Néstor Fernando Muslera Micol (; born 16 June 1986) is a Uruguayan 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 ...

. He is currently a

free agent In professional sports, a free agent is a player or manager who is eligible to sign with other clubs or franchises; i.e., not under contract to any specific team. The term is also used in reference to a player who is under a contract at present ...

. after having played fourteen consecutive seasons for

Süper Lig The Süper Lig (, ''Super League''), also known as Trendyol Süper Lig for sponsorship reasons, is a professional association football league in Turkey and the highest level of the Turkish football league system. In the 2023–2024 season, twen ...

club

Galatasaray Galatasaray Spor Kulübü (, ''Galatasaray Sports Club''), more commonly referred to as simply Galatasaray and familiarly as Cimbom, is a Turkish sports club based on the European side of the city of Istanbul including basketball, wheelchair ...

, and regarded by supporters as the greatest foreign player in

club

history. Muslera began his career at

Montevideo Wanderers Montevideo Wanderers Fútbol Club, usually known simply as Wanderers, is a Uruguayan professional football club based in Montevideo. The club are currently members of the Primera División and play at the Estadio Viera. Beside football, the cl ...

and

Nacional Nacional, the Portuguese and Spanish word for "national", may refer to: Airlines * Nacional Transportes Aéreos, a Brazilian airline defunct in 2002 * Transportes Aéreos Nacional, a Brazilian airline defunct in 1961 Bank * Banco Nacional, a ...

, moving to

Lazio Lazio ( , ; ) or Latium ( , ; from Latium, the original Latin name, ) is one of the 20 Regions of Italy, administrative regions of Italy. Situated in the Central Italy, central peninsular section of the country, it has 5,714,882 inhabitants an ...

in 2007 where he won the 2009 Coppa Italia final. In 2011, he was signed by Galatasaray for a fee of around €12 million, where he has since won honours which include eight Süper Lig titles, five

Turkish Cup The Turkish Cup () is a football cup competition in Turkish football, run by the Turkish Football Federation since 1962. During a brief sponsorship period with Fortis, its sponsored name was ''Fortis Türkiye Kupası''. Now Ziraat Bankası is ...

s and six

Turkish Super Cup The Turkish Super Cup, known as Turkcell Super Cup () for sponsorship reasons, is a super cup tournament in Turkish football. Founded in 1966 as a two-team competition, the current version has been contested since 2025 by four teams: the winners ...

s. With nineteen total titles, he is the most decorated Galatasaray player of all time. A full international from 2009 to 2022, Muslera earned over 130 caps for Uruguay. He played in five

Copa América The CONMEBOL Copa América (; known until 1975 as the South American Football Championship), often simply called the Copa America, is the top men's quadrennial association football, football tournament contested among list of men's national ass ...

tournaments, winning the title in

2011 The year marked the start of a Arab Spring, series of protests and revolutions throughout the Arab world advocating for democracy, reform, and economic recovery, later leading to the depositions of world leaders in Tunisia, Egypt, and Yemen ...

, and played every minute in goal for Uruguay as the country's undisputed number one in the

2010 The year saw a multitude of natural and environmental disasters such as the 2010 Haiti earthquake, the Deepwater Horizon oil spill, and the 2010 Chile earthquake. The 2009 swine flu pandemic, swine flu pandemic which began the previous year ...

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 ...

, and

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 ...

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, helping his nation to fourth place in the 2010 edition.

Club career

Montevideo Wanderers/Nacional

Born in

Buenos Aires Buenos Aires, controlled by the government of the Autonomous City of Buenos Aires, is the Capital city, capital and largest city of Argentina. It is located on the southwest of the Río de la Plata. Buenos Aires is classified as an Alpha− glob ...

, Argentina, Muslera moved with his family to

Montevideo Montevideo (, ; ) is the capital city, capital and List of cities in Uruguay, largest city of Uruguay. According to the 2023 census, the city proper has a population of 1,302,954 (about 37.2% of the country's total population) in an area of . M ...

where he began his professional football career with

, having come through the club's youth system. After impressive performances for Wanderers, Uruguayan giants

opted to take him on loan in 2007. After a display of successful performances, he began to attract attention from European clubs, and signed for

in 2007.

Lazio

Lazio signed Muslera in August 2007 for a fee of approximately €3 million. He made his debut for Lazio in a 3–1 home win against

Cagliari Cagliari (, , ; ; ; Latin: ''Caralis'') is an Comune, Italian municipality and the capital and largest city of the island of Sardinia, an Regions of Italy#Autonomous regions with special statute, autonomous region of Italy. It has about 146,62 ...

on 16 September 2007, and made four more consecutive starts, the last which was a disastrous performance in Lazio's 5–1 home loss to

Milan Milan ( , , ; ) is a city in northern Italy, regional capital of Lombardy, the largest city in Italy by urban area and the List of cities in Italy, second-most-populous city proper in Italy after Rome. The city proper has a population of nea ...

on 7 October, a match in which he was at fault on four of the five goals Lazio conceded. That result saw him benched in favour of 44-year-old

Marco Ballotta Marco Ballotta (born 3 April 1964) is an Italian former professional footballer who played as a goalkeeper. His professional career spanned a quarter of a century, but he was never capped for the Italy national team. He also held the distincti ...

. He remained as the second-choice for the remainder of the season, making only four more

Serie A The Serie A (), officially known as Serie A Enilive in Italy and Serie A Made in Italy abroad for sponsorship reasons, is a professional association football league in Italy and the highest tier of the Italian football league system. Establish ...

appearances and none in the

UEFA Champions League The UEFA Champions League (UCL) is an annual club association football competition organised by the UEFA, Union of European Football Associations (UEFA) that is contested by List of top-division football clubs in UEFA countries, top-divisio ...

. However, he did play all of Lazio's remaining

Coppa Italia Coppa Italia () is the annual domestic cup of Italian football. The knockout competition was organized by the DDS and the Lega Calcio until the 2009–10 season and by Lega Serie A ever since. Juventus is the competition's most successf ...

matches, putting in good performances. Muslera08072009

Muslera began the 2008–09 season as second-choice goalkeeper behind new signing

Juan Pablo Carrizo Juan Pablo Carrizo (born 6 May 1984) is an Argentine former professional footballer who played as a goalkeeper. He started his professional career with River Plate, where he played until 2008, winning the 2008 Clausura. His performances earne ...

, but regained the starting spot in January 2009 following a run of poor form by Carrizo, coupled with conflicts with team management. Muslera's first starting appearance in the Serie A season saw him make several saves in a 3–1 loss to

Sampdoria Unione Calcio Sampdoria, commonly referred to as Sampdoria (), is an Italian professional football club based in Genoa, Liguria. Sampdoria was formed in 1946 from the merger of two existing sports clubs whose roots can be traced back to the ...

, including saving an

Antonio Cassano Antonio Cassano (; born 12 July 1982) is an Italian former professional footballer who played as a forward. A talented and technically gifted player, he was usually deployed as a supporting forward, but could also play as an attacking midfielde ...

penalty. Further impressive performances in away wins over

Napoli Naples ( ; ; ) is the regional capital of Campania and the third-largest city of Italy, after Rome and Milan, with a population of 908,082 within the city's administrative limits as of 2025, while its province-level municipality is the thir ...

and

Genoa Genoa ( ; ; ) is a city in and the capital of the Italian region of Liguria, and the sixth-largest city in Italy. As of 2025, 563,947 people live within the city's administrative limits. While its metropolitan city has 818,651 inhabitan ...

, as well as in his first ever ''

Derby della Capitale The Derby della Capitale (), also known as Derby Capitolino and Derby del Cupolone, as well as The Rome Derby in English and Derby di Roma in Italian, is the Association football, football local derby in Rome, Italy, between SS Lazio, Lazio and ...

'' against

Roma Roma or ROMA may refer to: People, characters, figures, names * Roma or Romani people, an ethnic group living mostly in Europe and the Americas. * Roma called Roy, ancient Egyptian High Priest of Amun * Roma (footballer, born 1979), born ''Paul ...

, saw Muslera regain a considerable amount of faith he had lost the previous season. Known to the Lazio fans as "''Castorino''", or the "little beaver", Muslera was also an integral part of the club's successful 2008–09 Coppa Italia campaign, making decisive saves against Milan and

Juventus Juventus Football Club (; from , ), commonly known as Juventus or colloquially as Juve (), is an Italian professional Association football, football List of football clubs in Italy, club based in Turin, Piedmont, who compete in Serie A, the ...

as Lazio reached the final for the first time in five seasons. In the

final Final, Finals or The Final may refer to: *Final examination or finals, a test given at the end of a course of study or training *Final (competition), the last or championship round of a sporting competition, match, game, or other contest which d ...

on 13 May 2009, Muslera saved two penalties as Lazio emerged victorious 6–5 in the shootout after the match ended 1–1 in extra time.Muslera the hero as Lazio win Italian Cup on penalties
nbsp;– Yahoo! Eurosportgoooll, 5/13/09 The Uruguayan's impressive season saw him cement his position as the Roman club's first choice in the 2009–10 season, despite the arrival of Argentine goalkeeper

Albano Bizzarri Albano Benjamín Bizzarri (born 9 November 1977) is an Argentine former professional footballer who played as a goalkeeper. He spent the vast majority of his professional career in Spain and Italy, starting out at Real Madrid in 1999. Club care ...

on a free transfer. Muslera played in goal as Lazio opened the season with a 2–1 win over 2008–09 Serie A champions

Internazionale Football Club Internazionale Milano, commonly referred to as Internazionale () or simply Inter, and colloquially known as Inter Milan in English-speaking countries, is an Italian professional football club based in Milan, Lombardy. Since 1 ...

in the

2009 Supercoppa Italiana The 2009 Supercoppa Italiana was a match played by the 2008–09 Serie A winners Inter Milan and 2008–09 Coppa Italia winners Lazio. It took place on 8 August 2009 at the Beijing National Stadium in Beijing, China. Lazio won the match 2– ...

, played in

Beijing Beijing, Chinese postal romanization, previously romanized as Peking, is the capital city of China. With more than 22 million residents, it is the world's List of national capitals by population, most populous national capital city as well as ...

. Following his successful performance in the

2010 FIFA World Cup The 2010 FIFA World Cup was the 19th FIFA World Cup, the world championship for List of men's national association football teams, men's national Association football, football teams. It took place in South Africa from 11 June to 11 July 2010. ...

with Uruguay, Muslera was voted the seventh-best goalkeeper in the world by the

International Federation of Football History & Statistics The International Federation of Football History & Statistics (IFFHS) is an organisation that chronicles the history and records of association football. It was founded in 1984 by Alfredo Pöge in Leipzig. The IFFHS was based in Abu Dhabi for so ...

Galatasaray

2011–12 season

On 19 July 2011, Turkish

club

announced the signing of Muslera from Lazio on a five-year contract while he was on duty in the

2011 Copa América The 2011 Campeonato Sudamericano Copa América, better known as the 2011 Copa América or the Copa América 2011 Argentina, was the 43rd edition of the Copa América, the main international association football, football tournament for national ...

with Uruguay. The transfer involved

Lorik Cana Lorik Agim Cana (; born 27 July 1983) is an Albanian former professional Association football, footballer. He is currently the grassroots ambassador for children's football in Albania, named by the Albanian Football Association on 26 October 201 ...

moving in the opposite direction to Lazio, while Galatasaray also paid €6.75 million to Muslera's former club, Montevideo Wanderers, (However, Lazio valued the sale of Muslera for free (as termination of contract) as well as signing Cana for a peppercorn of €1 as a special accounting arrangement) Muslera's contract saw him earn €2 million ''per'' year. On 5 November 2011, Muslera was selected the

man of the match In team sport, a player of the match award (also known as man of the match or woman of the match) is often given to the most outstanding player in a particular match. This can be a player from either team, although the player is generally chose ...

after saving his first penalty for Galatasaray in the match against

Mersin İdmanyurdu Mersin İdman Yurdu was a Turkish sports club from Mersin, Turkey in the eastern Mediterranean Region. The team played in the Turkish first division for 15 seasons, and after the 1983–84 season the football team played in the Turkish second and ...

, a 0–0 draw. On 8 April 2012, the last day of the

2011–12 Süper Lig The 2011–12 Süper Lig (known as the ''Spor Toto Süper Lig'' for sponsorship reasons) was the 54th season of the Süper Lig, the top level football league of Turkey. Fenerbahçe were the defending champions. The start date of the league was ...

season, Muslera scored his first career goal, a penalty against

Manisaspor Manisaspor is a Turkish professional football club located in the city of Manisa. Originally formed in 1931 as Sakaryaspor, the club changed its name to Manisaspor on 15 June 1965.2012–13 1 (one, unit, unity) is a number, numeral, and glyph. It is the first and smallest positive integer of the infinite sequence of natural numbers. This fundamental property has led to its unique uses in other fields, ranging from science to sp ...

, playing in the first match of the season in a 2–1 league victory over Kasımpaşa. On 19 September 2012, he made his

debut in a match against

Manchester United Manchester United Football Club, commonly referred to as Man United (often stylised as Man Utd) or simply United, is a professional association football, football club based in Old Trafford (area), Old Trafford, Greater Manchester, Engl ...

Old Trafford Old Trafford () is a football stadium in Old Trafford, Greater Manchester, England, and is the home of Manchester United. With a capacity of 74,197, it is the largest club football stadium (and second-largest football stadium overall after W ...

. Though Galatasaray lost the match 1–0, he saved a penalty from Nani. He kept his first clean sheet in the competition in a 1–0 victory against Manchester United at the

Türk Telekom Arena Ali Sami Yen Spor Kompleksi (commonly known as Ali Sami Yen Stadium), branded as Rams Park for sponsorship reasons, is a association football, football stadium serving as the home ground of the Süper Lig club Galatasaray S.K. (football), Galatas ...

. He played 33 league matches out of 34 with Galatasaray, who retained their league title.

2013–14 season

On 3 November 2013, Muslera suffered a fractured toe and therefore missed three

and two Champions League matches. However, he played 29 league matches out of 34. At the end of the 2013–14 season, it was announced Muslera extended his contract until 2018, and would earn €2.75 million ''per'' season.

2014–15 season

Muslera played 31 matches as Galatasaray regained their league title, but was absent in their cup final victory over

Bursaspor Bursaspor Kulübü Derneği, commonly known as Bursaspor, is a Turkey, Turkish professional sports club based in the city of Bursa. Founded in 1963, the club is best known for its football team, which has a rich history in Football in Turkey, Turk ...

due to his commitments for the

2015 Copa América The 2015 Copa América was the 44th edition of the Copa América, the main international football tournament for national teams in South America, and took place in Chile between 11 June and 4 July 2015. The competition was organized by CONMEBOL, ...

Later seasons

In a

league League or The League may refer to: Arts and entertainment * ''Leagues'' (band), an American rock band * ''The League'', an American sitcom broadcast on FX and FXX about fantasy football * ''League of Legends'', a 2009 multiplayer online battle a ...

match against

Çaykur Rizespor Çaykur Rizespor Kulübü is a Turkish professional Association football, football club based in Rize, a city on the eastern Black Sea region, Black Sea coast. The team competes in the Süper Lig, the top tier of Football in Turkey, Turkish footba ...

on 14 June 2020, Muslera suffered a double leg fracture as he collided with a Rizespor player in his box. On 27 February 2021, Muslera played his 300th league match for Galatasaray against

BB Erzurumspor Erzurumspor Futbol Kulübü, is a Turkish professional football club located in Erzurum who plays in the TFF First League, the second tier of Turkish football. Founded in 2005, the colours of club are blue and white. The club started to play fo ...

, breaking the appearances record for a foreign player in the

. Muslera, played his 429th match in the Süper Lig with Galatasaray (against

Konyaspor Konyaspor Kulübü (, Konya Sports Club), commonly referred to as Konyaspor, is a Turkish professional football club based in Konya, one of the largest cities in central Anatolia. Due to sponsorship agreements, the club is also officially known ...

) on January 25, 2025, became the Galatasaray player who has played the most in the history of the Süper Lig.

2021–22 season

On 13 December 2021, in an away

match against

Sivasspor Sivasspor Kulübü, known as Net Global Sivasspor due to sponsorship reasons, is a Turkish sports club based in Sivas. The primary department of the club is men's football. Formed in 1967, its football department has competed in Süper Lig since t ...

, Muslera collided with his teammate Christian Luyindama in his box and was left writhing in pain. Galatasaray stated that the collision had torn the

medial collateral ligament The medial collateral ligament (MCL), also called the superficial medial collateral ligament (sMCL) or tibial collateral ligament (TCL), is one of the major ligaments of the knee. It is on the medial (inner) side of the knee joint and occurs in ...

on Muslera’s left knee and also hurt the

anterior cruciate ligament The anterior cruciate ligament (ACL) is one of a pair of cruciate ligaments (the other being the posterior cruciate ligament) in the human knee. The two ligaments are called "cruciform" ligaments, as they are arranged in a crossed formation. In ...

2022–23 season

Muslera won his sixth Süper Lig title in the

2022–23 The dash is a punctuation mark consisting of a long horizontal line. It is similar in appearance to the hyphen but is longer and sometimes higher from the baseline. The most common versions are the endash , generally longer than the hyphen ...

season with the Galatasaray team.

2023–24 season

Defeating Ankaragücü 4–1 away in the match played in the 36th week on 30 May 2023, Galatasaray secured the lead with 2 weeks before the end and won the 23rd championship in its history.

2024–25 season

Muslera won the title of the player who has played the most games in the

with Galatasaray by taking the field against

in the Super League match played on 24 January 2025. With this match, Muslera, who played in the

for the 429th time, left

Bülent Korkmaz Bülent Korkmaz (born 24 November 1968), colloquially known by his given nicknames "Büyük Kaptan" () and "Cengaver" (), is a Turkish former professional footballer and current manager of TFF 1. Lig club Esenler Erokspor. Korkmaz was a one ...

behind and went down in club history. He scored his second career goal from a penalty on 18 May 2025 during a 3–0 win against

Kayserispor Kayseri Spor Kulübü, commonly known as Kayserispor, and also called Bellona Kayserispor due to sponsorship reasons, is a Turkish professional football club based in Kayseri. They play their home matches at the RHG Enertürk Enerji Stadium ...

that secured the

2024–25 Süper Lig The 2024–25 Süper Lig, officially called the Trendyol Süper Lig Şamil Ekinci season, was the 67th season of the Süper Lig, the highest tier football league of Turkey. The season started on 9 August 2024 and ended on 1 June 2025. On 18 May 2 ...

title. In a press conference on 29 May, Muslera announced that the

İstanbul Başakşehir Istanbul is the List of largest cities and towns in Turkey, largest city in Turkey, constituting the country's economic, cultural, and historical heart. With Demographics of Istanbul, a population over , it is home to 18% of the Demographics ...

match on the following day would be his last for Galatasaray. Muslera won a total of 19 trophies in his Galatasaray career.

International career

Muslera had been called up for the Uruguay national team on numerous occasions, but did not earn his first cap until 10 October 2009, when he started in Uruguay's 2–1 away win over

Ecuador Ecuador, officially the Republic of Ecuador, is a country in northwestern South America, bordered by Colombia on the north, Peru on the east and south, and the Pacific Ocean on the west. It also includes the Galápagos Province which contain ...

. The match was Uruguay's penultimate qualifier for the

in South Africa.

2010 FIFA World Cup

Muslera made his

World Cup A world cup is a global sporting competition in which the participant entities – usually international teams or individuals representing their countries – compete for the title of world champion. The event most associated with the name is ...

debut against

France France, officially the French Republic, is a country located primarily in Western Europe. Overseas France, Its overseas regions and territories include French Guiana in South America, Saint Pierre and Miquelon in the Atlantic Ocean#North Atlan ...

on 11 June 2010, Uruguay's opening match of the tournament. He kept a clean sheet during all three of Uruguay's group matches (0–0 against France, 3–0 against

South Africa South Africa, officially the Republic of South Africa (RSA), is the Southern Africa, southernmost country in Africa. Its Provinces of South Africa, nine provinces are bounded to the south by of coastline that stretches along the Atlantic O ...

and 1–0 against

Mexico Mexico, officially the United Mexican States, is a country in North America. It is the northernmost country in Latin America, and borders the United States to the north, and Guatemala and Belize to the southeast; while having maritime boundar ...

). In the round of 16, Uruguay faced

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 ...

; before the goal Uruguay conceded, Muslera had set a record for longest unbeaten goalkeeper in the World Cup. He was decisive in the quarter-final match against

Ghana Ghana, officially the Republic of Ghana, is a country in West Africa. It is situated along the Gulf of Guinea and the Atlantic Ocean to the south, and shares borders with Côte d’Ivoire to the west, Burkina Faso to the north, and Togo to t ...

, where he saved two penalties at the penalty shootout. He was a key component of the Uruguay team that reached the semi-finals of the World Cup and subsequently finished fourth in the tournament.

2011 Copa América

Muslera was called again by coach

Óscar Tabárez Óscar Washington Tabárez Silva (; born 3 March 1947), known as ''El Maestro'' (The Teacher), is a Uruguayan former professional football manager and former player. After an unassuming career as a player and after working as a primary school ...

to represent Uruguay as the first-choice goalkeeper at the

, held in Argentina. He was selected man of the match in the quarter-final against

Argentina Argentina, officially the Argentine Republic, is a country in the southern half of South America. It covers an area of , making it the List of South American countries by area, second-largest country in South America after Brazil, the fourt ...

in which Uruguay progressed on penalties, with Muslera saving a penalty from

Carlos Tevez Carlos Alberto Tevez (; né Martínez; born 5 February 1984) is an Argentine professional Manager (association football), football manager and former Football player, player. A dynamic forward (association football), forward in his prime, Tevez ...

to win the match. Uruguay went on to win the

title, defeating

Paraguay Paraguay, officially the Republic of Paraguay, is a landlocked country in South America. It is bordered by Argentina to the Argentina–Paraguay border, south and southwest, Brazil to the Brazil–Paraguay border, east and northeast, and Boli ...

3–0 in the final. Muslera started every game and played in every minute of Uruguay’s successful cup campaign.

Later career

Muslera was Uruguay's first-choice goalkeeper at the

2014 World Cup The 2014 FIFA World Cup was the 20th FIFA World Cup, the quadrennial world championship for men's national football teams organised by FIFA. It took place in Brazil from 12 June to 13 July 2014, after the country was awarded the hosting ri ...

and the

, playing every minute as Uruguay reached the last 16 of the former and the quarter-finals of the latter. He similarly featured in all of Uruguay's games at the

Copa América Centenario The Copa América Centenario (, , ; literally ''Centennial America Cup'') was an international men's soccer tournament that was hosted by the United States in 2016. The competition was a celebration of the centennial of CONMEBOL and the Copa Am� ...

the following year, where they suffered a first round elimination. In May 2018 Muslera was named in Uruguay's provisional 26-man

squad In military terminology, a squad is among the smallest of Military organization, military organizations and is led by a non-commissioned officer. NATO and United States, U.S. doctrine define a squad as an organization "larger than a fireteam, ...

for the

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 ...

in Russia. He later made the final 23-man squad, and in his nation's second match of the tournament on 20 June, a 1–0 win over

Saudi Arabia Saudi Arabia, officially the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia (KSA), is a country in West Asia. Located in the centre of the Middle East, it covers the bulk of the Arabian Peninsula and has a land area of about , making it the List of Asian countries ...

, he equaled the record of

Ladislao Mazurkiewicz Ladislao Mazurkiewicz Iglesias (; 14 February 1945 – 2 January 2013) was a Uruguayan footballer who played as a goalkeeper. Career Mazurkiewicz helped the Uruguay national team qualify for the semifinals of the 1970 World Cup, where the ''c ...

for the most World Cup appearances by Uruguayan footballer, with 13 such appearances. In his team's final group match on 25 June, a 3–0 win over hosts

Russia 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 ...

on 25 June, he broke Mazurkiewicz's record with his 14th World Cup appearance for Uruguay, also making his 100th appearance for his country in the same match, marking the occasion with his third consecutive clean sheet of the tournament. In the quarter-final match against

on 6 July, Uruguay were defeated 2–0; the second goal of the match arose after Muslera mishandled

Antoine Griezmann Antoine Griezmann (; born 21 March 1991) is a French professional Association football, footballer who plays as a Forward (association football), forward or attacking midfielder for club Atlético Madrid. Considered one of the greatest players ...

's strike from outside the area. On 6 September 2019, Muslera made his first appearance as Uruguay's

captain Captain is a title, an appellative for the commanding officer of a military unit; the supreme leader or highest rank officer of a navy ship, merchant ship, aeroplane, spacecraft, or other vessel; or the commander of a port, fire or police depa ...

, starting in a 2–1 friendly away win against

Costa Rica Costa Rica, officially the Republic of Costa Rica, is a country in Central America. It borders Nicaragua to the north, the Caribbean Sea to the northeast, Panama to the southeast, and the Pacific Ocean to the southwest, as well as Maritime bo ...

. In the

2022 FIFA World Cup The 2022 FIFA World Cup was the 22nd FIFA World Cup, the quadrennial world championship for national football teams organized by FIFA. It took place in Qatar from 20 November to 18 December 2022, after the country was awarded the hosting ri ...

, Muslera lost his place as the national team's first-choice keeper to

Sergio Rochet Sergio Ramón Rochet Álvarez (born 23 March 1993) is a Uruguayan professional footballer who plays as a goalkeeper for Campeonato Brasileiro Série A club Internacional and the Uruguay national team. Club career Rochet started his career wi ...

. In January 2023, Muslera along with one more player, faced a ban for four matches by FIFA, and a fine of $21,701 for misconduct during the FIFA World Cup in Qatar after the Ghana match. On 25 April 2024, Muslera announced his retirement from the national team.

Style of play

An acrobatic goalkeeper, Muslera is mainly known for his excellent shot-stopping and ability in the air.

Career statistics

Club

International

Honours

Lazio *

: 2008–09 *

Supercoppa Italiana The Supercoppa Italiana, also known as the Italian Super Cup, is an annual super cup tournament in Italian football. Founded in 1988 as a two-team competition, it has featured four teams since 2023 (the winners and runners-up of the previous ...

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 ...

Galatasaray *

: 2011–12,

2012–13 1 (one, unit, unity) is a number, numeral, and glyph. It is the first and smallest positive integer of the infinite sequence of natural numbers. This fundamental property has led to its unique uses in other fields, ranging from science to sp ...

, 2014–15, 2017–18, 2018–19,

, 2023–24, 2024–25 *

: 2013–14, 2014–15, 2015–16, 2018–19, 2024–25 *

2012 2012 was designated as: *International Year of Cooperatives *International Year of Sustainable Energy for All Events January *January 4 – The Cicada 3301 internet hunt begins. * January 12 – Peaceful protests begin in the R ...

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 ...

2015 2015 was designated by the United Nations as: * International Year of Light * International Year of Soil __TOC__ Events January * January 1 – Lithuania officially adopts the euro as its currency, replacing the litas, and becomes ...

2016 2016 was designated as: * International Year of Pulses by the sixty-eighth session of the United Nations General Assembly. * International Year of Global Understanding (IYGU) by the International Council for Science (ICSU), the Internationa ...

2019 This was the year in which the first known human case of COVID-19 was documented, preceding COVID-19 pandemic, the pandemic which was declared by the World Health Organization the following year. Up to that point, 2019 had been described as ...

2023 Catastrophic natural disasters in 2023 included the Lists of 21st-century earthquakes, 5th-deadliest earthquake of the 21st century 2023 Turkey–Syria earthquakes, striking Turkey and Syria, leaving up to 62,000 people dead; Cyclone Freddy ...

Uruguay *

Individual * Turkish Footballer of the Year: 2016 * Süper Lig Goalkeeper of the season: 2017–18 * Süper Lig Team of the Year: 2014–15, 2017–18, 2021–22,

Club career

Montevideo Wanderers/Nacional

Lazio

Galatasaray

2011–12 season

2013–14 season

2014–15 season

Later seasons

2021–22 season

2022–23 season

2023–24 season

2024–25 season

International career

2010 FIFA World Cup

2011 Copa América

Later career

Style of play

Career statistics

Club

International

Honours

See also

References

External links