By earning a spot in Portugal’s starting eleven for their round-of-32 clash against Croatia at the 2026 FIFA World Cup, Cristiano Ronaldo secured yet another piece of history. He would go on to break another record as the match unfolded.
Aged 41 years and 147 days on Thursday, the Portuguese talisman became the oldest footballer to ever participate in a World Cup knockout fixture. He subsequently became the oldest player to find the net in the tournament’s knockout phase after converting a penalty in the 68th minute. Remarkably, this also represented Ronaldo’s first-ever goal in a World Cup knockout match.
Thursday’s fixture was Ronaldo’s 26th appearance at the World Cup, placing him just one game behind former German midfielder Lothar Matthäus for the second-highest tally in tournament history. Argentine icon Lionel Messi remains the outright record holder with 29 matches.
Furthermore, Ronaldo has only tasted victory once in the knockout stages of the World Cup since playing a pivotal role in Portugal’s fourth-place finish at the 2006 edition.
This mid-week encounter might also turn out to be the final chapter of Ronaldo’s career on the international stage. Whispers have widely circulated that the attacker will announce his international retirement once the 2026 World Cup wraps up. At the club level, his current agreement with Al Nassr extends through the 2026-27 season.
Ronaldo was not the only star in his 40s taking the pitch in the Portugal-Croatia battle. Luka Modrić, at 40 years and 296 days old, started the match as Croatia’s captain. As a result, this historic fixture became the first World Cup game to ever showcase two outfield players over the age of 40 competing against one another.
