World Cup and UEFA Champions League winner Andres Iniesta announced his retirement on Tuesday, nearly 22 years after he began a career that would see him become one of the most celebrated and accomplished players of his generation.
Iniesta broke the news in a social media post, a day after teasing the announcement with a video featuring a handful of the sport’s legends, including his former Barcelona managers Pep Guardiola and Louis van Gaal, waxing lyrical about Iniesta’s talents.
The all-star list of icons enlisted to honor Iniesta speaks to Iniesta’s legacy and stature. He is considered by many to be the focal point of the uber-successful Spain and Barcelona teams of the late aughts and early 2010s, a period in which he won a World Cup, two European Championships, four UEFA Champions League titles and nine La Liga trophies. Iniesta was shortlisted for the 2010 World Cup golden boot award and finished runner-up for that year’s Ballon d’Or.
Humble beginnings for Iniesta
It is an impressive trophy haul for a player who first played futsal in the small village of Fuentealbilla, nearly 300 miles from Barcelona, trained as a defensive midfielder, played some of his early minutes as a wide forward and famously stands at a modest 5’7″. His talent was obvious from an early age, though – Guardiola, Iniesta’s childhood idol, watched him play at age 14 and said he “reads the game better than me,” per The Guardian. Guardiola later signed Iniesta’s poster, dedicating it to “the best player I’ve ever seen.”
Iniesta was an accomplished youth international, captaining the Spain team that won the U-16 Euros in 2001, before van Gaal gave him his Barcelona first team debut at 18 in a Champions League win at Club Brugge in October 2002. The midfielder wasted little time becoming a starter and more importantly, the architect of the team’s success for the next decade.
A quiet icon at Barcelona
The player quickly settled into a central midfield role, playing alongside club and country teammate Xavi, creating chances that the likes of Lionel Messi, Thierry Henry and Luis Suarez benefitted from. Iniesta became known for a wide-ranging skillset and mastery of them all, from his impressive on-field vision to his arguably unrivaled ability to navigate tight spaces. He had a signature move, the croqueta, first introduced by another childhood hero Michael Laudrup, in which he would swiftly shift the ball from the inside of one foot to the other and essentially escape any tight situation.
Iniesta was equal parts purpose and flair, leading Sir Alex Ferguson to say that “Guardiola and Iniesta make Barcelona. Rather than their forwards, it’s their midfield you have to watch.” As if that was not enough, he also delivered in the biggest moments. Iniesta scored the winning goal in the 2010 World Cup final, notched assists in the 2009, 2011 and 2015 Champions League finals and is the only person to win the Man of the Match awards in a World Cup, Euro and Champions League final.
The most memorable moment of his career is undoubtedly the 2010 World Cup final, when he coupled his triumph with a tribute to Daniel Jarque, a friend and Espanyol captain who suddenly died of a heart attack at age 26 less than a year earlier. Iniesta had not only struggled with injuries in the buildup to the World Cup but also mental health struggles after Jarque’s death, helping to destigmatize the issue in his 2016 book, “The Artist: Being Iniesta.”
He spent the bulk of his career at Barcelona, amassing 674 appearances and earning a lifetime contract with the club in 2017. He opted to leave the club the following year, though, extending his career in globe-trotting fashion. He played in Japan with Vissel Kobe until 2023, collecting a league winners’ medal in his final season despite playing just four games. He joined Emirates Club in the United Arab Emirates that year in search of more game time, making 23 appearances as the team were relegated from the top flight.
Iniesta also earned 131 caps for Spain and scored 13 times, representing the national team at four World Cups from 2006 to 2018.
Iniesta played his final game on June 1, coming on as a substitute for Emirates Club in a 3-2 loss against Al Bataeh.
