From Romario’s teammate to football’s all-time appearance record-holder

Fluminense’s veteran goalkeeper Fabio Deivson Lopes Maciel has etched his name into football history, officially surpassing Peter Shilton’s legendary mark for most competitive appearances.

At 44 years old and nearly three decades into his professional journey, Fabio Deivson Lopes Maciel reached his 1,391st career match during Fluminense’s Copa Sudamericana clash with America de Cali on Wednesday.

Shilton, the iconic England shot-stopper, previously held the record with 1,374 appearances, including 125 for his country. Fabio is thought to have overtaken him last season, but now the milestone has been firmly established.

Remarkably, the Brazilian has worn the shirt of just five clubs throughout his career: starting at Uniao Bandeirante before spells with Atletico Paranaense, Vasco da Gama, Cruzeiro, and finally Fluminense. His time at Cruzeiro alone saw him step onto the pitch 976 times across 17 years, cementing him as one of the club’s greats.

Since moving to Fluminense in 2022, he has already added 235 more games to his record, even playing at the Club World Cup, where his side reached the semi-finals before bowing out to Chelsea.

During that run, Fabio also set another milestone — breaking Gianluigi Buffon’s clean sheet record of 506.

After the final whistle of his record-breaking night, the goalkeeper celebrated with his family on the field, proudly wearing a special shirt to mark the achievement.

“I have to thank everyone who is part of my life — my parents, my sisters, my friends, my wife. I try to be a good human being,” Fabio said. “The important thing is to help my teammates. I am grateful, but without God, nothing would be possible. These are tough matches against strong teams, but we keep chasing our goals — the titles.”

Even now, Fabio shows no signs of slowing down. Having played an astonishing 5,850 minutes of football since July 2024 — more than any goalkeeper in a single year — he continues to stretch the gap between himself and Shilton.

What’s more, he now stands ahead of icons like Cristiano Ronaldo (1,283 matches), Paul Bastock (1,284), and Rogerio Ceni (1,226) in the all-time appearance charts — all without ever pulling on Brazil’s famous yellow jersey.