Andres Iniesta, the former World and European football champion, has officially ended his active career. The now 40-year-old former exceptional player announced this step at an emotional ceremony in Barcelona, attended by Barça coach Hansi Flick. „I never expected this day to come, I could never have imagined it,“ said Iniesta, touched. „But all the tears of the last few days are tears of emotion or pride, they are not tears of sadness. They are the tears of this boy who had the dream of becoming a footballer and who, after a lot of hard work, effort, and sacrifices, has succeeded.“
Already on Monday, he had prepared the announcement of his career ending with a video of over two minutes on social media. In the video, his former coaches Pep Guardiola, Louis van Gaal, and Vicente del Bosque were among those who spoke.
Iniesta is considered one of the most influential Spanish footballers of recent decades. Fourteen years ago, he scored the winning goal for Spain in the final against the Netherlands in extra time to win the World Cup title in South Africa. In 2008 and 2012, he became a European champion with his home country.
His work is particularly linked to the successful period of FC Barcelona at the beginning of this century. Iniesta was the playmaker on the field for the last four of Barcelona’s five Champions League titles. Alongside his midfield partner Xavi and superstar Lionel Messi, Iniesta was known for the famous short-passing game of Tiki-Taka under former Barcelona coach Guardiola. Iniesta made his debut in the first team of FC Barcelona in 2002 and played 674 times for the Catalan club.
Messi paid tribute to Iniesta via Instagram Story as „one of the teammates with the most magic“ and the one he enjoyed playing with the most. „The ball will miss you, just like we all will,“ the Argentine wrote.
In addition to the Champions League titles in 2006, 2009, 2011, and 2015, Iniesta won the Spanish league title nine times and the Copa del Rey six times with Barcelona. In 2018, he moved to Japan to play for Vissel Kobe, where he played alongside Lukas Podolski. In 2023, he further moved to the United Arab Emirates to join Emirates Club. His contract there had expired at the end of June.