Germany's veteran goalkeeper Manuel Neuer has etched his name into the record books of the FIFA World Cup, becoming the goalkeeper with the most appearances in the tournament's history after reaching his 21st match, surpassing the previous record held by French goalkeeper Hugo Lloris.
Neuer, who is 40 years old, achieved this milestone after featuring for Die Mannschaft in their Group Stage second-round match against Côte d'Ivoire, cementing his status as one of the greatest goalkeepers in the history of the game.
Neuer had equalled Lloris's record of 20 appearances during the match against Curaçao in the first round, which ended in a 7-1 victory for Germany, before going on to claim the record outright in the match against Côte d'Ivoire.
Neuer had made 19 appearances across 4 previous editions of the tournament in 2010, 2014, 2018, and 2022, before becoming the most-capped goalkeeper in World Cup history at the current edition.
Neuer played 6 matches at the 2010 World Cup, with goalkeeper Hans-Jörg Butt playing the third-place play-off, before Neuer went on to play 7 matches at the 2014 World Cup, keeping a clean sheet in 4 of them and contributing to Germany's title triumph, while also winning the Golden Glove award.
In the 2018 and 2022 editions, Neuer played 3 matches in each tournament, before the German national team was eliminated in the Group Stage on both occasions.
It is worth noting that Neuer came out of international retirement at the request of head coach Julian Nagelsmann following his outstanding form last season, to participate in the World Cup for the fifth time in his career.