Oldest Goal Scorers in World Cup History

The 'Opta' statistics network highlighted the list of the oldest players who managed to score goals in World Cup history, a list that includes some of the game's most prominent stars who left their mark on the global tournament despite their advanced age.

Cameroonian Roger Milla holds the top spot as the oldest player to score a goal in World Cup history, having netted against Russia on June 28, 1994, at the age of 42 years and 39 days. The goal came during Cameroon's 6-1 loss, but it reinforced the record he had previously set in the 1990 World Cup when he scored against Colombia at the age of 38 years and 34 days.

The same source noted that Milla ended his World Cup career with this historic number, remaining the third oldest player to participate in the tournament behind Egypt's Essam El-Hadary and Colombia's Faryd Mondragón.

Portuguese player Pepe is second on the list, having scored a goal in Portugal's 6-1 victory over Switzerland in the round of 16 of the 2022 World Cup at the age of 39 years and 283 days. The veteran defender not only entered the list of oldest goal scorers but also became the oldest player to score in a knockout match in the tournament's history.

In third place is Cristiano Ronaldo, who scored for Portugal against Ghana in the group stage of the 2022 World Cup at the age of 37 years and 292 days. This goal temporarily placed him second among the oldest goal scorers before his teammate Pepe surpassed him in the same tournament.

The list also includes Swedish player Gunnar Gren, who scored against West Germany in the semifinals of the 1958 World Cup at the age of 37 years and 236 days, contributing to his country's qualification to the final match, where they lost to Brazil led by Pelé.

Mexican Cuauhtémoc Blanco is also among the prominent names on the list, having scored a penalty goal during the 2-0 win over France in the 2010 World Cup at the age of 37 years and 151 days, becoming the oldest Mexican player to score in the tournament's history at that time.

The list of oldest goal scorers in World Cup history also includes Felipe Baloy from Panama, Obdulio Varela from Uruguay, Martin Palermo from Argentina, Georges Bregy from Switzerland, and Tom Finney from England.

The Opta network also covered several other age-related records in the World Cup, most notably Cristiano Ronaldo's record as the oldest player to score a hat-trick in the tournament's history, achieving this feat during a 3-3 draw against Spain in the 2018 World Cup at the age of 33 years and 130 days.

At the level of final matches, Swedish player Nils Liedholm remains the oldest player to score a goal in a World Cup final, having netted against Brazil in the 1958 final at the age of 35 years and 264 days.

The 2022 World Cup final between Argentina and France also saw two of the oldest goal scorers in the history of final matches, with Lionel Messi scoring twice at the age of 35 years and 177 days, while Ángel Di María scored at the age of 34 years and 307 days, before Argentina won the title on penalties.