenth and final edition of the FIFA Confederations Cup, a quadrennial international men's Association football, football tournament organised by FIFA. It was held in Russia, from 17 June to 2 July 2017, ...

campaign on home soil and kept a clean sheet as the Russian's defeated

New Zealand New Zealand () is an island country in the southwestern Pacific Ocean. It consists of two main landmasses—the North Island () and the South Island ()—and List of islands of New Zealand, over 600 smaller islands. It is the List of isla ...

2–0 in the tournament's opening match. On 21 June, in Russia's second group match, a 1–0 defeat to

, Akinfeev won his 100th cap for the national team. On 11 May 2018, he was included in Russia's extended

2018 FIFA World Cup The 2018 FIFA World Cup was the 21st FIFA World Cup, the quadrennial world championship for national association football, football teams organized by FIFA. It took place in Russia from 14 June to 15 July 2018, after the country was awarded t ...

squad. On 3 June 2018, he was included in the finalized World Cup squad. Akinfeev was later instrumental in the Russians knocking out

Spain Spain, or the Kingdom of Spain, is a country in Southern Europe, Southern and Western Europe with territories in North Africa. Featuring the Punta de Tarifa, southernmost point of continental Europe, it is the largest country in Southern Eur ...

in the

Round of 16 A single-elimination knockout, or sudden-death tournament is a type of elimination tournament where the loser of a match-up is immediately eliminated from the tournament. Each winner will play another in the next round, until the final match-up, w ...

, being elected Man of the Match and saving two penalties in the shoot-out, ensuring a Russian victory. On 1 October 2018, he announced his retirement from the national team.

Style of play and reception

Regarded as a promising talent in his youth, Akinfeev's precocious performances as a youngster earned him comparisons with former esteemed Russian goalkeepers Lev Yashin and

Rinat Dasayev Rinat Fayzrakhmanovich Dasayev (, ; born 13 June 1957) is a Russian football coach and a former goalkeeper. Throughout his club career, he played for Volgar Astrakhan, Spartak Moscow and Sevilla. At international level, he played at three Wo ...

. In 2005,

UEFA The Union of European Football Associations (UEFA ; ; ) is one of six continental bodies of governance in association football. It governs football, futsal and beach soccer, beach football in Europe and the List of transcontinental countries#A ...

's Pavle Gognidze praised Akinfeev for being a "cool-headed" goalkeeper in spite of his young age, commenting: "On top of confidence, Akinfeev can also boast cat-like reflexes and excellent aerial ability while he is quick off his line to deal with crosses and through balls. Handy with his kicks, what makes him so remarkable for his age is his positional sense – so well developed that the ball seems drawn towards him." Former goalkeeper and CSKA's goalkeeping coach at the time, Vyacheslav Chanov, also added: "Igor is a real goalkeeper, it's in his character and attitude. Since the age of four he only dreamed of becoming a goalkeeper. He's very confident. I think he also tops all Russian goalkeepers in the length and precision of his goal kicks. With his right, he kicks 90 metres, with his left 80 metres." One of the few one-club men in Russian, European, and world football, Akinfeev had been playing for more than a decade as part of the club's and the national team's starting XI, which usually included the defensive trio of Aleksei Berezutski on the left, Sergei Ignashevich in the middle, Vasili Berezutski on the right.

Career statistics

Club

International

Appearances and goals by national team and year

Honours

CSKA Moscow *

2003 2003 was designated by the United Nations as the International Year of Fresh water, Freshwater. In 2003, a Multi-National Force – Iraq, United States-led coalition 2003 invasion of Iraq, invaded Iraq, starting the Iraq War. Demographic ...

2006 2006 was designated as the International Year of Deserts and Desertification. Events January * January 1– 4 – Russia temporarily cuts shipment of natural gas to Ukraine during a price dispute. * January 12 – A stampede during t ...

, 2012–13, 2013–14, 2015–16 * Russian Cup: 2004–05, 2005–06, 2007–08, 2008–09, 2010–11, 2012–13, 2022–23, 2024–25 * Russian Super Cup:

2004 2004 was designated as an International Year of Rice by the United Nations, and the International Year to Commemorate the Struggle Against Slavery and Its Abolition (by UNESCO). Events January * January 3 – Flash Airlines Flight 60 ...

2007 2007 was designated as the International Heliophysical Year and the International Polar Year. Events January * January 1 **Bulgaria and Romania 2007 enlargement of the European Union, join the European Union, while Slovenia joins the Eur ...

2009 2009 was designated as the International Year of Astronomy by the United Nations to coincide with the 400th anniversary of Galileo Galilei's first known astronomical studies with a telescope and the publication of Astronomia Nova by Joha ...

2013 2013 was the first year since 1987 to contain four unique digits (a span of 26 years). 2013 was designated as: *International Year of Water Cooperation *International Year of Quinoa Events January * January 5 – 2013 Craig, Alask ...

2014 The year 2014 was marked by the surge of the Western African Ebola epidemic, West African Ebola epidemic, which began in 2013, becoming the List of Ebola outbreaks, most widespread outbreak of the Ebola, Ebola virus in human history, resul ...

2018 Events January * January 1 – Bulgaria takes over the Presidency of the Council of the European Union, after the Estonian presidency. * January 4 – SPLM-IO rebels loyal to Chan Garang Lual start a raid against Juba, capital of ...

: 2004–05 Russia *

bronze medalist:

2008 2008 was designated as: *International Year of Languages *International Year of Planet Earth *International Year of the Potato *International Year of Sanitation The Great Recession, a worldwide recession which began in 2007, continued throu ...

Individual * 2012–13 Russian Premier League Player of the Year * Footballer of the Year in Russia: 2012–13. * Baltic and Commonwealth of Independent States Footballer of the Year ("Star") by ''

Sport-Express ''Sport-Express'' () is a Russian daily sports newspaper founded by Vladimir Kuchmiy. Printed in 31 cities of Russia, Latvia, Belarus, Ukraine, Kazakhstan and the United States, it is the biggest-selling sports newspaper in Russia, with the dail ...

'' (2006) * The best young football player of Russian Premier League (2005) * List of 33 best football player of the Russian Championship: # 1 (2005, 2006, 2008, 2009, 2010, 2012/13, 2013/14); # 2 (2011/2012); # 3 (2004). * The best Russian goalkeeper according to Russian Football Union (2008, 2009, 2010) * The best goalkeeper of the

: 2021–22, 2022–23 *

assist of the season: 2022–23 * The best young goalkeeper of Europe (2008) * Member of Lev Yashin Club * Russian CSKA Prize "Golden Horseshoe": one golden horseshoe (2010) and four silver horseshoe (2005, 2006, 2008, 2009) *

Order of Friendship The Order of Friendship (, ') is a state decoration of the Russian Federation established by Boris Yeltsin by presidential decree 442 of 2 March 1994 to reward Russian and foreign nationals whose work, deeds and efforts have been aimed at ...

(2006) * Lev Yashin Prize "Goalkeeper of the year" (2004, 2005, 2006, 2008, 2009, 2010) *

Team of the Season: 2022–23 *

Player of the Month: March 2025

Personal life

In April 2023, amidst the

Russian invasion of Ukraine On 24 February 2022, , starting the largest and deadliest war in Europe since World War II, in a major escalation of the Russo-Ukrainian War, conflict between the two countries which began in 2014. The fighting has caused hundreds of thou ...

, Akinfeev was amongst a number of individuals in the field of sports to be placed under sanctions by the Ukrainian government, freezing his assets in Ukraine and implementing a 50-year ban on entering the country.

Notes

References

External links

CSKA Moscow profile

Igor Akinfeev
at

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{{DEFAULTSORT:Akinfeev, Igor 1986 births Living people People from Vidnoye Russian men's footballers Men's association football goalkeepers PFC CSKA Moscow players UEFA Europa League–winning players Russian Premier League players Russia men's under-21 international footballers Russia men's international footballers UEFA Euro 2004 players UEFA Euro 2008 players UEFA Euro 2012 players 2014 FIFA World Cup players UEFA Euro 2016 players 2017 FIFA Confederations Cup players 2018 FIFA World Cup players FIFA Men's Century Club Footballers from Moscow Oblast 21st-century Russian sportsmen