Argentina skipper Lionel Messi (left) and Portugal skipper Cristiano Ronaldo.
Salomon Olembe’s Fifa World Cup debut for Cameroon against Austria at France 1998 when he was 17 years 185 days old was historic. He became the first player born in 1980s to play at the Fifa World Cup. He was born on December 8, 1980.
Since then, including this year’s tournament co-hosted by Canada, Mexico, and the US, players born in the 80s have now featured at eight Fifa World Cups, equaling World Cup appearances by players born in the 70s.
Only players born in the 1940s have been to more World Cups, nine. Their appearances spanned from Sweden 1958, when legendary Brazilian Pele (born in 1940) became the first player born in the 40s to appear at a World Cup, to Italy 1990, when Englishman Peter Shilton (born in 1949) became only the third 40-year-old to play a World Cup match.
With the youngest 1980s-born player turning 37 this year, the 2026 Fifa World Cup is likely to be the last dance for a decade that produced some of the sport’s greatest players – Argentine Lionel Messi (1987), Brazilians Kaka (1982) and Ronaldinho Gaucho (1980), Croatian Luka Modric (1985), Germans Manuel Neuer (1986) and Thomas Mueller (1989), and Portuguese Cristiano Ronaldo (1985).
Argentina's Lionel Messi celebrates after their Group J match against Austria at the Fifa World Cup 2026 at Dallas Stadium in Texas on June 22, 2026.
All these players have etched their names in the tournament’s history. Apart from leading Argentina to victory in 2022, Messi, together with his age-old nemesis Ronaldo, Modric, and Mexican goalkeeper Guillermo Ochoa have stretched the limits of World Cup longevity.
They are the only players in the tournament’s history to feature at six World Cup. Ronaldo also stands alone as the only player to score at six World Cups after his double against Uzbekistan on Tuesday.
The quartet of Messi, Modric, Ochoa, and Ronaldo are among 34 players at this World Cup who were born in the 1980s. The 34 are drawn from 28 teams, with Argentina, Cape Verde, Colombia, Ecuador, and Egypt having the most such players – two each.
England is one of the 20 teams at this World Cup that does not have a player born in the 1980s. At the last World Cup in 2022 Qatar and England became the first nations, since the debut of 1980s-born footballers, to appear at a World Cup without a player born in that decade.
England and Qatar will have more company at the next World Cup if they qualify. However, this may be last World Cup for Messi and Ronaldo and their agemates.
The 2030 World Cup will be co-hosted by Morocco, Portugal, and Spain. The South American trio of Argentina, Paraguay, and Uruguay will be centenary co-hosts.
The first World Cup was played in 1930 in Uruguay, who won the tournament after defeating Argentina 4-2 in the final. Paraguay also featured in that inaugural World Cup but were eliminated in the group stages.
As such, the prospect of playing a World Cup match on home soil could be enticing enough for Ronaldo, 41, and Messi, 39, to prolong their international careers.
Portugal's Cristiano Ronaldo celebrates his goal against Uzbekistan during their Group K Fifa World Cup 2026 match at Houston Stadium in Texas on June 23, 2026.
The other thing that indicates this may not be last World Cup for players born in the 1980s is the fact that three of the last four World Cups, including this year’s tournament, which has 43-year old Craig Gordon of Scotland, have had at least one player aged 41 or above.
The 2014 Fifa World Cup had 43-year-old Colombian goalkeeper Faryd Mondragon, who broke Cameroonian Roger Milla’s record of the oldest player to play a World Cup.
Mondragon’s record lasted only four years after Egyptian goalkeeper Essam El-Hadary broke it at the 2018 Fifa World Cup while 45 years 161 days old.
Still, Milla holds the record of the tournament oldest goal scorer. He was 42 years 39 days old when he scored against Russia at the 1994 tournament. However, that record will tumble in 2030 if Messi and Ronaldo decide to go for a record-extending seventh World Cup.
Finally, the expansion of the Fifa World Cup to 48 teams, coupled with the increase of World Cup squad size from 23 to 26 players which took effect at last World Cup, also increases chances of the next World Cup having players born in the 1980s. That means more players get an opportunity to appear at the World Cup.
Also, countries making their World Cup debuts, or those that qualify after a long hiatus from tournament, often do so with veteran footballers who have chased a dream of playing at the World Cup for many years.
At this World Cup, this has been true for Austria, Cape Verde, Haiti, Scotland, and Turkey. In 2030, it could be true for others in a way that still keeps 1980s-born footballers in the game.
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