Iker Casillas

Iker Casillas Fernández (Móstoles,^{[citation required]} Madrid, May 20, 1981) is a Spanish former soccer player who played as a goalkeeper. He was an absolute international with the Spanish team from 2000 to 2016, of which he was its captain from 2006 to 2016. He is the second Spanish international with the most caps in history (behind Sergio Ramos with 180) and the fifteenth worldwide with 167 He captained his national team, proclaiming itself continental champion in 2008 and 2012 and world champion in 2010, thus achieving the first "triplet" of national teams.

He spent most of his sports career at Real Madrid Club de Fútbol, first in its lower categories and from 1999 to 2015 in the first team, holding the captaincy between 2010 and 2015. He is the player with the second most caps for the history of the club, with a total of 725, behind Raúl González with 741.From 2019 to 2020, due to an acute myocardial infarction, he was part of the coaching staff of Futebol Clube do Porto,as a precautionary measure in his recovery until its withdrawal in August 2020.

For five years he was considered the best goalkeeper in the world by FIFA and UEFA, through his FIFA/FIFPro World XI and UEFA Team of the Year awards. The IFFHS also elected him the best goalkeeper in the world for five consecutive years, from 2008 to 2012. Likewise, he was included without interruption between 2007 and 2012, in the final list of candidates for the Ballon d'Or.

After announcing his retirement from sports, he presented his candidacy for the elections for the presidency of the Royal Spanish Football Federation against the current occupant, Luis Rubiales, and to take place at the end of the 2019-20 season.

Former soccer player, commentator and coach Jorge Valdano said of him:

He appeared to be a child, became an idol based on flying miracles and fired as a myth after leading the most successful generation of Spanish football history. Iker's long career allowed him to meet two footballs. The pregalactic, of barry essence and community pride, where the old Sports City was a scenario consistent with its normal boyhood of Móstoles. And the postgalactic was in which footballers became social heroes, in which the pre-temporaries were tours and in which a Chinese imports, in economic terms, as much as a partner (...) In both footballs, it was the same person.

Trajectory

Real Madrid C.F.

Iker Casillas, captain of Real Madrid C. F. between 2010 and 2015.

Iker Casillas was trained entirely at the football level, in the lower categories of Real Madrid, in whose junior team he began to play in the 1990/91 season. He was called up for the first time with the first team, at just 16 years of age and belonging to youth A, for the Champions League game on November 27, 1997, the fifth game on the road to "La Séptima", against Rosenborg in Norway. Real Madrid contacted the director of the institute de Iker, to notify him of his call-up, which was motivated by the casualties of Illgner and Contreras, with Santiago Cañizares being the starting goalkeeper in that match.

The following 1998/99 season, he was part of the Real Madrid C squad, the second subsidiary of the white club and a Third Division team, and was called up by the U-20 team at just 17 years old, to play in the World Cup in April Juvenile of 1999, in which Iker was one of the bastions for the achievement of the title.

His debut in the First Division and as a starter with the first team, took place at "La Catedral", San Mamés, on September 12, 1999, with a 2-2 result against Athletic Club. In that first season 1999/2000, he also became the youngest goalkeeper to play and win a Champions League Final, by achieving "La Octava" for the club. At the end of that year, 2000, he received the Bravo Trophy for best young footballer from Europe.

Galactic Age

With the arrival of Florentino Pérez to the presidency, after proclaiming himself the winner of the 2000 elections, a sports policy called "Zidanes and Pavones" was established in the club, based on having the best players in the world, combined with a strong promotion of youth players. In 2002, after the incorporation of Ronaldo Nazario, the press coined the term "Galácticos", to refer to that team full of stars.

In that first season 2000/01, with Florentino Pérez at the helm of the club, they won the first of their five league titles up to now, reaching the semifinals of the Champions League. The following 2001/02 season, Iker lost ownership, to the detriment of goalkeeper César Sánchez, by decision of coach Vicente del Bosque. However, this season there was a turning point in the sports career of Iker Casillas, which occurred in the Champions League Final played in Glasgow against the German Bayer Leverkusen. In that final the starting goalkeeper was César, who suffered an injury and he had to be replaced by Iker, who in the end turned out to be, along with Zidane and his famous volley goal, the great hero of "La Novena", with three portentous interventions in the final minutes, thus winning his second Champions League in three years. From that final, he became the undisputed starter in the team and in the Spanish team, with which he played that summer in the 2002 World Cup, in which he also had an outstanding performance.

The 2002/03 season is one of Iker's most complete seasons, being named second best goalkeeper in the world by the IFFHS for the second consecutive year. At the level of titles, he won the European Super Cup and the Intercontinental Cup, in addition to his second National League Championship. In the Champions League, the team reached the semifinals of the competition for the fourth consecutive year, being eliminated by Juventus in Turin.

In the 2003/04 season and with Carlos Queiroz replacing del Bosque, the team began the season by becoming champion of the Spanish Super Cup and completing an impeccable campaign until March 2004, exhibiting a great level of play, which placed them leaders in the League, qualified for the quarterfinals of the Champions League after eliminating FC Bayern in the round of 16 and finalists of the Copa del Rey. It is as a result of that Cup final, played at the Montjuïc Olympic Stadium in Barcelona against Real Zaragoza, that Real lost 2-3 after extra time and after the Champions League quarterfinal tie against A.S. Monaco, in which Madrid is eliminated 3-1 in the second leg played in Montercarlo, unable to maintain the advantage of the first leg of 4-2, when the team begins a decline that lasts until the end of the season. Madrid de Queiroz was the leader on matchday 26 with 59 points, while Rafa Benítez's Valencia was second with 51. In the last 12 matchdays, the whites only scored 11 of 36 points, finishing fourth, 7 points behind the leader, a League they won Valencia CF with 77.

The following two seasons, the team did not achieve any title, which triggered in March 2006, the resignation of president Florentino Pérez, calling elections for the club's presidency in the summer of 2006, in which Ramón Calderón was elected.

It was Calderon

In the 2006/07 season, the new Real Madrid president, Ramón Calderón, hired Fabio Capello as coach, who returned to the white club ten years later. As in that 1996/97 season, his team reached the League title, completing a great comeback. Real Madrid reached the Camp Nou Clásico on matchday 28, with a five-point deficit against Barça and just after the elimination in the round of 16 of the Champions League against FC Bayern. The team completed a great game, which ended 3-3, from which Madrid came out very strengthened. In the last ten remaining days, the team added 25 of the 30 points at stake, including two epic comebacks at the last minute against Español and Recreativo, which earned him the thirtieth league title in the club's history and the third for Iker Casillas.

In the 2007/08 season and with Bernd Schuster as coach, Madrid revalidated the League title, taking an 18-point advantage over Barcelona, whom they already received as champions at the Bernabéu, winning 4-1 and producing the traditional & #39;hallway' of the blaugrana players in honor of the champion. On an individual level, Iker Casillas won his first Zamora Trophy, ahead of the blaugrana goalkeeper, Víctor Valdés. In turn, Casillas signed a contract extension until 2017 and a termination clause of €113 million.

The 2008/09 season ended without titles for the team, finishing runners-up in the League and eliminated in the round of 32 of the Copa del Rey and against Liverpool F.C. in the round of 16 of the Champions League. At an institutional level, Ramón Calderón resigned as president of the club in January 2009, after uncovering the fraud that had occurred in the last assembly, in which non-binding members had exercised as such. Elections are called for the summer of 2009, in which only former president Florentino Pérez presented the necessary guarantee of 57.3 million euros in the registry of the Electoral Board, being sworn in as the new president on June 1.

It was Pellegrini

After the return three years later of Florentino Pérez to the presidency of the club, a multimillion-dollar investment of 264 million euros was made for that 2009/10 season, by signing up to eight players, including Cristiano Ronaldo (96 €m), Kaká (€60m), Benzema (€35m) or Xabi Alonso (€30m). The team disputes the League Championship until the last days, finishing runner-up with 96 points, only 3 behind Barcelona. However, in the Copa del Rey, the team was eliminated again in the round of 16 against Alcorcón («Alcorconazo») and in the Champions League it fell for the sixth consecutive year in the round of 16, against Olympique de Lyon, which causes the non-continuation at the end of the season of coach Manuel Pellegrini.

Earlier this season, on October 4, in a league match against Sevilla FC played at the Sánchez-Pizjuán, Casillas made one of the most brilliant interventions of his career, saving a point-blank shot from Diego Perotti, after a marvelous stretch from side to side of the goal. After the game, he received unanimous praise, such as that of former English goalkeeper Gordon Banks, who declared:

"The reflections of Casillas are amazing. If you keep playing well this will become one of the best goalkeepers in football history"

It was Mourinho

Iker Casillas during the derbi of the 2010/11 season at Bernabéu.

In the 2010/11 season, Iker became the captain of Real Madrid, after the departures of Raúl and Guti at the end of the previous season. Jose Mourinho made his debut on the bench, who had just achieved the "treble" with Inter, by winning the Scudetto, the Coppa and the Champions League, after beating F.C. Bayern in the Madrid final played at the Bernabéu and having eliminated Barcelona, then current champion of the competition, in the semifinals. That season It was achieved in the final of the Mestalla Cup against FC Barcelona, the Copa del Rey title that the club had not achieved for 18 years.

In the 2011/12 season, Real Madrid achieved the so-called «League of Records», as they won the National League Championship, which they had not achieved since 2008, reaching the historical record of points (100) and goals (121). In the European Cup, they reached the semifinals for the second consecutive year, being eliminated in a penalty shootout against FC Bayern, in which Iker stopped two shots from Kroos and Lahm.

Mourinho's third and last season in charge of the first team, the 2012/13 season, resulted in the Spanish Super Cup against FC Barcelona. In that season, Iker lost his title. The first league match that he did not start as a starter was the match against Málaga CF at La Rosaleda on December 22 (matchday 17), in which Antonio Adán started and ended with defeat of the white team, standing 16 points behind Barça. This substitution was intended to be a wake-up call from the Portuguese coach due to his irregular start to the season, although other versions attribute it to the bad relationship between the captain and the coach, to as a result of a conversation revealed a few months earlier, between Iker and Xavi Hernández, which arose after the incidents that occurred in the final minutes of the second leg of the 2011 Spanish Super Cup. After the Christmas break, Mourinho returns Casillas to ownership, who disputes the three league games, until on January 23, 2013, during the second leg of the Copa del Rey quarterfinal against Valencia CF, a fortuitous action with his teammate Álvaro Arbeloa produced a fracture on his left hand. This mishap meant that he was out for almost two months, and prompted the club to sign a proven goalkeeper like Diego López to replace him. When Iker was given the medical discharge at the beginning of April, he failed to recover the starting position in any of the three competitions, due, among other reasons, to the high level shown by his replacement. Mourinho justified this decision at the beginning with the fact that he had a medical discharge but not the competitive one, to later openly admit that he liked Diego's goalkeeper profile more than Iker's. This decision by Mourinho caused a great debate in the press and in wide sectors of Real Madrid, creating a climate of tension, which would last in successive seasons. In the sporting aspect, the team reached the semifinals of the Champions League for the third consecutive year, being eliminated against forecast against Borussia Dortmund, despite being one goal away from reaching the Wembley final. But it is the irregular progress of the team in the League Championship, which causes friction between the Portuguese coach and outstanding players from the locker room, which together with that environment divided by the goal debate, precipitates the non-continuity at the end of the season of the coach, confirmed by the president on May 20, three days after the defeat in the Copa del Rey final against Atlético.

It was Ancelotti

In the 2013/14 season, in which Carlo Ancelotti made his debut as manager, he only played in the Copa del Rey and Champions League matches, winning both titles. His performances stood out in the Copa del Rey final against Barcelona and in the European Cup, in the semifinal against FC Bayern, in which the team beat the Bavarians 5-0 on aggregate. In the final in Lisbon, played against Atlético on May 24, 2014, Casillas won his third Champions League, raising the long-awaited “Décima" as captain. The 2014/15 season is his last at Real Madrid. Diego López is transferred to A.C. Milan and Casillas starts the entire season, winning the Club World Cup.

F.C. Porto

On July 11, 2015, his transfer to F.C. Portuguese Porto, debuting in an official competition match on August 15, 2015, with a win against Vitória Guimarães in the Primeira Liga.

"It's an honor to train together with one of the best goalkeepers in history."

Raul Gudiño. July 2015. Porto.

On May 1, 2019, he suffered a myocardial infarction during training for F.C. Porto. The goalkeeper had to be hospitalized, but he recovered without problems. According to the doctors, he had a blocked right coronary artery and while he was recovering from this ailment he became part of the coaching staff of the Portuguese team.

Kings League

In 2023, Casillas participated in the Kings League as president of the 1K team.

National team

Iker Casillas, captain and European player with more absolute internationalities.

Iker Casillas became the player with the most caps for the Spanish team, beating the 126 matches that Andoni Zubizarreta played at Wembley Stadium on November 12, 2011 against England., being surpassed by Sergio Ramos on October 12, 2019.

His debut as a senior international was on June 3, 2000 in Gothenburg, Sweden, in the friendly match prior to Euro 2000, Sweden 1-1 Spain. Later he made his debut in an official competition match, on June 2 September 2000 in a Bosnia 1-2 Spain match played in Sarajevo, qualifying for the 2002 World Cup.

With the lower categories of the Spanish team, he was champion of the European Under-16 in 1997 and champion of the Under-20 World Cup in 1999 together with Xavi Hernández, where, despite starting as a substitute for goalkeeper Daniel Aranzubia, from older (20 years to Iker's 17) and experience, he stood out for his performance in the quarterfinals, during the penalty shootout against the Ghanaian team.

Final stages

In his first World Cup with the senior team and with José Antonio Camacho as coach, he was the starting goalkeeper for Spain, after being left out of the squad due to injury, the presumed starter Santiago Cañizares. In this 2002 World Cup, Spain was left knocked out in the quarterfinals, after a controversial arbitration against the host team of South Korea. In the round of 16 match against Ireland, Casillas was the hero of the tie after saving a penalty during the game and saving two more in the shootout that decided the match.

Iker Casillas raising the Euro 2012 with which the Spanish selection closed a historic «triplete».

As a result of these decisive interventions, together with those he made a month earlier in Glasgow with Real Madrid, in the final minutes of the Champions League Final, the legend was born and his nickname of "El Santo" or "San Iker".

The 2008 Euro Cup, played in Austria and Switzerland, was the long-awaited second continental title for Spain, after the one achieved in 1964. Iker led a team led by Luis Aragonés, undefeated throughout the tournament, to victory. The key game of this Euro Cup and one of the most important in the history of the team, was the quarterfinal match against Italy, in which Casillas, after stopping two point-blank shots from the Italian team during regulation time and overtime, gave Spain a pass to the semifinals with two great saves in the penalty shootout against De Rossi and Di Natale. He was included in the Eurocup Team of the Tournament, as the best goalkeeper in the championship.

In 2010, Casillas captained the world champion team. In the World Cup final played against the Netherlands on July 11, 2010 in Johannesburg, he had a prodigious performance, with two decisive interventions one-on-one with Arjen Robben, in the 62nd minute; deflecting his shot with his foot and at 83', anticipating the shot from the Dutchman. Throughout the championship, he made outstanding performances in the round of 16 against Portugal, in the quarterfinals against Paraguay with the save of Cardozo's penalty and in semifinals against Germany. It should be noted that, as in the 2008 and 2012 Euro Cups, Iker did not receive any goals in the qualifying matches. On an individual level, he received the "Golden Glove" as the best goalkeeper in the championship and was included in the "Team of the Stars". », made up of the best eleven players of the tournament.

In the European Championship held in Poland and Ukraine, he captained the national team for the second time in a row, to be proclaimed European champion. He was included in the Eurocup Team of the Tournament as the best goalkeeper, with stellar moments such as his decisive intervention in the group stage against Croatia or the semifinal against Portugal, in which he again stopped a shot in the shootout penalties.

In the 2014 World Cup, Iker played his fourth World Cup, going to Spain as current champion. The team completed a disappointing performance, signing their worst participation in a World Cup, when they were eliminated in the group stage after the defeats against the Netherlands and Chile.

Participations in final phases

Tournament	Headquarters	Outcome	Parties	Goles
European Sub-16, 1997	GermanyGermany	Champion	6	-4
Global Sub-17 1997	EgyptEgypt	Third post	5	-6
Global Sub-20 1999	NigeriaNigeria	Champion	2	-2
Euro 2000	BelgiumBelgium and NetherlandsNetherlands	Final rooms	0	0
World Cup 2002	South KoreaSouth Korea and JapanJapan	Final rooms	5	-5
Euro 2004	Portugal	First phase	3	-2
World Cup 2006	GermanyGermany	Final Octavos	3	-4
Euro 2008	AustriaAustria and SwitzerlandSwitzerland	Champion	5	-2
Confederations Cup 2009	South Africa	Third post	4	-4
World Cup 2010	South Africa	Champion	7	-2
Euro 2012	PolandPoland and Ukraine Ukraine	Champion	6	-1
Confederations Cup 2013	BrazilBrazil	Subfield	3	-4
World Cup 2014	BrazilBrazil	First phase	2	-7
Euro 2016	France	Final Octavos	0	0

Records

Updated at the end of their professional career.

World

1. Selection captain with more titles between World Cup and Euro Cup: 3 (World Cup 2010, Euro 2008 and Euro 2012).
2. Second goalkeeper with more matches in final stages between World Cup and Euro Cup matched with Gianluigi Buffon (31), after Manuel Neuer with 34.
3. Victorious goalkeeper in more criminalities between World Cup and Euro Cup: 3 (World Cup 2002, Euro Cup 2008, Euro Cup 2012).

Europe

1. Fourth European player with more absolute internationalities after Gianluigi Buffon (176), Sergio Ramos (180) and Cristiano Ronaldo (195): 167.
2. Second player with more matches in European competitions of UEFA after Cristiano Ronaldo (197): 188.
3. Player with more matches played in Champions League after Cristiano Ronaldo (187): 181.
4. Third youngest goalkeeper to debut in Champions League after the Belgians Mile Svilar and Maarten Vandevoordt: 18 years and 118 days (15 September 1999).
5. Youngest goalkeeper in contesting a European competition final: 19 years and 4 days (Final of Champions League of May 24, 2000).

Spain

1. Porter with more minutes in official competition: 952 minutes (27 November 2013 – 24 February 2014).
2. Porter with more minutes imbedded in the Cup of SM the King: 1,029 minutes. (25 January 2012 – 16 April 2014).
3. Third player with more wins in First Division after Lionel Messi (383) and Sergio Busquets (335), matched with Sergio Ramos: 334 wins (18 December 1999 – 24 May 2015).

National team

1. Porter with more minutes imbedded: 818 minutes (10 June 2012 – 16 October 2012).
2. International with more calls: 203.
3. Second international with more matches after Sergio Ramos (180): 167.
4. International with more games like captain: 105.
5. Second international with more matches won after Sergio Ramos (131): 121.
6. International with more matches: 102.
7. International with more consecutive games: 9 (matched with Santiago Cañizares).
8. Second international with more minutes after Sergio Ramos (13.707'): 13,336 minutes.

Real Madrid

1. Player with more official matches after Raúl González (741): 725.
2. Youngest doorman in First Division debut: 18 years and 115 days (12 September 1999).

Statistics

Clubs

Updated to end of sports career.

Club	Div.	Season		League		Cups (1)		International (2)		Total (3)
				Part.	Goles	Part.	Goles	Part.	Goles	Part.	Goles
Real Madrid C. F. "B" SpainSpain	2.a B	1999-00		4	-2	-	-	Inaccessible		4	-2
Real Madrid SpainSpain	1. a			27	-25	5	-1	15	-24	47	- 50.
		2000-01		34	-37	-	-	13	-19	47	-56
		2001-02		25	-27	6	-5	9	-6	40	-38
		2002-03		38	-41	-	-	17	-22	55	- 64.
		2003-04		37	- 50.	4	-3	9	-10	50	-63
		2004-05		37	- 30	-	-	10	-11	47	-41
		2005-06		37	-38	4	-6	7	-7	48	- 51
		2006-07		38	- 40	-	-	7	-10	45	- 50.
		2007-08		36	-32	2	-6	8	-13	46	- 51
		2008-09		38	- 52	2	-5	7	-10	47	-67
		2009-10		38	- 35	-	-	8	-9	46	- 44
		2010-11		35	-32	8	-2	11	-6	54	- 40
		2011-12		37	-31	6	-11	10	-7	53	- 49
		2012-13		19	-16	5	-4	5	-8	29	- 28
		2013-14		2	-2	9	-1	13	-10	24	-13
		2014-15		32	- 35	2	-2	13	-7	47	- 46
	Total club			510	- 523	53	- 46	162	-179	725	-751
Football Club Porto Portugal	1. a	2015-16		32	- 28	-	-	8	-11	40	- 39
		2016-17		33	-16	-	-	10	-7	43	-23
		2017-18		20	-11	8	-5	3	-3	31	-19
		2018-19		31	-19	1	-1	10	-15	42	- 35
		2019-20		-	-	-	-	-	-	0	0
	Total club			116	-77	9	-6	31	- 36	156.	-119
Total career				630	- 602	62	- 52	193	-215	885	-867
(1) Includes data from the Copa del Rey / Supercopa de España (1999-13); Taça de Portugal / SuperTaça C. O. (2015-Act.) In the case of subsidiary equipment, it refers to promotion/descense phases. (2) It includes data from the FIFA World Club Cup (2000); Intercontinental Cup (2000-02); European Super Cup (2000-02); UEFA Champions League (1999-13). (3) Matched goals. No friendly matches are included.

Selections

Updated to the last match played on October 15, 2013.

Selection	Season	European		World(1)		Friendly		Total(2)		Media goals(3)
		Part.	Goles	Part.	Goles	Part.	Goles	Part.	Goles
Sub-20 Spain	1998-99	0	0	2	2	0	0	2	2	1,00
	Total sel.	0	0	2	2	0	0	2	2	1,00
Sub-21 Spain	1999-00	3	1	0	0	2	2	5	3	0.6
	Total sel.	3	1	0	0	2	2	5	3	0.6
Absolute Spain	1999-00	0	0	0	0	2	1	2	1	1,00
	2000-01	0	0	4	2	3	4	7	6	0.85
	2001-02	0	0	6	5	3	1	9	6	0.67
	2002-03	6	3	0	0	4	1	10	4	0.4
	2003-04	7	4	0	0	5	2	12	6	0.5
	2004-05	0	0	7	2	3	1	10	3	0.3
	2005-06	0	0	8	7	3	2	11	9	0.82
	2006-07	6	6	0	0	2	1	8	7	0.88
	2007-08	9	4	0	0	4	1	13	5	0.38
	2008-09	0	0	10	6	4	0	14	6	0.43
	2009-10	0	0	10	4	5	4	15	8	0.53
	2010-11	5	5	0	0	5	5	10	10	1,00
	2011-12	8	1	0	0	8	5	16	6	0.38
	2012-13	0	0	3	1	4	1	7	2	0.33
	2013-14	0	0	2	0	1	0	3	0	0
	Total sel.	41	23	50	27	55	29	147	79	0.55
Total career		44	24	52	29	57	31	153	84	0.56
(1) In the case of absolute selection it also includes FIFA Confederations Cup matches (2009-13). (2) Includes European and World Classification Phases (1998-2013). (3) Half of goals received.

Honours of Prizes

National titles

Title	Club	Year
3.a Division (Group VII)	Real Madrid "C"	1999
League Championship	Real Madrid C. F.	2001
Supercopa		2001
League Championship		2003
Supercopa		2003
League Championship		2007
League Championship		2008
Supercopa		2008
Cup		2011
League Championship		2012
Supercopa		2012
Cup		2014
League Championship	F. C. Porto	2018
Supercopa		2018
League Championship		2020
Cup		2020

International Titles

Note *: including selection.

Title	Equipment	Year
European (Sub-16)	Spain (sub-16)	1997
Global (Sub-20)	Spain (sub-20)	1999
Euro	Spain	2008
World Cup		2010
Euro		2012
Intercontinental	Real Madrid C. F.	1998
Champions League		2000
Champions League		2002
European Super Cup		2002
Intercontinental		2002
Champions League		2014
European Super Cup		2014
Club World Cup		2014

Individual awards

Decorations

Distinction	Year
Grand Cross of the Royal Order of Sports Merit	2015
Gold Medal of the Royal Order of Sports Merit	2010
Gold Medal of the Community of Madrid	2013
Predilect Son of Apostles	2010
Predilection Son of Navalacruz	2010
Giving	Year
Prince of Asturias Sports Award	2012

Predecessor: Haile Gebrselassie EthiopiaEthiopia

26.o Prince of Asturias Sports Award shared with Xavi Hernández 2012

Successor: José María Olazábal SpainSpain

Personal life

Iker Casillas in 2009.

Iker Casillas next to the first lady of Chile, Cecilia Morel.

Although Iker was born in Madrid, soon after his parents returned to Bilbao and, for almost two years, he lived in the Bilbao neighborhood of Zorroza, where his father had grown up. His name and that of his brother Unai are of Basque origin.

Iker Casillas maintains strong emotional ties with the town of Navalacruz (Ávila), the place of origin of his parents. In this town, as in neighboring Navaluenga, the Iker Casillas youth soccer school was held for several years during the summer. He is also closely linked to the Madrid town of Móstoles, where he lived during his childhood and adolescence. He is a "favorite son" in Navalacruz and Móstoles, and in the latter an avenue was named after him in January 2012. He is a distant cousin of skater Javier Fernández, also originally from Navalacruz.

At the end of the celebration of winning the World Cup in South Africa, Iker Casillas was interviewed by his girlfriend, the journalist Sara Carbonero; In the middle of the interview Iker sobbed and unexpectedly kissed the journalist with the camera broadcasting live. The scene went around the world in a matter of minutes. They were married in 2016 in an intimate ceremony before a notary, and they had two children: Martín and Lucas. In 2021 the two announced their separation and subsequent divorce on their respective Instagram accounts.

Movie Performances

• He acted in a movie scene. Torrente 3 along with Guti and Ivan Helguera.
• He showed up in the movie Goal II: Living the Dream, together with his companions of the 2005-2006 season, making teammate of the protagonist of the film, the player Santiago Muñez, who had signed up for Real Madrid after passing through the Newcastle United. The character he played, it was his own, just like that of his old companions.

Other information of interest

• When the Bayern Munich was removed at the hands of Real Madrid in Copa de Europa (which would later win the Spanish box), Iker Casillas asked the German goalkeeper Oliver Kahn to wear his shirt, which he refused. Later, before the press, Iker described this fact as a dismay and a gesture of prepotence. Kahn reflected, and besides sending him the shirt a posterioriHe invited him to spend a day in Munich with him.
• In a season, Manchester United was interested in Iker. The Manchester actually gave the handover and added the Iker tab to the official page. In the end, he didn't trust them. Red Devils.
• On one occasion, the sports newspaper As, which qualifies the players in the games by aces granting a maximum of three, put four.
• In the final of the Champions League of the season 2001-2002 he had to replace the then incumbent goalkeeper César Sánchez, obtaining an outstanding performance that contributed to the conquest of the "Novena" European Cup of the history of the club, making three major interventions in the final minutes.
• After the march of Roberto Carlos to the Turkish Fenerbahçe, Casillas becomes one of the captains of the white team, after Raúl and Guti.
• The users of www.uefa.com chose Iker Casillas as the best goalkeeper in Europe in 2008, when they obtained this 90,000 votes. With this result was left in front of porters like Petr Čech, which obtained 10,000 votes less.
• Casillas' unbeatable record is 573 minutes. In front of him are, among others, Victor Valdés, Santiago Cañizares, Paco Buyo and Miguel Angel, who was in season 84-85 for 596 minutes without receiving a single one. (What competition?)
• In February 2008, he extended his contract with Real Madrid C. F. until 2017, and from that moment on he will automatically renew if he plays 30 matches. This contract, considered to be vital, was signed at the same time and under the same conditions as that of Raul.
• On October 4, 2009, in a match between Real Madrid C. F. and Sevilla Fútbol Club in the Ramón Sánchez Pizjuán Stadium, Iker stopped a ball in the line of gol to Diego Perotti. For many colleagues and experts it is one of the best stops in history, being compared to that made by the English goalkeeper Gordon Banks to the Brazilian Pelé at the 1970 World Cup.
• On several occasions, Iker Casillas has mentioned that when he retires from professional football he would like to remain part of the Real Madrid C. F. and even become his president.
• Iker Casillas surpassed, on February 14, 2009, the record of Paco Buyo of 454 meetings in the Madrid portorium.
• At the end of the 2007-08 season, the sports newspaper Brand brand, carried out a survey among the Internet users entering their website, in which, among other things, the best player of the season could be voted. Iker Casillas was the winner in this survey with 26%, ahead of players like Sergio Agüero and Lionel Messi.
• One day, Iker, like his companions, had the qualification that the press had imposed on them, “The Galactics”, exclaimed after a question: “I am not galactic, I am from Móstoles.” This phrase today presides over the football fields that bear their name in their hometown.
• Casillas is the second footballer who has achieved the most victories with his selection (121), surpassing Frenchman Lilian Thuram with 94. Also, with the Real Madrid C. F. is already the third player in his story with the most victories in Liga surpassing Paco Gento and the footballer that most complete games has played with this club.
• Currently he is the most matched goalkeeper in a selection, surpassing the previous record Edwin van der Sar of 72 matches leaving the door to zero.
• In 2011 he was elected the second "Best goalkeeper of the 1st Decade of the 21st Century" by the International Federation of Football History and Statistics and ranks third in the ranking of the "Best goalkeepers of History" by this same federation.
• In 2011, FIFA’s official page users chose the best goalkeeper of the story who won a World Cup, resulting in winning Casillas with 34.18% of the preferences, ahead of players like Gianluigi Buffon, Fabien Barthez and Bodo Illgner.
• On October 22, 2011, Paco Gento was matched in the number of games in league, with 428. He became the fifth player of Real Madrid who has played the most in the Spanish domestic competition after Raúl González, Manolo Sanchís, Carlos Santillana and Fernando Hierro.
• In 2012, he was named as the Best Porter of Spanish History as he was the only one to have been 4 times followed by the Best Porter of the World, win two Eurocopas and a World Cup.
• In 2012, France Football requested the Golden Ball for Iker.
• On 17 June 2013, it reached the figure of 800 official parties disputed between Real Madrid (654) and the national selection (146).
• It ranks ninth among the players with the most titles in the history of Real Madrid, with 19 championships, together with the Chendo and Camacho defenses, and the front Gareth Bale. It is only surpassed by Marcelo Vieira (25), Paco Gento (23), Karim Benzema (23), Manolo Sanchís (22), Sergio Ramos (22), Nacho Fernández (21), Luka Modrić (21) and Dani Carvajal (20).

Filmography

• Reporting Canal+ (05/05/2014), "Fiebre Maldini: 'Casillas, the Spanish Lock'" in Plus.es