Welcome to #Euro2016Rank, a weeklong look at the top 25 players we expect to see at the European Championship. Over 50 ESPN FC experts and writers from across the globe voted, and we're rolling out the results right up to opening day, when France plays Romania on June 10.
Why is Gianluigi Buffon in the top 25?
Buffon is 38 but seems to have been around for much longer than that, as a symbol of club Juventus and the Italian national team since the beginning of the millennium. At £33 million, signed from Parma in 2001, he is still the world's most expensive goalkeeper. Were it not for breaking his hand on the eve of Euro 2000, this would be his fifth European Championship finals. He was the best performing goalkeeper as Italy reached the final of the most recent Euros, reprising the commanding form that helped his country to the 2006 World Cup. Captain of his country since 2008, he has confirmed plans to go on until the 2018 World Cup.
What the experts say:
"I give my compliments to Buffon. Now he can be considered my heir. I believe that we have been two great goalkeepers." -- former Juventus and Italy goalkeeper and captain Dino Zoff, November 2011.
"He was a role model for me. It is great that he is still around and that I have been able to play against him." -- Manuel Neuer, February 2016.
Career highlight:
He did not actually save a penalty in the shootout of the 2006 World Cup final, with France's David Trezeguet driving his attempt against the crossbar. Yet it was just reward for a tournament in which he had been truly outstanding.
Stat of the season:
In March, Buffon broke a Serie A record by going 974 minutes without conceding a goal, surpassing previous holder Zoff.
What next for Buffon after Euro 2016?
His ambition is to further emulate Zoff by playing on until he is past 40, and in the meantime keep picking up titles with Juventus, with whom he collected his fifth consecutive Serie A in May.
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