Serhii Shapovalov
Even great players lose their football skills with age, giving way to younger players. Usually, football careers are not that long – most players hang up their boots at the age of 34-35. But there are players who continue to play despite their age, even if not in the top championships.
We are going to tell you about a dozen footballers who, it would seem, should have retired long ago. But they still want to play and bring value to their teams, proving that age is just a number. At the end of the article, you will find out who the oldest footballer in the world is.
10. Ildefons Lima
Country: Andorra
Club: Andorra B
Position: central defender
Age: 43 years old
Ildefons Lima is an Andorran centre-back born in Barcelona, Spain. The footballer began his professional career at Andorra, for which he played 64 matches and scored 2 goals. Then, as it seemed, the player went for a promotion, signing a contract with the second team of Espanyol. However, the player’s career at Espanyol B did not take off, after which he moved to the more modest Spanish club Sant Andreu.
Throughout his football career, the player has changed 14 clubs. In addition to Spain, Lima tried his hand in Greece, Mexico, Switzerland, Italy and Andorra. Most of Ildson’s clubs played in the lower leagues of their countries. Among the more or less famous teams in Lima’s career, we can only highlight Rayo Vallecano, for which the player played from 2004 to 2005, as well as Las Palmas in the 2002/03 season, which at that time played in the Spanish Segunda. Lima played 25 matches for Las Palmas that season and scored 2 goals.
Despite such an impressive age for a field player, one of the oldest footballers continues to play for the Andorran national team, where he is the best scorer in history, having scored 11 goals in 125 matches.
9. Christian Luchetti
Country: Argentina
Club: “Himnasia Juhuy”
Position: goalkeeper
Age: 44 years old
Luchetti began his career at Luján de Cuyo in his hometown of Mendoza in the 1995/96 season. After the season, he moved to Banfield, for whom he made his debut in the Argentine Primera Division. At the same time, Luchetti began coaching set pieces, which allowed him to score 5 times in 93 matches for the club between 1996 and 2002.
In 2003, the goalkeeper moved to Santos Laguna in Mexico. In the Mexican Primera Division, he was the main goalkeeper and scored one goal. At the same club, Christian made his debut in the Libertadores Cup in 2004.
After the 2003/04 season, Luchetti returned home to Racing. After one season at Racing, the player again moved to Banfield, where he is the second most capped player for the club.
Goalkeeper goals in football are an amazing event in themselves, but on 21 March 2009, Christian Luchetti scored twice in a match against Arsenal from Saranda. That same year, one of the oldest players in the game helped Banfield become the Argentine champions.
How tall is the world’s tallest footballer? We talked about the top 10 tallest players in the world.
8. Cesar Caneda
Country: Spain
Club: Logrones
Position: central defender
Age: 44 years old
Caneda began his football career at the Athletic Bilbao academy. After several loan spells and appearances in Athletic’s second team, in 1998 he started playing for the first team. But in 7 years with the Basques, Caneda played only 29 matches in the Spanish Primera Division, after which he was sent on several loans, including Racing Santander and Sevilla, who were playing in the Segunda at the time.
The player spent the bulk of his professional career in the second strongest Spanish division, playing at various times for Alaves, Eibar, Mirandes and Cadiz. In recent years, given the player’s age, it is not surprising that Cesar is no longer able to play professional football at his speed. However, the Spaniard seems to still have the desire to play, so the top 7 oldest player continues to play in the fifth strongest Spanish division for Logrones.
7. Fabio Lopez
Country: Brazil, Hong Kong
Club: Sha Tin
Position: central defender
Age: 45 years old
Fabio Lopes began his professional career in 1996 with his native Brazilian club Bahia. After playing for several clubs in his home country, he moved to Hong Kong in 2004.
In his youth, Lopez played as a striker, but with age, having lost speed and sharpness, but gained experience, he changed his attacking role to the centre of defence. But it’s worth noting that even now the player occasionally covers a position in the centre of midfield or playing as a ‘ten’.
In 2018, Lopez announced his retirement, but later changed his mind and became a coach who plays.
6. Gianluigi Buffon
Country: Italy
Club: Parma
Position: goalkeeper
Age: 45 years old
Gianluigi Buffon is the most star-studded representative among the world’s oldest footballers. At the age of 45, the legend of not only Italian but also world football is not going to retire from football.
In 2023, Buffon joined Serie B side Parma, where he began his football career. However, the goalkeeper’s best football years were spent, of course, at Juventus Turin, where he joined from Parma in the summer of 2001 for a then-record €52 million.
It should be noted that Buffon held the status of the most expensive goalkeeper until 2018, when Allison’s transfer from Roma to Liverpool for €72.5 million took place.
With Juventus Gianluigi won all possible trophies in Italy several times, and in 2018 he moved to Paris Saint-Germain, where he won the French championship and the Super Cup. Buffon was a long-term captain and leader of the Italian national team. He won the 2006 FIFA World Cup with the team.
The only trophy the great Italian has never won is the Champions League Cup. Buffon was a step away from victory twice – Juventus reached the CL final twice in 2015 and 2017, but both finals for the Old Lady ended unsuccessfully, leaving their captain without the coveted title.
5. Dino Fava
Country: Italy
Club: Sessana
Position: striker
Age: 45 years old
Dino Fava is a 45-year-old Italian striker who is playing out his career in one of Italy’s amateur divisions. Fava is a graduate of Napoli’s football academy, but he has not played a single match for the first team. One of the oldest active players in the world has played most of his career in the Italian Serie B and Serie C. But he also played 77 matches in Serie A between 2003 and 2006 with Udinese and Treviso.
I will highlight the period of the Italian striker’s performances for Udinese from 2003 to 2005. In total, Fava played 55 matches for the club and scored 14 goals. In the 2003/04 season, he made his debut in the UEFA Cup, although Udinese failed to qualify, losing the second leg to Austrian club Austria Salzburg. It should be noted that Dino Fava played in both matches, and even scored a goal in the return leg. However, one goal was not enough to advance, as the Austrians went on to win the match due to the away goal rule.
4. Christian Gonzalez
Country: Uruguay, Indonesia
Club: RANS Nusantara
Position: striker
Age: 46 years old
González signed his first professional contract in 1995 with the Uruguayan club Sud America. He spent most of his career in Indonesia, where he still plays.
In 2010, Gonzalez received an Indonesian passport and started playing for the national team. Christian Gonzalez became the first naturalised player to be called up to the Indonesian national team.
3. Dragan Jolovic
Country: Serbia
Club: Red Star
Position: central defender
Age: 46 years old
Dragan Jolović is a Serbian centre-back who has played his entire professional career in the Bosnian and Herzegovinian leagues and is one of the top 3 oldest players in the world. He played most of his games, 178, in the second tier, playing for Tekstilac and Modrica, where he scored 10 goals. At the peak of his career, during his time with Modrica, Jolović played 51 matches in the Bosnian Premier League, but did not score any goals.
The 2008/09 season was the most memorable of his career for Drago Jolović. Back then, the Serbian defender played his only matches in the Champions League with Modrica, but only in the qualifiers. In the first qualifying round, the Bosnians defeated the Albanian club Dinamo Tirana, but in the second, they lost to Danish Aalborg with a total score of 1-7. It should be noted that Jolović played 90 minutes in all four matches.
2. Georgy Petkov
Country: Bulgaria
Club: Slavia Sofia
Position: goalkeeper
Age: 46 years old
Georgi Petkov signed his first professional contract in 1996 with Slavia Sofia. Over 5 years with the club, the player played only 51 matches, after which he moved to another capital club, Levski Sofia, for 400 thousand euros.
Petkov’s career took off at the new club, and he stayed with Levski for 10 years. The goalkeeper took part in 149 matches in all tournaments, and in the 2006/07 season he even played 4 matches in the Champions League group stage – against Chelsea, Werder Bremen and twice against Barcelona. However, Petkov’s team took fourth place in the group, failing to win a single point. With Levski, the goalkeeper won the Bulgarian league and cup 4 times each, and won the country’s Super Cup three times.
After leaving the club in 2011 and playing for a year and a half at Enosis in Cyprus, Georgi Petkov returned home to Slavia Sofia, where he still plays to this day.
The goalkeeper’s second stint with the club was longer and more successful. The player has been playing for the club for 10 years, having played 137 matches during this time. In 2018, Petkov won his only trophy with Slavia, the Bulgarian Cup, beating his former club Levski Sofia in the final. I should note that Georgi was recognised as the best player of that match. He made a decisive contribution to his team’s victory by saving two shots in the post-match penalty shootout.
The goalkeeper played 18 matches for the Bulgarian national team. On 16 November 2018, in a match against Cyprus, Petkov became the oldest goalkeeper in Europe to play in an official match for his national team, aged 42 years and 248 days.
1. Kazuyoshi Miura
Country: Japan
Club: Oliveirense
Position: striker
Age: 56 years old
Japanese striker Kazuyoshi Miura is the oldest footballer in the world. The player spent almost his entire career in the first and second divisions of Japan, but managed to try himself in the top championship. In 1994, Miura joined the Italian club Genoa on loan. The Japanese played 21 matches in Serie A and scored 1 goal against Sampdoria.
In 2023, the 56-year-old striker played in the Portuguese second league at Oliveirense on loan.
Miura made his debut for the Japanese national team in 1990 at the Asian Games against Bangladesh. In total, the player played 89 matches in the national team shirt, scoring 55 goals, making him the second highest scorer in the history of the Japanese national team. In 1992, the striker helped Japan win the Asian Cup.
