Fábio Deivson Lopes Maciel

Fábio made history on 19 August 2025, when his appearance for Fluminense against América de Cali became his 1,391st competitive match, taking him past Peter Shilton's long-standing record for the most appearances by a footballer. He spent more than two decades without a single senior cap for the national side, despite representing Brazil at under-17, under-20 and under-23 level.

He started out at União Bandeirante before loan spells took him to Atlético Paranaense and Cruzeiro, then joined Vasco da Gama in 2000, winning the Campeonato Brasileiro and the Copa Mercosur in his first year there. A labour dispute with the club in 2005 kept him out for four months before his move to Cruzeiro that same year, in a deal structured around the economic rights of the striker Alex Dias, with Cruzeiro taking 50%, Vasco 40% and Fábio himself retaining a 10% stake in his own economic rights.

Over 17 years there he won the Campeonato Mineiro repeatedly, two editions of the Copa do Brasil and two Campeonato Brasileiro titles, collecting the Bola de Prata twice and the Troféu Telê Santana nine times over. Not everything went smoothly: in 2007 he conceded a goal after turning his back on play to retrieve the ball. He left Cruzeiro in 2022 amid a dispute over his contract renewal, moving to Fluminense as a free agent.

At Fluminense he has added the Copa Libertadores, the Recopa Sudamericana and two Campeonato Carioca titles to his collection, while continuing to add to a match tally that has already passed 634 Série A appearances and 100 in the Copa do Brasil.