Barcelona, Spain Legend Iniesta To Retire From Football At 40

Barcelona and Spain football legend Andres Iniesta is set to retire from the game at the age of 40.

The veteran midfielder has been a free agent for several months after leaving his latest club, Emirates FC Club, and has decided to draw his career to an end.

Iniesta is one of the most beloved of Spain’s footballers, having scored the winning goal in the 2010 World Cup final, the only goal of the game, four minutes from the end of extra time to secure a first ever World title for La Roja.

He was also key in their victories at Euro 2008 and 2012.

He finished with 131 caps and 14 goals for Spain, fifth on their all-time list of most-capped players behind only Sergio Ramos, Iker Casillas, Sergio Busquets and Xavi Hernandez.

An essential part of both of Barcelona’s treble-winning sides in 2009 and 2015. In total, he collected four Champions League medals, nine Liga titles, six Copas del Rey, three Club World Cups, and ten Supercups between the European (3) and Spanish (7).

Iniesta made 674 appearances in total for Barcelona, scoring 57 times and assisting on 135 occasions, between his debut in 2002 and his exit in 2018.

He would then spend five years at Vissel Kobe in Japan, playing 134 games and contributing 26 goals and 25 assists, before moving to Dubai last year, where he added another five goals and an assist in his 23 appearances.

His final career statistics are 1,016 games played, 107 goals scored and 191 assists.