Finally, Iniesta Quits Football At 40

Former Barcelona midfield dynamo and World Cup winner, Andrés Iniesta has finally confirmed his retirement after 22 years at football’s highest level.

In his illustrious footballing career, the midfielder, who won four Champions Leagues during a decade and a half in Barcelona’s first team, also clinched the World Cup, scoring in the 2010 final, and two European Championships for Spain in 2008 and 2012.

Aged 40, the legendary playmaker, since leaving Camp Nou in the summer of 2018, has enjoyed stints with Vissel Kobe and Emirates Club. He officially hung up his boots in an emotional announcement on Monday in a video posted to his social media channels.

The video captioned with the phrase; “The game will go on,” showed Iniesta emotionally discussing what football means to him before tributes were paid by several iconic football figures including Pep Guardiola, Louis van Gaal, and Luis Enrique.

Most recently, Iniesta was plying his trade recently playing for UAE Pro-League club Emirates, where he had an option to extend his contract until 2025, but decided to call it quits with his playing career.

Iniesta’s career was headlined by famously scoring the winning goal at the 2010 World Cup final in South Africa as Spain lifted the trophy for the first and only time in the country’s history. Indeed, that singular important goal represents the most famous moment of his career as that solitary strike against the Netherlands made the Spaniards world champions.

Iniesta made 54 appearances for Barcelona’s B team after joining the Club’s academy at age 12 in 1996 while initially living at La Masia. He finally broke into the senior side in 2002 and enjoyed a robust career featuring alongside great names like Carles Puyol, Xavi Hernández, and Lionel Messi.

Football pundits agree that Iniesta helped form the spine of the Blaugrana that won numerous Champions Leagues and La Liga titles. He eventually bade farewell to  Barça in 2018 after making almost 700 appearances and winning nine La Liga titles and four Champions Leagues among the 32 trophies he won with the club.

His showing at the international level saw him winning 131 caps for Spain and was a key part of the La Roja side that won back-to-back European Championships and the World Cup between 2008 and 2012.

After leaving Barça and retiring from international football, Iniesta went on to spend five years in Japan with Vissel Kobe, winning the J1 League in 2023, before winding down his career at Emirates. Overall, he made about 900 club appearances across spells with Barça, Vissel Kobe, and Emirates.