1. Sergei Ignashevich began his career at Torpedo Moscow, going up through the club's academy before briefly moving to twin club Spartak Moscow's academy and then starting his professional career with Spartak Orekhovo.
13 Facts About Sergei Ignashevich
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Sergei Ignashevich played for Lokomotiv Moscow and CSKA Moscow in his career, and has won Russian Premier League titles for both clubs, as well as the 2005 UEFA Cup Final with CSKA.
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Sergei Ignashevich made his international debut for Russia in 2002, and was selected in their squads for two European Championships and two FIFA World Cups, helping them to the semi-finals of UEFA Euro 2008, earning his 100th cap at the 2014 FIFA World Cup, and as part of the host team reached the quarter-finals of the 2018 FIFA World Cup.
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Sergei Ignashevich held the record for most games played in the Russian first tier with 489, until he was overtaken by his former teammate Igor Akinfeev on 21 August 2021.
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In early 2004, Sergei Ignashevich left Lokomotiv for city rivals CSKA as a free agent.
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Sergei Ignashevich immediately became a starter and played in the middle of a back-three, usually flanked by the Berezutski brothers, Aleksei on the left and Vasili on the right.
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Sergei Ignashevich made his debut for the Russia national football team against Sweden on 21 August 2002.
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Sergei Ignashevich started all ten of the team's UEFA Euro 2004 qualifying matches, scoring three times, but missed the tournament finals in Portugal due to injury.
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Sergei Ignashevich later appeared for Russia at the 2008 and 2012 UEFA European Championships, helping the team to the semi-finals in the former.
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On 2 June 2014, Sergei Ignashevich was included in Russia's 2014 FIFA World Cup squad.
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Sergei Ignashevich came out of international retirement prior to the 2018 FIFA World Cup as he was called up on 14 May 2018 to replace injured Ruslan Kambolov.
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Sergei Ignashevich was one of only four players born in the 1970s to feature in the tournament, with the others being Tim Cahill, Rafael Marquez and Essam El Hadary.
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Against Spain in the Round of Sixteen, he scored an own-goal while tangling with Sergio Ramos during a corner set-piece, but Russia would equalize thanks to a penalty, and in the shoot-out Sergei Ignashevich converted his spot kick to help Russia advance.