Cristiano Ronaldo will become the fourth-oldest player in World Cup history when the 2026 tournament starts, at 41 years and 126 days old.
FIFA has published a report after confirming the full squad lists for the 48 teams heading to next year’s finals, and the numbers throw up several notable records. Ronaldo trails Roger Milla, Faryd Mondragón and Essam El-Hadary on the all-time age list.
At the other end of the scale, Gilberto Mora is set to be the youngest player at the tournament at 17. If he features in Mexico’s opener against South Africa, he will become the sixth-youngest player in World Cup history. Mexico team-mate Guillermo Ochoa had already played at a World Cup before Mora was born.
Lionel Messi, Ochoa and Ronaldo are also in line for a sixth World Cup appearance. Messi and Ronaldo will be the first players to appear at six separate editions of the competition.
Qatar and Saudi Arabia will each take 25 players from their domestic leagues, the most of any teams. At the other end, Cape Verde, Congo, Ivory Coast, Curaçao, Senegal and Uruguay have no squad members drawn from their home leagues. Austria goalkeeper Florian Weigl, at 2.05 metres, is the tallest player in the tournament, while Panama midfielder César Yanis, at 1.60 metres, is the shortest.