Gareth Bale has retired from professional football at the age of 33.
The Welsh legend leaves the game having made 111 appearances for his country, scoring 41 goals – both of which are records for the Dragons. Bale also won La Liga three times with Real Madrid and the Champions League five times, scoring in two of the finals and lifting the trophy in his home city of Cardiff.
"After careful and thoughtful consideration, I announce my immediate retirement from club and international football," Bale said on Twitter, adding, "I feel incredibly fortunate to have realised my dreams of playing the sport I love. It has truly given me some of the best moments of my life.
"To show my gratitutde to all of those that have played their part along this journey feels like an impossibility. I feel indebted to many people for helping to change my life and shape my career."
In an additional post that Bale made solely addressed to his "Welsh family", the iconic attacker called the decision to retire from international football "the hardest of my career".
"I know that every person involved in Welsh football feels the magic and is impacted in such a powerful and unique way," he wrote. "The fortune of being Welsh and being selected to play for and captain Wales has given me something incomparable to anything else I've experienced. I am honoured and humbled to have been able to play a part in the history of this incredible country, to have felt the support and passion of the red wall."
Bale made his Welsh debut in 2006, to become his nation's youngest-ever player at 16 years and 315 days old. The Southampton star moved to Tottenham Hotspur a year later and under Harry Redknapp, underwent a transformation to move from being a left-back to reinventing himself as a prolific right-winger, dazzling both in the Premier League and in Europe.
Real Madrid made him the most expensive footballer of all time when they purchased him in 2013, with the British press citing the fee at around £85.3 million (€100 million). Bale won the Champions League in his first season in Spanish football, scoring in the final against city rivals Atletico Madrid, as well as netting one of the best goals of his career in the Copa Del Rey final against Barcelona in the same season. In 2018, he scored twice in the Champions League final against Liverpool.
Bale also led Wales to their first-ever European Championship in 2016, helping the Dragons to a legendary semi-final finish, before leading them as captain at Euro 2020. He also captained his country in Qatar in their first World Cup for 64 years, scoring a penalty against the United States.
