Having come through the ranks of the youth team at Parma, Gianluigi Buffon made his debut in Serie A at only 17 years of age against AC Milan, marking himself as one of the best in his position from day one. He won one UEFA Cup, one Coppa Italia and one Italian Supercup. Juventus then decided to invest heavily in him, with his transfer fee to the Bianconeri making him, to this day, the most expensive Italian player ever. He stayed in Turin for fifteen seasons, even when the team was relegated to Serie B, thus becoming a cult figure among the fans. So far, he has won ten Scudetti, the Coppa Italia four times, and six Italian Supercups with Juventus. In the 2018-19 season he crossed the Alps for a brief stint with Paris Saint-Germain, where he won Ligue 1. Nevertheless, the allure of the Bianconeri homeland was such that he returned to Turin in the summer of 2019 to don once more the Juventus colours, going on to break the record for Serie A appearances, previously held by Paolo Maldini with 647.

He found instant victory with the Azzurri, winning the Under 21s European Cup in 1996. In October 1997, he made his debut with the full national side, at only 19 years of age, and replaced the injured Gianluca Pagliuca in the tight 1998 World Cup qualifier playoff against Russia, a display which landed him a spot as third keeper. He then became first keeper under Dino Zoff and, after missing out on the Euros in 2000 due to injury, he played in the 2002 World Cup and the 2004 Euros under Giovanni Trapattoni. The high point of his career, however, was in 2006, when he won the World Cup in Germany, the same year that he came runner-up in the Ballon d’Or rankings, won by Fabio Cannavaro. He became captain of the team under Cesare Prandelli, when the Azzurri came runner-up in the 2012 Euros, where they only lost against Spain. In October 2013 his most prestigious achievement came when he officially became the player with most appearances for the Azzurri, going on to break the 150 matches mark in the Conte era.

“Gigi” is one of only three players in the history of football to have played in five World Cups. So far, he has made 176 appearances for the Azzurri.