Gustavo Gómez achieves historic milestone at Palmeiras and surpasses world football stars

Palmeiras defender Gustavo Gómez holds the matches record as of 2020. According to a survey by the CIES Football Observatory, a group specializing in the statistical analysis of football, Gómez is the athlete with the most minutes on the pitch in the world over the last five years.

There are 28,194 minutes played in 319 matches played over the last five seasons for Palmeiras. The Paraguayan surpasses stars such as Manchester United’s Bruno Fernandes, Real Madrid’s Mbappé and Bayern Munich’s Harry Kane. Check it out:

1. Gustavo Gómez – 28,194 minutes (319 matches)
2. Bruno Fernandes – 27,634 minutes (327 matches)
3. Nicolas Otamendi – 26,791 minutes (304 matches)
4. Harry Kane – 25,680 minutes (309 games)
5. Declan Rice – 25,351 minutes (306 games)
6. Kylian Mbappé – 25,199 minutes (305 matches)
7. Junior Alonso – 26,039 minutes (287 games)

Gómez tops the rankings, but is not on the list of those who played the most in 2024 and 2025. Last year, the defender suffered some injuries at Palmeiras and was prevented from playing regularly. This season, the world leader has been Junior Alonso, of Atlético-MG, with 6,036 minutes played in 70 matches. Gómez played 5,193 minutes.

Gustavo Gómez renewed his contract with Verdão until December 2027 and is expected to maintain this average next season. Captain and sheriff of the defense, the player has credit with Palmeiras supporters.

Unanimity in Palmeiras

The defender’s impact on Verdão was rapid. Multi-champion with the Palmeiras jersey, Gustavo Gómez is unanimous in the starting team, tackles brilliantly and poses a danger from set pieces. He was hired in 2018 and has since built a great history at the club. Over time, some defense partners left, but he stayed.