Juventus and Italy legend Gianluigi Buffon has announced his retirement from professional football at the age of 45.
The 2006 World Cup winner enjoyed a successful 28-year career and played the last two seasons at boyhood club Parma in Serie B.
Buffon ended his contract with Parma until June 2024 before confirming his retirement.
The Italian posted a video on Wednesday which read: “That’s it! You gave me everything. I gave you everything. We did it together.”
Considered one of the greatest goalkeepers of all time, Buffon spent two decades at Juventus.
He made his professional debut for Parma aged 17 in 1995 and four years later won the Coppa Italia, UEFA Cup and Supercoppa Italia at the club.
Buffon moved to Juventus in 2001 for 52 million euros ($57 million), a world record for a goalkeeper.
At Juve, he won 10 Serie A titles in 19 seasons, as well as a Serie B title in the 2006–07 season as the club played in the second division after being relegated following the Calciopoli scandal.
He has also won the Coppa Italia five times and the Supercoppa Italia six times.
Buffon has reached three Champions League finals with Juve but is yet to win any notable trophies.
In 2018, he joined PSG as a free agent and won the Ligue 1 title and the Trophée des Champions before returning to Juve the following season.
Buffon is the player with the most appearances for Italy, with 176 appearances for the national team.
He made his Azzurri debut in 1997 and played for nine major tournaments between 1998 and 2016 and was an unused substitute at the 1998 World Cup.
He kept 5 clean sheets in 7 matches to help Italy win the 2006 World Cup.
Buffon was named Ballon d’Or runner-up that year, beaten only by Azzurri team-mate Fabio Cannavaro.
Buffon also captained the Italian team that lost to Spain in the Euro 2012 final.
He retired from international duty in 2017 after 20 years of service.
Juventus captain Leonardo Bonucci was among those to applaud Buffon’s achievement.
The former Italy defender wrote: “You have been an amazing person. And you always will be. I can’t even find the words to describe what you have done, what you have taught me, what you have given me. Thank you love, my friend.”
Kylian Mbappé, who played alongside Buffon in Paris, also paid tribute to the goalkeeper.
“It’s been a great honor for me to have the opportunity to mingle with you and cross paths with your legendary career,” Mbappe wrote on messaging platform X, formerly known as Twitter.
“(You are) a golden man with invaluable advice that I will carry with me for the rest of my life.”
After retiring, Buffon will take on the role of captain of the Italian national team.
