Igor Akinfeev

Igor Vladimirovich Akinfeev (Игорь Владимирович Акинфеев; born 8 April 1986) is a Russian professional footballer who plays as a goalkeeper for and captains Russian club CSKA Moscow.

He has spent his entire career at CSKA, making more than 700 official appearances.

Igor Akinfeev was born on 8 April 1986 in the town of Vidnoye, Moscow Oblast.

When he was 4 years old his father sent him to the Sports school of CSKA.

He has been a goalkeeper since his second training.

As a member of the junior CSKA Moscow team, he won the Russian Junior Championship in 2002.

Akinfeev made his professional debut for CSKA Moscow at the age of 16, saving a penalty kick and keeping a clean sheet in a 2–0 win over FC Krylia Sovetov Samara.

He broke into the starting line-up at the age of 17 in 2003, winning the club's first Russian Premier League in the same season.

A full international for Russia between 2004 and 2018, he earned 111 caps and was selected in their squads for four UEFA European Championships and two FIFA World Cups.

Akinfeev made his debut for the Russian national team in a friendly match against Norway, which Russia lost 2–3, on 28 April 2004, aged 18 years and 20 days.

He has won six Russian Premier League titles and seven Russian Cups, as well as the UEFA Cup in 2005.

He is a record holder for most games played in the Russian top-level league at 560 (as of 8 March 2024).

In 2005, CSKA won a treble of the Russian Premier League Russian Cup and UEFA Cup.

During this season, Akinfeev played in all 19 of CSKA's European matches, including the 2005 UEFA Cup Final, which the Army Men won 3–1 against Sporting CP at their opponents' Estádio José Alvalade.

In 2006, he won a third Russian league title and second Russian Cup with CSKA and was awarded the Zvezda trophy, for the year's best football player from the former Soviet Union.

In the 2006–07 UEFA Champions League, Akinfeev went 362 minutes without conceding a goal until Ricardo Quaresma scored past him for FC Porto in his team's fifth group match.

This began a record breaking run of 43 consecutive matches without keeping a clean sheet in the Champions League.

Akinfeev has failed to keep a clean sheet in any Champions League game between 1 November 2006 to 24 July 2017, making 43 consecutive appearances without a Clean Sheet.

The streak started with a group stage game against Arsenal FC on 1 November 2006, and ended when CSKA defeated AEK Athens in a Champions League Qualifier in the 2017–18 season on 25 July 2017.

In May 2007, Akinfeev sustained a knee injury which kept him out for the remainder of the 2007 Russian Premier League season.

CSKA ended the season third in the league behind city rivals Spartak Moscow and champions Zenit St. Petersburg.

Akinfeev returned for the 2008 season, starting in all 30 league matches and winning the Russian Cup.

In 2009, he again started all 30 Russian Premier League matches and kept a clean sheet in the 1–0 Russian Cup Final defeat of league winners Rubin Kazan.

In May 2011, Akinfeev captained CSKA to a fifth Russian Cup of his career.

In 2012–13, CSKA won their first Russian Premier League title in seven years, with Akinfeev named Russian Footballer of the Year.

Akinfeev also saved Yuri Zhirkov's kick in CSKA's penalty shootout win over Anzhi Makhachkala in the 2013 Russian Cup Final.

In 2013–14, Akinfeev won a fifth Russian Premier League title.

Initially, the record was set on October 2, 2013, during a game against FC Viktoria Plzen when Akinfeev conceded two goals, marking his 17th game without a clean sheet in a row.

On 1 February 2014, CSKA Moscow announced that Akinfeev had extended his contract CSKA until the summer of 2019.

On 14 May 2014, he overtook Lev Yashin as the goalkeeper with the third-highest number of clean sheets in Russian football.

On 14 November 2015, he broke this clean sheet record with his 233rd career shutout in the Russia national football team's 1–0 win over Portugal.

He was named captain of Russia in March 2017, after the retirement of his predecessor Vasili Berezutski.

Akinfeev is a member of the Lev Yashin Club and has kept more clean sheets in Russian football than any other goalkeeper.

His Champions League run without a clean sheet finally ended 11 years later, when CSKA Moscow beat AEK Athens 2–0 away in the qualifying stages of the Champions League on 25 July 2017; prior to the match, Akinfeev's last clean sheet in the Champions League had come against Arsenal in November 2006.

In August 2018, Akinfeev extended his CSKA contract to last until 2022.

In December 2018, Akinfeev earned his 300th clean sheet, becoming the first Russian goalkeeper to do so.

On 14 August 2021, he played his 489th game in the Russian top tier, repeating the record previously set by Sergei Ignashevich.

In his next game on 21 August 2021, he set a new record with 490.

On 20 May 2022, Akinfeev extended his contract with CSKA until the end of the 2023–24 season.

On 11 June 2023, Akinfeev saved two penalty kicks in the 2023 Russian Cup Final shootout to win the trophy for CSKA.