World Cup records: The youngest and oldest players in history
From Norman Whiteside's debut at 17 to Essam El-Hadary's appearance at 45, we look at the age extremes in World Cup history.
Photo: Wikimedia Commons / CC BY 3.0 / Author: Danilo Borges/ copa2014.gov.br Licença Creative Commons Atribuição 3.0 Brasil
History books reveal the youngest player to ever appear in a World Cup match. During the 1982 tournament in Spain, Northern Ireland faced Yugoslavia, and manager Billy Bingham started the young prospect Norman Whiteside. At 17 years and 40 days old, the Manchester United youngster became the youngest participant in the competition's history.
Conversely, the record for the oldest player is much more recent, set during the 2018 World Cup in Russia. Egyptian goalkeeper and captain Essam El-Hadary featured in his side's final group game against Saudi Arabia. Despite the result, he set the benchmark as the oldest player to ever participate in a World Cup match at 45 years and 161 days old.
For the French national team, the records are held by Steve Mandanda and Kylian Mbappé. Mandanda became the oldest Frenchman to play in a World Cup match at 37 years and 247 days during the 2022 game against Tunisia. Meanwhile, Kylian Mbappé remains the youngest to feature for Les Bleus, having played against Australia in 2018 at 19 years and 175 days old.