Football
Who is the Oldest Professional Football Player?
Many footballers have had long and distinguished careers, but Father Time always catches up; however, who is the oldest professional football player in history?
Image Credits: The Sun
Who is the Oldest Professional Football Player?
Japan's Kazuyoshi Miura is the oldest professional football player in the world, and he is still going strong into his late fifties.
Miura, born February 26, 1967, is also known as "Kazu" or "King Kazu" because of his tricks on the football field and his style of play.
He is currently 57 years old, by far the oldest-ever professional football player in history.
For context, the oldest player in Premier League history is John Burridge. Burridge set the record in May 1995, and it still stands today.
Burridge, aged 43, played his final English top-flight game for Manchester City, setting a record that might never be broken.
The Oldest Active Professional Football Players in the Premier League 2024
Rank | Player | Club | Age |
|---|---|---|---|
1 | Thiago Silva | Chelsea | 39 |
2 | Lukasz Fabianski | West Ham | 38 |
3 | Ashley Young | Everton | 38 |
4 | James Milner | Brighton | 37 |
5 | Tim Ream | Fulham | 36 |
6 | Johnny Evans | Manchester United | 35 |
7 | Adam Lallana | Brighton | 35 |
8 | Angelo Ogbonna | West Ham | 35 |
9 | Willian | Fulham | 35 |
10 | Chris Basham | Sheffield United | 35 |
The oldest footballer in the Premier League in 2023/24 is Thiago Silva of Brazil, who is 39 years old and four years away from Burridge's record.
Marco Ballotta is the oldest footballer to play in the UEFA Champions League.
Ballotta, playing for Lazio against Real Madrid in 2007, became the oldest player to play in the competition.
He was 43 years and 252 days old when he featured against Los Blancos.
Essam El-Hadary is the oldest football player to ever play at the FIFA Men’s World Cup.
Like Burridge, El-Hadary was a goalkeeper, which helps with longevity in professional sports.
He was 45 years 161 days old when he played for Egypt against Saudi Arabia in the Volgograd Arena in Russia on June 25, 2018.
Miura is almost 60 years old, which speaks volumes about his dedication, health, and fitness, never mind his hunger for playing football.
Image Credits: Анна Нэсси - soccer.ru // CC BY-SA 3.0
Essam El-Hadary is the oldest football player to ever play at the FIFA Men’s World Cup.
Like Burridge, El-Hadary was a goalkeeper, which helps with longevity in professional sports.
He was 45 years 161 days old when he played for Egypt against Saudi Arabia in the Volgograd Arena in Russia on June 25, 2018.
Miura is almost 60 years old, which speaks volumes about his dedication, health, and fitness, never mind his hunger for playing football.
Record-breaker Kazuyoshi Miura defies age to become the oldest footballer in the world
Miura is a forward for Liga Portugal 2 club União Desportiva Oliveirense, on loan from J1 League club Yokohama FC.
His career began in 1982 when he left high school after less than a year and travelled alone to Brazil with the hopes of becoming a pro footballer.
He did just that, signing with Juventus, the São Paulo club's youth squad.
In 1986, Miura signed his first professional contract with Santos at 15 and became a professional footballer.
"King Kazu" made his international football debut for Japan on September 26, 1990, against Bangladesh in the 1990 Asia Games.
The forward was part of the unbeaten Japan side that won the 1992 Asian Cup, beating Saudi Arabia in Hiroshima in the final.
Miura scored fourteen times for the Samurai Blue during qualification for the 1998 FIFA World Cup in France, leading Japan to a historic first-ever World Cup finals appearance.
He was, however, controversially left out of the squad for France'98 despite his rich goal-scoring form leading up to the showpiece event in Europe.
In February 2000, Miura played for his country for the first time since his World Cup omission two years earlier.
King Kazu played his last national team match later that year, and he finished with the second-most career goals in national team history.
Miura scored 55 goals in 89 international matches for the Samurai Blue.
Image Credits: JAPAN ITALY LEGEND MATCH // CC BY 2.0
Despite his storied career, there are 10 players with more international caps than Miura, eight of whom have more than 100 matches for Japan.
He is one of three Japanese players to score more than 50 goals for the national team.
Kunishige Kamamoto (75) and Shinji Okazaki (50) reached the half-century milestone, too.
"Kazu's" 11-year stint with the national team ended in 2000 when he retired from international football.
Miura holds many longevity records because of his decades-long career.
The Shizuoka Prefecture native is the oldest goal scorer in any major league competition, and he continues to set records on and off the field.
The former Japan striker is the oldest goal scorer in the J-League and the oldest player to score in any professional match.
Just three years short of his 60th birthday, Miura is the oldest professional footballer in the world with the longest professional career.
He has achieved the rare feat of playing professional football through five decades (1980s–2020s).
Miura was the first Japanese player to be awarded the IFFHS Asia's Footballer of the Year award.
Miura has even played international futsal, being selected for the 2012 FIFA Futsal World Cup in Thailand.
His loan spell at Oliveirense ends in June 2024, but the evergreen Miura shows no sign of hanging up his boots just yet.
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FAQs
Who is the oldest football player in Premier League history?
John Burridge is the oldest professional football player in Premier League history. Burridge was 43 years and 162 days old in his last game.
Who is the oldest football player in World Cup history?
Essam El-Hadary, aged 45 years 161 days, is the oldest football player in FIFA Men's World Cup history.
Who is the oldest NFL player in history?
The oldest NFL player in history was George Blanda. Blanda retired when he was 48 years old in 1976.
Who is the oldest Test cricket player in history?
Wilfred Rhodes is the oldest Test cricket player in history. Rhodes’ final Test match was in 1930 when he was 52 years and 165 days.
Who is the oldest international rugby player in history?
Colin Stanley is the oldest recorded international rugby union player. He played for Saudi Arabia against Jordan at 58 years 116 days on September 15, 2017
Kaylan Geekie is a sports fanatic. He attended Durban High School before moving to Scotland, where he lived for 15 years. During his time in the United Kingdom, Kaylan graduated with a first-class BA Honours Degree in Sports Journalism at the University of the West of Scotland. Kaylan worked for nine years as the Match-Day Editor of SuperXV.com, reporting on Super Rugby, The Rugby Championship, the 2015 Men's Rugby World Cup and the 2017 British & Irish Lions series for the website.