IFFHS STATISTICS - THE OLDEST PLAYERS


Picture : Mexican Salvador Reyes holds the Record in top level competitions : 71 years and 121 days !


IFFHS all-time ranking for oldest players 

Now we publish an updated ranking for the oldest players in the history of football. The ranking contains all regular players who have ever appeared at the top level being 45+ year old (marked blue in the table), excluding players from minor leagues.
Players who once accidentally entered the pitch for some reason (emergency, honoring or just for fun) long after the end of their careers are also listed - but not ranked.
Over the past year, Georgi Petkov and Oussa have been added to the ranking (more about them in yesterday's publication). At the moment they continue their careers.
Kazuyoshi Miura, now featuring at the fourth tier of national league structure, has still not finished his career at the age of 55 (!), but yet last year he has played for Yokohama FC 4 games at the top level: 1 in the J-League and 3 in the J-League Cup, holding a total of 47 minutes on pitch.
In the last of these matches, on 19 May 2021, an exact age of Miura was 54 years 82 days. Presumably, this is the final point to which he managed to move his world record. It is hard to imagine that he will one day be in the elite again. Though who knows...


   WORLD'S ALL-TIME  OLDEST PLAYERS    
          
 PlayerPos.AgeCountryTeamLast GameRival (score)Tourn.Min.
 Salvador Reyes F71-121MexicoGuadalajara19/01/2008Pumas UNAM (3:0)NL1
 Ronnie Brunswijk F60-198 SurinameInter Moengotapoe22/09/2021Olimpia Tegucigalpa (0:6)COL54
 Yuri Pudyshev M56-205 BelarusDinamo Brest25/10/2010BATE (1:4)NL1
1Kazuyoshi Miura F54-082JapanYokohama19/05/2021Urawa Reds (0:2)NC20
 Tomi MorganF52-218WalesPorthmadog10/04/2010Airbus UK (2:1)NL1
 George WeahF51-345LiberiaNT11/09/2018Nigeria (1:2)Fr78
2Stanley MatthewsF50-005EnglandStoke City06/02/1965Fulham (3:1)NL90
3Billy MeredithF49-245WalesManchester City29/03/1924Newcastle (1:2)NC90
 Giorgos KoudasM48-301    GreeceNT20/09/1995Yugoslavia (0:2)Fr24
 James DebbahF48-271LiberiaNT11/09/2018Nigeria (1:2)Fr57
 Harry LoweD48-226EnglandReal Sociedad24/03/1935Valencia (1:7)NL90
4Dady AristideF48-129Turks & CaicosNT13/10/2018Guyana (0:8)CNL72
 Grigol TsaavaF47-299GeorgiaGagra31/10/2009Metalurgi Rustavi (0:5) NL47
5Antony de ÁvilaF46-315ColombiaAmérica Cali01/11/2009Quindío (1:2)NL45
6McDonald Taylor Sr.D46-217US Virgin Islands NT31/03/2004St Kitts & Nevis (0:7)WCQ90
7Vladimir OreshinM46-208KyrgyzstanAiK Bishkek17/09/1997Alay (2:0)NL?
8Andy LeggD46-083WalesLlanelli19/10/2012Afan Lido (3:2)NL4
9Essam El HadaryG46-038EgyptNogoom22/02/2019El Masry (0:1)NL74
10Kenny DyerM46-033Montserrat NT10/10/2010St Kitts & Nevis (0:4)CCF90
11Óscar PérezG45-363MexicoPachuca30/01/2019Atlante (0:1)NC90
12Wilhelm HahnemannF45-358AustriaWacker Wien 06/04/1960Neufeld (4:3)NC90
13Georgi PetkovG45-343BulgariaSlavia Sofia 20/02/2022CSKA Sofia  (2:3)NL42
14Andre ArendseG45-318South AfricaBidvest Wits11/05/2013AmaZulu (3:1)NL90
15Christopher BryanD45-293Turks & Caicos    NT06/09/2006Bahamas (2:3)CCQ90
16Desire ButlerG45-248British Virgin IslandsNT09/09/2012Montserrat (0:7)CCQ90
17Kim Byung-jiG45-189South KoreaJeonnam Dragons14/10/2015Incheon United (0:2)NC120
18James Slattery M45-150Turks & CaicosNT21/02/2004Haiti (0:2)WCQ10
19Euclid BertrandD45-118DominicaNT18/11/2019St Vincent & Grenadines (1:0)CNL7
20César CuetoM45-079PerúNT24/08/1997Colombia (2:1)Fr?
21Oussa G45-067EgyptAl Ittihad14/04/2022National Bank of Egypt  (1:1)NL90
22Masashi Nakayama F45-062JapanConsadole Sapporo 24/11/2012Yokohama F. Marinos  (0:2)NL1
 Vasilis HatzipanagisM45-049GreeceNT14/12/1999Ghana (1:1)Fr20


Abbreviatures:
NT – National Team
NL – National League (only top divisions)
NC – National Cups
Fr – Friendly
WCQ – World Cup Qualification
CNL – Caribbean Nation League
CCQ – Caribbean Cup Qualification
CCF – Caribbean Cup Finals
COL – CONCACAF League