Busquets to retire at end of MLS season after extraordinary career with Barcelona and Spain

By Canadian Press on September 26, 2025.

MIAMI (AP) — Former Barcelona and Spain midfielder Sergio Busquets is retiring from soccer at the end of his current season with Inter Miami, the Major League Soccer team said Friday.

The 37-year-old Busquets is widely regarded as one of the best defensive midfielders of his generation, forming a storied three-man midfield at Barcelona with Xavi Hernandez and Andres Iniesta behind Lionel Messi.

Busquets arrived at Barcelona in 2005 and played 722 matches for the club — putting him third all-time behind Xavi and Messi – while winning nine Spanish league titles and the Champions League three times.

He played 143 games for Spain, winning the World Cup in 2010 and the European Championship in 2012.

In 2023, Busquets joined Inter Miami where he was reunited with Messi. The team said Busquets has had an “extraordinary career” and is “one of the greatest midfielders in football history.”

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The Associated Press