Wojciech Szczesny, 34, Announces Football Retirement

Wojciech Szczesny, the Poland goalkeeper, announced his retirement from professional football at age 34, shortly after parting ways with Juventus. In an Instagram post, Szczesny expressed that despite being physically capable, his heart was no longer in the game and he wanted to focus more on his family.

Szczesny, who earned 84 caps for Poland, last appeared internationally at Euro 2024. He played in the initial two group matches, both losses for Poland, but sat out the final game against France, which had no bearing on the competition’s outcome.

His most notable club tenures were with Arsenal and Juventus. Szczesny left Poland to join Arsenal in 2006, a move he described as the beginning of a “journey of a lifetime.” At Arsenal, he won two FA Cups before moving to Juventus in 2017, where he succeeded the iconic Gianluigi Buffon. During his time at Juventus, he won three Serie A titles and three Italian Cups and maintained 103 clean sheets across 252 matches.

On August 14, Juventus disclosed a mutual termination of their contract with Szczesny. Following this, there were speculations in the Italian media about Szczesny possibly moving to a Saudi Arabian club.

Reflecting on his career, Szczesny remarked on Instagram about playing alongside some of the best players in history and never feeling outmatched. He dedicated 18 years to football, committing daily without excuses.