Issue 442 of the CIES Football Observatory Weekly Post presents the footballers in the world who have played the most minutes in official matches (clubs as well as national U21- and A-teams) up until December 4th. Topping the list in absolute terms is the Paraguayan centre back Gustavo Gómez of the Brazilian side Palmeiras, with 6,213 minutes in 70 matches.

Another Palmeiras player, Weverton Pereira (6,150 minutes in 68 matches), heads the rankings for goalkeepers active outside Europe, ahead of Rafael Monteiro from São Paulo, while the most-used goalkeeper playing for clubs in UEFA associations is Luxembourg's Anthony Moris of Union St-Gilloise (5,590 minutes in 62 matches), ahead of KRC Genk’s Maarten Vandevoordt.

Among outfield players from European teams, the top three are Manchester United's Portuguese Bruno Fernandes (5,748 minutes in 66 matches), Feyenoord's Slovakian Dávid Hancko (5,248 minutes in 58 matches) and Real Madrid's German Antonio Rüdiger (5,223 minutes in 63 matches). Thirty-five-year-old Dušan Tadić (Serbia and Fenerbahçe) is the oldest player in the top 10.