The World Cup of... 40s!
The 23rd World Cup is for... 40-year-olds! Until a few days ago, the list of the 10 oldest footballers to have played in a World Cup final included just 6 footballers.
The 23rd World Cup is for... 40-year-olds! Until a few days ago, the list of the 10 oldest footballers to have played in a World Cup final included just 6 footballers.
Now the list has doubled since the "old men" of the
World Cup became 12! The latest additions are
Cristiano Ronaldo and Luka Modric who played in the matches of the Portuguese and Croatian national teams respectively.
Before them, four more 40-year-olds had preceded them in the previous days, all of them goalkeepers: Neuer, Bumnizel, Vozinha and Muslera.
The list of the twelve "40-year-olds" who have played in a World Cup match:
1 Essam El Hadary Egypt 25/06/2018 Saudi Arabia 2-1 45 years 160 days
2 Farid Mondragon Colombia 24/06/2014 Japan 1-4 43 years 03 days
3 Roger Milla Cameroon 28/06/1994 Russia 6-1 42 years 38 days
4 Cristiano Ronaldo Portugal 17/06/2026 DR Congo 1-1 41 years 132 days
5 Luka Modric Croatia 17/06/2026 England ... 40 years 289 days
6 Pat Jennings B. Ireland 12/06/1986 Brazil 3-0 41 years 00 days
7 Peter Shilton England 07/07/1990 Italy 2-1 40 years 289 days
8 Dino Zoff Italy 11/07/1982 Germany 3-1 40 years 133 days
9 Manuel Neuer Germany 14/06/2026 Curacao 7-1 40 years 78 days
10 Ali Boumnizel Tunisia 23/06/2006 Ukraine 1-0 40 years 40 days
11 Bosnia and Herzegovina Akrotiri 15/06/2026 Spain 0-0 40 years 12 days
12 Fernando Muslera Uruguay 16/06/2026 S. Arabia 1-1 40 years 00 days

Manos Staramopoulos
Journalist and Analyst of International Football and Affairs
Chief Editor English Zone of Discoveryfootball.com
Athens (Greece)











