IFFHS ALL TIME RANKINGS - OLDEST PLAYERS
Picture : Stanley Matthews was BALLON D'OR in 1956 !
IFFHS all-time ranking for oldest players
The Géza Túri’s appearance in a game of Faroe Island league at the age of 49 years (see our yesterday’s post) is a good opportunity to update our
ranking for the oldest players in the football history.
In the table below, the players who have ever appeared at the top level being 45+ years old are listed. They are separated to two categories.
The first and main category (marked in blue) contains regular players (that is players who entered the squad at the day of appearance). The minor national leagues are beyond consideration. The players from this category are included in the ranking.
The second category contains the players who weren’t squad players at their appearance and entered the pitch for some accidental reason (emergency, honoring or just for fun) long after the end of their careers. Such players are not ranked.
Three players from the list are active (taken bold): the newest hero Géza Túri, Georgi Petkov and Kazuyoshi Miura.
Petkov is still a reserve goalkeeper of Slavia Sofia; he made one appearance in Bulgarian league this year, shortly after turning 47.
The world record holder Miura, continuing his professional career at 56(!), last played at top level 2 years ago. In 2022, he featured at the fourth tier of Japanese national league structure (18 games, 2 goals, one of them from open play). Since the beginning of 2023, he is a player of Oliveirense from D2 Portugal (2 league appearances so far, with 32 minutes on pitch in total).
| ALL-TIME | OLDEST | PLAYERS | |||||||
| Player | Pos. | Age | Country | Team | Last Game | Rival (score) | Tourn. | Min. | |
| Salvador Reyes | F | 71-121 | Mexico | Guadalajara | 19/01/2008 | Pumas UNAM (3:0) | NL | 1 | |
| Ronnie Brunswijk | F | 60-198 | Suriname | Inter Moengotapoe | 22/09/2021 | Olimpia Tegucigalpa (0:6) | COL | 54 | |
| Yuri Pudyshev | M | 56-205 | Belarus | Dinamo Brest | 25/10/2010 | BATE (1:4) | NL | 1 | |
| 1 | Kazuyoshi Miura | F | 54-082 | Japan | Yokohama | 19/05/2021 | Urawa Reds (0:2) | NC | 20 |
| Tomi Morgan | F | 52-218 | Wales | Porthmadog | 10/04/2010 | Airbus UK (2:1) | NL | 1 | |
| George Weah | F | 51-345 | Liberia | NT | 11/09/2018 | Nigeria (1:2) | Fr | 78 | |
| Somchai Subpherm | M | 51-240 | Thailand | TOT | 03/11/2013 | Buriram United (1:2) | NL | 15 | |
| 2 | Boriss Dugan | M | 51-153 | Estonia | Ajax Lasnamäe | 05/11/2011 | Tammeka (0:9) | NL | 62 |
| 3 | Stanley Matthews | F | 50-005 | England | Stoke City | 06/02/1965 | Fulham (3:1) | NL | 90 |
| 4 | Géza Túri | G | 49-064 | Faroe Islands | KÍ Klaksvík | 14/03/2023 | HB Tórshavn (1:0) | NL | 90 |
| 5 | Billy Meredith | F | 49-245 | Wales | Manchester City | 29/03/1924 | Newcastle (1:2) | NC | 90 |
| Giorgos Koudas | M | 48-301 | Greece | NT | 20/09/1995 | Yugoslavia (0:2) | Fr | 24 | |
| James Debbah | F | 48-271 | Liberia | NT | 11/09/2018 | Nigeria (1:2) | Fr | 57 | |
| Harry Lowe | D | 48-226 | England | Real Sociedad | 24/03/1935 | Valencia (1:7) | NL | 90 | |
| 6 | Vacys Lekevičius | G | 48-133 | Lithuania | Atlantas Klaipeda | 06/11/2011 | Kruoja (0:3) | NL | 90 |
| 7 | Dady Aristide | F | 48-129 | Turks & Caicos | NT | 13/10/2018 | Guyana (0:8) | CNL | 72 |
| Grigol Tsaava | F | 47-299 | Georgia | Gagra | 31/10/2009 | Metalurgi Rustavi (0:5) | NL | 47 | |
| 8 | Waldemar Nowicki | G | 47-235 | Poland | B71 Sandoy | 14/09/2008 | Skála (1:0) | NL | 90 |
| 9 | Georgi Petkov | G | 47-026 | Bulgaria | Slavia Sofia | 09/04/2023 | CSKA Sofia (0:2) | NL | 90 |
| 10 | Antony de Ávila | F | 46-315 | Colombia | América Cali | 01/11/2009 | Quindío (1:2) | NL | 45 |
| Rolf Nilsson | G | 46-255 | Sweden | Landskrona | 28/05/1979 | Sundsvall (3:2) | NL | 90 | |
| 11 | McDonald Taylor Sr. | D | 46-217 | US Virgin Islands | NT | 31/03/2004 | St Kitts & Nevis (0:7) | WCQ | 90 |
| 12 | Vladimir Oreshin | M | 46-208 | Kyrgyzstan | AiK Bishkek | 17/09/1997 | Alay (2:0) | NL | ? |
| 13 | Yanti Barsales | F | 46-112 | Philippines | Philippine Air Force | 29/05/2019 | Ceres-Negros (0:5) | NL | 90 |
| 14 | Andy Legg | D | 46-083 | Wales | Llanelli | 19/10/2012 | Afan Lido (3:2) | NL | 4 |
| 15 | Essam El Hadary | G | 46-038 | Egypt | Nogoom | 22/02/2019 | El Masry (0:1) | NL | 74 |
| 16 | Jákup Mikkelsen | G | 46-035 | Faroe Islands | ÍF Fuglafjørður | 18/09/2016 | B68 Toftir (2:0) | NL | 90 |
| 17 | Kenny Dyer | M | 46-033 | Montserrat | NT | 10/10/2010 | St Kitts & Nevis (0:4) | CCF | 90 |
| 18 | Óscar Pérez | G | 45-363 | Mexico | Pachuca | 30/01/2019 | Atlante (0:1) | NC | 90 |
| 19 | Wilhelm Hahnemann | F | 45-358 | Austria | Wacker Wien | 06/04/1960 | Neufeld (4:3) | NC | 90 |
| 20 | Andre Arendse | G | 45-318 | South Africa | Bidvest Wits | 11/05/2013 | AmaZulu (3:1) | NL | 90 |
| 21 | Christopher Bryan | D | 45-293 | Turks & Caicos | NT | 06/09/2006 | Bahamas (2:3) | CCQ | 90 |
| Kaj Niclasen | D | 45-262 | Faroe Islands | HB Tórshavn | 18/06/2011 | EB/Streymur (1:3) | NL | 90 | |
| 22 | Desire Butler | G | 45-248 | British Virgin Islands | NT | 09/09/2012 | Montserrat (0:7) | CCQ | 90 |
| 23 | Oussa | G | 45-198 | Egypt | Al Ittihad | 23/08/2022 | Zamalek (1:1) | NL | 90 |
| 24 | Kim Byung-ji | G | 45-189 | South Korea | Jeonnam Dragons | 14/10/2015 | Incheon United (0:2) | NC | 120 |
| 25 | James Slattery | M | 45-150 | Turks & Caicos | NT | 21/02/2004 | Haiti (0:2) | WCQ | 10 |
| 26 | Euclid Bertrand | D | 45-118 | Dominica | NT | 18/11/2019 | St Vincent & Grenadines (1:0) | CNL | 7 |
| 27 | César Cueto | M | 45-079 | Perú | NT | 24/08/1997 | Colombia (2:1) | Fr | ? |
| 28 | Masashi Nakayama | F | 45-062 | Japan | Consadole Sapporo | 24/11/2012 | Yokohama F. Marinos (0:2) | NL | 1 |
| Vasilis Hatzipanagis | M | 45-049 | Greece | NT | 14/12/1999 | Ghana (1:1) | Fr | 20 |
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