The Long List of World Cup Players Born After Essam El-Hadary's Egypt Debut
Egypt goalkeeper Essam El-Hadary will create World Cup history if he makes it onto the pitch during the tournament. Not only is the 45-year-old the oldest of the 736 players who are representing their countries in Russia this month, he would become the oldest player in World Cup history, breaking the record set by 43-year-old Colombian Faryd Mondragon in 2014.
El-Hadary, who has played close to 160 times for Egypt since making his debut in a game against South Korea in March 1996 (RSSSF), has actually been playing senior international football for longer than many others at this year's World Cup have even been alive.
Since El-Hadary's bow in 1996, just shy of 22 years and four months ago, as many as 54 players at this summer's World Cup have been born, grown up and become international footballers.
Spain and Real Madrid winger Marco Asensio was just two months old when El-Hadary stepped onto the pitch for Egypt for the first time. But Russian hero from the opening game Aleksandr Golovin wasn't born, neither was €145m Barcelona and France winger Ousmane Demebele, who didn't arrive on the planet until May 1997.
England's Marcus Rashford wasn't born until October 1997, while Trent Alexander-Arnold arrived in October 1998. By the time Australian midfielder Daniel Arzani was born in January 1999, making him the youngest player at this year's World Cup, El-Hadary had been playing international football for nearly three years and already had 15 caps to his name.
Gabriel Jesus, Dele Alli, Kylian Mbappe, Andreas Christensen, Goncalo Guedes, Youri Tielemans, Davinson Sanchez, Julian Brandt - all big name players who have been tipped to make a big impact in Russia - are all younger than El-Hadary's international career.
There as many as seven Moroccan players on the list - 30% of their squad - and 28 of the 32 competing countries have at least one player born after El-Hadary's international debut in their squad. The only nations that do not are Spain, Peru, Sweden and Japan.
All 54 World Cup Players Born Since El-Hadary's International Debut (March 1996):
Player | Country | Date of Birth |
Aleksandr Golovin | Russia | 30th May 1996 |
Abdullah Al-Khaibari | Saudi Arabia | 16th August 1996 |
Ramadan Sobhi | Egypt | 23rd January 1997 |
Rodrigo Bentancur | Uruguay | 25th June 1997 |
Maxi Gomez | Uruguay | 14th August 1996 |
Goncalo Guedes | Portugal | 29th November 1996 |
Ruben Dias | Portugal | 14th May 1997 |
Achraf Hakimi | Morocco | 4th November 1998 |
Hamza Mendyl | Morocco | 21st October 1997 |
Youssef Ait Bennasser | Morocco | 7th July 1996 |
Amine Harit | Morocco | 18th June 1997 |
Sofyan Amrabat | Morocco | 21st August 1996 |
Youssef En-Nesyri | Morocco | 1st June 1997 |
Ahmed Reda Tagnaouti | Morocco | 5th April 1996 |
Saeid Ezatolahi | Iran | 1st October 1996 |
Majid Hosseini | Iran | 20th June 1996 |
Benjamin Pavard | France | 28th March 1996 |
Kylian Mbappe | France | 20th December 1998 |
Ousmane Dembele | France | 15th May 1997 |
Daniel Arzani | Australia | 4th January 1999 |
Andreas Christensen | Denmark | 10th April 1996 |
Kasper Dolberg | Denmark | 6th October 1997 |
Giovani Lo Celso | Argentina | 9th April 1996 |
Albert Gudmundsson | Iceland | 15th June 1997 |
Duje Caleta-Car | Croatia | 17th September 1996 |
Wilfred Ndidi | Nigeria | 16th December 1996 |
Alex Iwobi | Nigeria | 3rd May 1996 |
Chidozie Awaziem | Nigeria | 1st January 1997 |
Francis Uzoho | Nigeria | 28th October 1998 |
Gabriel Jesus | Brazil | 3rd April 1997 |
Nico Elvedi | Switzerland | 30th September 1996 |
Breel Embolo | Switzerland | 14th February 1997 |
Denis Zakaria | Switzerland | 20th November 1996 |
Ian Smith | Costa Rica | 6th March 1998 |
Andrija Zivkovic | Serbia | 11th July 1996 |
Marko Grujic | Serbia | 13th April 1996 |
Nikola Milenkovic | Serbia | 12th October 1997 |
Luka Jovic | Serbia | 23rd December 1997 |
Julian Brandt | Germany | 2nd May 1996 |
Edson Alvarez | Mexico | 24th October 1997 |
Lee Seung-woo | South Korea | 6th January 1998 |
Youri Tielemans | Belgium | 7th May 1997 |
Ismael Diaz | Panama | 12th May 1997 |
Ricardo Avila | Panama | 4th February 1997 |
Jose Luis Rodriguez | Panama | 19th June 1998 |
Bassem Srarfi | Tunisia | 25th June 1997 |
Marcus Rashford | England | 31st October 1997 |
Dele Alli | England | 11th April 1996 |
Trent Alexander-Arnold | England | 7th October 1998 |
Jan Bednarek | Poland | 12th April 1996 |
Dawid Kownacki | Poland | 14th March 1997 |
Ismaila Sarr | Senegal | 25th February 1998 |
Moussa Wague | Senegal | 4th October 1998 |
Davinson Sanchez | Colombia | 12th June 1996 |
