Iker Casillas: Real Madrid and Spain’s “San Iker” captain

Iker Casillas was the Spain goalkeeper who, as captain, led Spain to their first World Cup in 2010, and to the European Championships of 2008 and 2012. On his retirement, Real Madrid called him the best goalkeeper in the club’s 118-year history. He played 725 matches for Real Madrid and 167 for Spain; in both cases only one player has played more¹. Spanish fans called him “San Iker”, meaning “Saint Iker”⁶.

Early life and beginnings

Casillas was born on 20 May 1981 in Móstoles, near Madrid⁶. According to the BBC, he joined the Real Madrid academy at the age of nine¹. Speaking to UEFA, he said that as a child his idol was the Danish goalkeeper Peter Schmeichel⁴.

In September 1999, aged 18, he played his first league match for the Real Madrid first team, and in the same season became the team’s regular goalkeeper⁶.

Club career

In May 2000, just four days after his 19th birthday, Casillas was in goal for Real Madrid in the 3-0 win over Valencia in the Champions League final in Paris⁶.

The 2002 final in Glasgow was against Bayer Leverkusen. According to UEFA, when goalkeeper César went off injured in the closing moments, Casillas came on. He made three superb saves in added time to secure Real Madrid’s 2-1 win. It was the final in which Zinedine Zidane scored his famous volley³.

For more than a decade after that he stayed in the Real Madrid goal and also became captain. With the club he won five Spanish league titles and three Champions League titles, the third in 2014¹⁶. By September 2015 he had played 152 Champions League matches, then a record in the competition’s history⁴.

In 2015 he moved to the Portuguese club Porto, where he played 156 matches and won the Portuguese league in 2017-18⁶. After suffering a heart attack in training in April 2019, he could not play another competitive match. On 4 August 2020, aged 39, he announced his retirement from the game¹².

International career

Casillas played his first match for Spain in June 2000⁶, and became captain in 2008. That year Spain won the European Championship held in Austria and Switzerland¹.

The 2010 World Cup was held in South Africa. In the second half of the final against the Netherlands in Johannesburg, Arjen Robben ran through with the ball and faced Casillas alone, but Casillas stuck out a foot at the last moment and turned the ball away. Andrés Iniesta’s goal in added time gave Spain a 1-0 win, and Casillas lifted the World Cup trophy for Spain⁵. He also received the “Golden Glove” as the tournament’s best goalkeeper⁷.

In 2012, Spain beat Italy 4-0 in the final to win a second consecutive European Championship⁶. Casillas kept playing for Spain until 2016¹.

Style of play

Casillas was known for his exceptionally quick reflexes, agility on the goal line and courage in one-on-one situations⁶. His saves in the 2002 and 2010 finals are examples of this quality³⁵. Speaking to UEFA, he advised young goalkeepers that “you have to be very strong mentally”, and said the best striker he had faced was “always Messi”⁴.

Statistics

These figures cover all official matches. They are taken from the BBC report of 4 August 2020 and were checked against Wikipedia’s career table on 20 October 2026. Matches for Real Madrid’s reserve teams are not included¹⁶.

Honours

• FIFA World Cup: 2010 (captain) [1][5]
• European Championship: 2008, 2012 [1]
• UEFA Champions League: three times (2000, 2002, 2014) [1][6]
• Spanish league: five times [1]
• Portuguese league: 2018 [6]
• World Cup Golden Glove: 2010 [7]

Legacy

Casillas was captain of the Spanish generation that won three major titles in four years and put Spain among the top teams in football. His journey at Real Madrid, from the age of nine to the first team at 16, is regarded as the club academy’s greatest success¹.