Only seven players aged 40 and over have ever featured in men’s World Cup games in the tournament’s 96-year history – and at least five more could be added to the list after being named in their home nation squads for this year’s contest.
Egypt’s Essam El Hadary holds the record for the oldest player to ever appear in a World Cup match, at the age of 45 years and 161 days.
Goalkeeper El Hadary made one appearance at the 2018 World Cup during a 2-1 group stage defeat to Saudi Arabia to set the record by more than two years.
The top 10 oldest-ever World Cup players are all aged over 39 and a half years old.
Scotland goalkeeper Craig Gordon, 43, is so far the oldest player to be named in a full squad this year by some distance. Should he feature in a match at what will be Scotland’s first World Cup appearance in 28 years, the Hearts stopper would become the second-oldest player in World Cup history.
Portugal captain Cristiano Ronaldo, 41, could also join the exclusive club of players to have featured at the age of 41 or above, should he play in what will be his record-breaking sixth World Cup. Only El Hadary, Faryd Mondragon, Roger Milla and Pat Jennings have made at least one World Cup appearance at that age.
Japan defender Yuto Nagatomo, 39, would also rank among the competition’s oldest-ever players, should he get match time in the 2026 tournament.
Bosnia and Herzegovina striker Edin Dzeko, Germany goalkeeper Manuel Neuer and Croatia midfielder Luke Modric are all 40 years old and are likely to feature at the World Cup.
Cape Verde goalkeeper Vozinha will turn 40 prior to his nation’s first ever World Cup match, so would also rank as one of the competition’s oldest players if he features.
The top 10 oldest players in World Cup history
- Essam El Hadary – Egypt vs Saudi Arabia (25 June, 2018) – 45 years, 161 days
- Faryd Mondragon – Colombia vs Japan (24 June, 2014) – 43 years, 3 days
- Roger Milla – Cameroon vs Russia (28 June, 1994) – 42 years, 39 days
- Pat Jennings – Northern Ireland vs Brazil (12 June, 1986) – 41 years, 0 days
- Peter Shilton – England vs Italy (7 July, 1990) – 40 years, 292 days
- Dino Zoff – Italy vs Germany (11 July, 1982) – 40 years, 133 days
- Ali Boumnijel – Tunisia vs Ukraine (23 June, 2006) – 40 years, 71 days
- Jim Leighton – Scotland vs Morocco (23 June, 1998) – 39 years, 334 days
- David James – England vs Germany (27 June, 2010) – 39 years, 330 days
- Atiba Hutchinson – Canada vs Morocco (1 December, 2022) – 39 years, 296 days
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