Lewis Injai, Adrianna Simwa

updated at April 12, 2023 at 8:00 PM

Football is quite an energy-intensive and demanding sport. Yet, with the global average retirement age for a football player pegged at around 35 years, most players usually struggle with retirement. So, who is the oldest football player still active? We rank the top 12 oldest footballers still playing in 2023.

Ageing in football is usually associated with a drop in physical capabilities, increasingly frequent and severe injuries, more family obligations, and a shift in a career focus or purpose in life. The footballers on our list have defied all odds and time to stay active. So, who are they?

Top 12 oldest football players still playing in 2023

Who is the current oldest football player still playing? Below is a list of the top 12 oldest footballers in 2023 still playing.

12. Jorge Molina

• Full name: Jorge Molina Vidal
• Date of birth: 22 April 1982
• Age: 40 years old (as of 2023)
• Place of birth: Alcoi, Spain
• Nationality: Spanish
• Current club: Granada
• Position: Centre-forward

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Jorge Molina is a Spanish professional footballer who plays for Granada in the Segunda División. He began playing professional football at the age of 25 with Poli Ejido. During his career, Molina has earned two promotions to La Liga while scoring 77 goals in 213 matches across all competitions.

11. Roque Santa Cruz

• Full name: Roque Luis Santa Cruz Cantero
• Date of birth: 16 August 1981
• Place of birth: Asuncion, Paraguay
• Age: 40 years (as of 2023)
• Nationality: Paraguayan
• Current club: Libertad
• Position: Striker

Roque Santa Cruz holds the current record for the highest goal scorer for his country. He has earned well over 100 caps with his national team and is regarded as the best player in the Nation's history.

He started his career in his home country of Paraguay with Club Olimpia before making it to the European Leagues when he joined Bayern Munich in 1999.

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At Bayern, Santa was part of the successful team that won numerous Bundesliga titles, the German League cup, the 2000-01 UEFA Champions League, and the 2001 Intercontinental Cup.

10. Zlatan Ibrahimovic

• Full name: Zlatan Ibrahimović
• Date of birth: 3 October 1981
• Age: 41 years old (as of 2023)
• Place of birth: Malmö, Sweden
• Nationality: Bosnian, Swedish
• Current club: A.C. Milan
• Position: Striker

Zlatan Ibrahimovic is a Swedish professional footballer who plays as a striker for AC Milan in Serie A and the Swedish national team. He is widely regarded as one of the greatest strikers of all time and one of the most decorated active footballers in the world, having won 34 trophies during his career.

9. Diego Lopez

• Full name: Diego Lopez Rodriguez
• Date of birth: 3 November 1981
• Age: 41 years (as of 2023)
• Place of birth: Paradela, Spain
• Nationality: Spanish
• Current club: Rayo Vallecano
• Position: Goalkeeper

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Diego Lopez is a Spanish goalkeeper with a long and extensive career spanning three decades. He signed a one-year contract with Rayo Vallecano on 2 July 2022 as a free agent. Diego is known for his ball control, distribution and speed when rushing off his line to anticipate opponents.

8. Joaquin Sanchez

• Full name: Joaquín Sánchez Rodríguez
• Date of birth: 21 July 1981
• Place of birth: El Puerto, Spain
• Age: 41 years (as of 2023)
• Nationality: Spanish
• Current club: Real Betis
• Position: Winger

Joaquin is known for his excellent pace, dribbling, and crossing skills. He had an illustrious career of close to three decades across several La Liga teams and has made quite a name for himself, notably at Valencia and Real Betis. Joaquin Sanchez is among the oldest player to score a goal in the history of La Liga.

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7. Fábio

• Full name: Fábio Deivson Lopes Maciel
• Date of birth: 30 September 1980
• Age: 42 years old (as of 2023)
• Place of birth: Nobres, Mato Grosso, Brazil
• Nationality: Brazilian
• Current club: Fluminense
• Position: Goalkeeper

Fábio is a Brazilian football goalkeeper who plays for Fluminense. He currently has the third-highest number of official appearances for a professional football player. Fábio Deivson joined Fluminense in 2022, making him the club's oldest player.

6. Rabiu Ali

• Full name: Rabiu Ali
• Date of birth: 27 September 1980
• Place of birth: Kaduna, Nigeria
• Age: 42 years (as of2023)
• Nationality: Nigerian
• Current club: Kano Pillars FC
• Position: Midfielder

Rabiu Ali is a Nigerian captain for the club Kano Pillars FC. He has made a significant number of appearances on the international football scene with his national team, the Super Eagles.

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Commonly referred to as 'Pele' on the Nigerian football scene, Rabiu Ali has been with Kano Pillars since 2011, and before that, he was with his boyhood club, Total Pillars, from 2005 to 2011.

5. Yasuhito Endō

• Full name: Yasuhito Endō
• Date of birth: 28 January 1980
• Age: 43 years old (as of 2023)
• Place of birth: Kagoshima, Kagoshima, Japan
• Nationality: Japanese
• Current club: Júbilo Iwata
• Position: Midfielder

Yasuhito Endō is the brother of former footballer Akihiro End. Yasuhito is well-known for his free-kick accuracy. He is regarded as one of Japan's most creative midfielders and one of his generation's most talented Japanese footballers and playmakers.

4. Gianluigi Buffon

• Full name: Gianluigi Buffon
• Date of birth: 28 January 1978
• Place of birth: Carrara, Italy
• Age: 45 years old (as of 2023)
• Nationality: Italian
• Current club: Parma F.C.
• Position: Goalkeeper

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Gianluigi is considered one of the greatest, if not the greatest, goalkeepers of all time. Buffon has established himself as one of the best players in the world for the goalkeeping position, most notably at Juventus, where he played for 17 years.

3. Paul Bastock

• Full name: Paul Anthony Bastock
• Date of birth: 19 May 1970
• Age: 52 years old (as of 2023)
• Place of birth: Royal Leamington Spa, United Kingdom
• Nationality: English
• Current club: Boston United F.C.
• Position: Goalkeeper

Paul Bastock is a goalkeeper for Boston United in the English Premier League. He has made the most competitive club appearances in world football history. In April 2005, Paul Bastock was voted Boston's all-time cult hero by viewers of the BBC show Football Focus.

2. Kazuyoshi Miura

• Full name: Kazuyoshi Miura
• Date of birth: 26 February 1967
• Place of birth: Shizuoka, Japan
• Age: 55 years (as of 2023)
• Nationality: Japanese
• Current club: Oliveirense
• Position: Forward

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Kazuyoshi, or King Kazu as he is referred to, is arguably one of the oldest professional footballers in Japan. His rise coincided with the launch of the Japanese League J1 in 1993, which made him become the poster child of the League. He currently plays as a forward for Liga Portugal 2 club Oliveirense, on loan from J1 League club Yokohama F.C.

1. Robert Carmona

• Full name: Robert Carmona
• Date of birth: 30 April 1962
• Age: 60 years old (as of 2023)
• Place of birth: Uruguay
• Nationality: Uruguayan
• Current club: Hacele Un Gol a la Vida
• Position: Centre-back

How old is the oldest football player? Robert Carmona is the oldest active footballer, aged 60 years old as of 2023. He began his career as a playmaker in 1976 and currently holds the Guinness World Record for the longest football career, having played without a season break since then. Even though he has had eight operations due to injuries, Robert Carmona intends to continue playing football.

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Who is the oldest footballer in 2023?

The table below shows the oldest football players who are still playing as of 2023.

Who is the oldest Premier League player?

The Premier League is the top tier of English football, with 20 teams competing to be crowned English champions. Some of the oldest Premier League players include Thiago Silva (38 years old), Cristiano Ronaldo (38 years old) and James Milner (37 years old).

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Who is the best player in the world?

Some of the best players in terms of sporting performance as well as general conduct on and off the field include Cristiano Ronaldo, Lionel Messi, Antoine Griezmann, Robert Lewandowski and Mohamed Salah.

These are some of the oldest football players who are not only talented but also committed. They say age is just a number, and all of the above players are living proof of that, as they have defied the odds by staying active.

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