Oldest player to make a FIFA World Cup finals debut

The oldest player to make a FIFA World Cup finals debut is Essam El Hadary (Egypt, b. 15 January 1973), who was aged 45 years 161 days when he played for Egypt against Saudi Arabia in Volgograd, Russia, on 25 June 2018.

Goalkeeper Essam El Hadary became the oldest player in the history of the World Cup when he started Egypt’s final group-stage game at Russia 2018. He saved a first-half penalty – the first African player to do so at the World Cup – but couldn’t prevent Egypt slipping to a 2–1 defeat. It was El Hadary’s 159th and final international appearance.