Rivaldo is next on the list, having also eked out the meandering latter stages of his career into his mid-40s. Indeed, the former Barcelona midfielder clocked up the final competitive appearance of his career for Brazilian club Mogi Mirim at the age of 43 years and 117 days.
Fellow countryman Ze Roberto played his last pro game for Palmeiras in 2017, aged 43 years and 173 days having earlier represented Real Madrid and Bayern Munich.
Next up is Bosnian striker Aleksandar Duric, who spent so long playing in Singapore that he eventually qualified to play for them at international level. The striker spent the final four years of his career playing for Tampines Rovers, making his final appearance aged 44 years and 85 days.
A former teammate of King Kazu’s, Japanese legend and set-piece specialist Shunsuke Nakamura is still plugging away in J2 League with Yokohama FC at the age of 44 years and 109 days. Nakamura enjoyed an incredibly successful spell with Celtic in the mid 2000s before returning home to Japan in 2010 to sign with Yokohama F. Marinos before ultimately moving to their cross-town neighbours Yokohama FC in 2019.
When it comes to the oldest outfield players on record, Sir Stanley Matthews is in second place having played on past his half-century. Indeed, the wing wizard played his final competitive league game for Stoke City, bowing out with in a 3-1 victory over Fulham just five days after celebrating his 50th birthday. Matthews’ record stood for 56 years until Miura claimed it and then repeatedly broke it with every subsequent appearance he made, and continues to do so into his 56th year.
This 74-year-old Egyptian grandfather became the world’s oldest footballer 🇪🇬⚽️💪
Ezzeldin Bahader has been honoured by the Guinness World Records (@GWR) as the oldest professional soccer player. https://t.co/rhp57EVx35
— Gehad Kenawy (@GehadSoliman1) October 24, 2020
However, King Kazu is a humble spring chicken in comparison to the owner of the official Guinness World Record for the oldest appearance in a professional, organised soccer match.
That esteemed honour belongs to Ezzeldin Bahader, who was 74 years and 125 days when he turned out for 6th of October FC (that’s the name of the team) against El Ayat Sports in the Egyptian third tier in October 2020. He took the record previously held by 73-year-old Israeli Isaak Hayik.
Bahader initially made his debut the previous March, even scoring a penalty in a game against Genius, but was forced to wait for his second appearance after the COVID-19 pandemic saw all sporting activity in Egypt suspended on safety grounds.
Miura has said in the past that he hopes to play professionally until he is 60. If he does that, he would still need to keep going for the length of a decent professional career for a normal player before he reached Bahader’s record. Will he do it? Ask us again in 2040!
