45-Year-Old Egyptian Goalkeeper Essam El-Hadary Becomes The Oldest Player Ever To Play At The World Cup

At the age of 45, Egyptian goalkeeper Essam El-Hadary has made World Cup history by becoming the oldest ever player to play in the coveted competition.

El-Hadary made his first-team debut as a 20-year old all the way back in 1993 with Damietta in his native Egypt, before joining Al-Ahly and winning eight league titles as well as four CAF Champions Leagues.

Incredibly, his first of 157 caps for his country came in 1996 - 10 months before Stoke City winger Ramadan Sobhi, the youngest member of the Egypt travelling party, was born.

The former FC Sion shotstopper, who was once on trial at Hull City, is still going strong today with Al-Taawoun, making 27 appearances for the club in 2017/18.

And he's starting between the sticks for Egypt's final World Cup game against Saudi Arabia, overtaking Faryd Mondragon as the oldest player to play in the tournament.

Aged 43 years, the legendary Colombian was in between the sticks for the 4-1 win over Japan four years back, with his record not looking like it would ever be beaten.

Congrats, Essam.

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Topics: Football News, Football, egypt, World Cup

Nasir Jabbar

Nasir Jabbar is a journalist at SPORTbible. He graduated from Bath Spa University with a BA in Media Communications. He's a combat sport aficionado, and has contributed to MMA websites AddictedMMA and CagePotato. Nasir has covered some of the biggest fights, while interviewing the likes of Conor McGregor, Michael Bisping and Anthony Joshua. He's also an avid Bristol City fan.

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