2017 was a pronounced year with regards to the retirement of a legion of decorated footballers. In the list below, we have an assortment of winners of the World Cup, European Championship, Copa America, Champions League and pretty much every domestic title out there.
Sadly, we’ve seen the last of this group on the professional pitch and on our gaming consoles via FIFA. Here are 10 footballers (along with a few honorable mentions) that hung up their boots this year.
10 Legendary Footballers Who Retired In 2017
(This list does not include Gianluigi Buffon, Xavi or Didier Drogba, who’ve announced that they’ll hang up their boots in 2018 or Steven Gerrard and Frank Lampard, who played their last matches in 2016.)
#1. Xabi Alonso | Real Sociedad, Liverpool, Real Madrid, Bayern Munich & Spain
Photo: @Bayern_mania | Twitter
#2. Francesco Totti | AS Roma & Italy
Photo: @Diregiovani | Twitter
#3. Philipp Lahm | Bayern Munich & Germany
Photo: @liarxl | Twitter
#4. Andrea Pirlo | Brescia, Inter, Milan, Juventus, NYCFC & Italy
Photo: @EPLArena | Twitter
#5. Kaka | Sao Paulo, Milan, Real Madrid, Orlando City & Brazil
Photo: @samanthaaaz22 | Twitter
#6. Dirk Kuyt | Utrecht, Feyenoord, Liverpool, Fenerbahce & Netherlands
Photo: @Feljenoord12 | Twitter
#7. Esteban Cambiasso | Inter, Real Madrid, Many Others & Argentina
Photo: @Squawka | Twitter
#8. Tomas Rosicky | Sparta Prague, Borussia Dortmund, Arsenal & Czech Republic
Photo: @BBCSport | Twitter
#9. Ze Roberto | Bayer Leverkusen, Bayern Munich, Many Others & Brazil
Photo: @BrazilEdition | Twitter
#10. Maxwell | PSG, Inter, Barcelona, Ajax, Cruzeiro & Brazil
Photo: @CCentral_ok | Twitter
Special Mention: Alvaro Arbeloa, Martin Demichelis, Scott Parker, Antonio Cassano, Victor Valdes and Kim Kallstrom