Who Scored The First Ever Fifa World Cup Goal
Competing in a World Cup is the highest achievement for any soccer player and making it onto your country’s national team when you’re in your 40s is an even bigger feat. Every single player on this list was in their 40s or very nearly 40 years old when they played in the World Cup for the last time. All of these players had long careers and many set records which still stand today.
- Who Scored The First Ever Fifa World Cup Goals
- Who Scored The First Goal In Fifa World Cup 2014
- Who Scored The First Ever Fifa World Cup Goal Leaders
- Who Scored The First Ever Fifa World Cup Goals Scored
- Who Scored The First Goal In 2010 World Cup
With the exception of Ángel Labruna and Roger Milla, all of the oldest World Cup players were goalkeepers.
As of February 2020, the information on this list is as accurate as possible.
In the 21 editions of the FIFA World Cup tournament, more than 2,000 goals have been scored. The first ever goal was scored by French player Lucien Laurent at the 1930 FIFA World Cup. While every World Cup had a ranking of the goalscorers, the first time an award was given was in 1982, under the name Golden Shoe. It was rechristened Golden Boot in 2010. 13 FIFA sometimes lists the top goalscorers of previous Cups among the Golden Boot winners. Essam El-Hadary (January 15, 1973 – Present) Age at Time of World Cup: 45 years, 5 months, 10. One of the most enduring goal celebrations ever seen at the World Cup happened on the night of June 21, 1994 when the big striker scored what was Nigeria’s first ever goal at the World Cup.
This is a list of all penalty shoot-outs that have occurred in the Finals tournament of the FIFA World Cup. Penalty shoot-outs were introduced as tie-breakers in the 1978 World Cup but did not occur before 1982. The first time a World Cup title was won by penalty shoot-out was in 1994. The only other time was in 2006. By the end of the 2018 edition, 30 shoot-outs have taken place in the World Cup.
10. Ángel Labruna (September 28, 1918 – September 20, 1983)
Ángel Labruna is the only player on this list who is no longer alive because he played half a century ago. Additionally, Labruna is one of the few players who wasn’t a goalkeeper. Labruna was a forward for the Argentina National Team and appeared in 37 matches. Argentina made it to the final phase of the 1958 World Cup when Labruna was almost 40 years old. The team lost their final match to Czechoslovakia. During his time with the Argentina National Team, Labruna scored 17 goals.
Did You Know?
Ángel Labruna was part of River Plate’s legendary team along with Juan Carlos Muñoz, José Manuel Moreno, Adolfo Pedernera, and Félix Loustau, who were some of the greatest footballers of their time.
9. David James (August 1, 1970 – Present)
David James is yet another goalkeeper who had a long career and appeared in the FIFA World Cup at an age when most athletes retire. James was two months shy of his 40th birthday when he played in his final World Cup game on June 27, 2010 for England against Germany. England was defeated by Germany, 4 – 1, which was England’s biggest margin of defeat ever at a World Cup finals.
James retired from professional soccer in 2014, after playing for Kerala Blasters FC for a year and also serving as the team’s manager. In 2018, James returned as the team’s manager, but was dismissed after an 11-match losing streak.
Did You Know?
In 2019, David James competed as a contestant on British TV dance competition, Strictly Come Dancing, and was partnered with Nadiya Bychkova. James was the 4th contestant eliminated.
8. Jim Leighton (July 24, 1958 – Present)
Like many of the other players on this list, Jim Leighton represented his national team (Scotland) at several World Cup tournaments. Leighton made the team in 1982, 1986, 1990, and for a final time in 1998. During hist last appearance at a World Cup, Leighton was nearly 40 years old. Unfortunately, this wasn’t a good year for Scotland as the team only scored one point and failed to make it out of the first round. This was the 8th time that Scotland failed to advance out of the first round, a record which still stands.
Did You Know?
Jim Leighton played for the Scotland National Team 91 times, the second most appearances after Kenny Dalglish’s 102.
7. Ali Boumnijel (April 13, 1966 – Present)
Ali Boumnijel may not have had quite as prolific a career as some of the other players on this list, but was recognized in 2006 for being the oldest player, at 40 years of age, at that year’s World Cup. Boumnijel is also the fifth oldest player to compete in the finals phase of the World Cup.
Boumnijel did have a long career, which started in 1988 and ended in 2007, when the new coach of Club Africain Tunis, Abdelhak Benchikha, removed him from the team’s roster. Since then, Boumnijel has had various coaching jobs with the Tunisia National Team, Umm Salal Sport Club, China National Team, Étoile du Sahel, and Football Club Sochaux-Montbéliard.
Did You Know?
Ali Boumnijel was the assistant coach for Tunisian Olympic team in 2011.
6. Dino Zoff (February 28, 1942 – Present)
Zoff is widely considered one of the best ever goalkeepers of all time. He was named the 3rd greatest goalkeeper by the International Federation of Football History & Statistics (IFFHS), behind Lev Yashin and Gordon Banks.
Did You Know?
Dino Zoff holds the record for the longest playing time without allowing goals in international tournaments (1142 minutes) set between 1972 and 1974.
5. Peter Shilton (September 18, 1949 – Present)
Peter Shilton is another member of the group of footballers in the their 40s who played during a FIFA World Cup. Shilton was a couple months shy of his 41st birthday when he competed in the 1990 third place play-off game between England and host-team Italy.
While not necessarily something to be remembered by, Shilton made a mistake which allowed Robert Baggio to tackle him and for Italy to score and win the game. This was Shilton’s 125th appearance for England’s National team and his last international game. Shilton continued to play club football until 1997.
Did You Know?
Peter Shilton shares the record of 10 goals conceded in 17 games with French goalkeeper Fabien Barthez.
4. Pat Jennings (June 12, 1945 – Present)
photo source: Wikimedia CommonsPat Jennings celebrated his 41st birthday by playing in a 1986 World Cup match against Brazil. Unfortunately, Northern Ireland lost the match and Jennings retired from professional soccer following the World Cup. Jennings spent most of his career playing for the Tottenham Hotspurs and is considered one of the greatest British goalkeepers of all time. After his retirement, Jennings did return to Tottenham Hotspurs in 1993 as the team’s goalkeeping coach, a position he still holds.
Did You Know?
On 26 February 1983, Pat Jennings became the first player in British football to make 1,000 senior appearances.
3. Roger Milla (May 20, 1952 – Present)
Did You Know?
Technically, Roger Milla retired from international play twice. Milla retired the first time after he competed in the 1984 Olympics, but was asked by President of Cameroon Paul Biya, to come out of retirement in 1990 to play at the World Cup.
2. Faryd Mondragón (June 21, 1971 – Present)
Just a few days after his 43rd birthday in 2014, Faryd Mondragón set the record for being the oldest FIFA World Cup player at the time. While his record has since been broken by Essam El-Hadary, Mondragón is still the oldest footballer to play during a World Cup group finals match. Unfortunately, Colombia was later eliminated by Brazil in the quarter-finals and Mondragón announced his retirement.
Mondragón’s professional career began with Deportivo Cali in 1990 and he was able to end his time as a footballer with his first team.
Who Scored The First Ever Fifa World Cup Goals
Did You Know?
Faryd Mondragón is the only player to have competed in six different World Cup qualifying campaigns since 1993.
1. Essam El-Hadary (January 15, 1973 – Present)
Who Scored The First Goal In Fifa World Cup 2014
photo source: Wikimedia CommonsEssam El-Hadary made history in 2018 when he became the oldest player ever to compete in a FIFA World Cup at the age of 45. This was El-Hadary’s last appearance at a World Cup and his last time playing as the goalkeeper for the Egyptian National Team. El-Hadary currently holds the Guinness World Record for this feat and it is yet to be broken.Throughout his long career – spanning from 1993 to 2019 – El-Hadary competed in 150 World Cup games, the third most for Egypt’s team. El-Hadary also won the Africa Cup of Nations four times and was picked as the best goalkeeper at three of those tournaments.
Did You Know?
In 2019, the FIFA World Football Museum displayed Essam El-Hadary’s gloves from his 2018 World Cup match to honor him for being the oldest player and first African goalkeeper ever to save a penalty.
See also general World Cup Trivia and the list of top goal scorers.
- The first player to score in the World Cup wasLucien Laurent of France, in the 19th minute in the first World Cup match on 13 July 1930.
- The fastest goal in a World Cup match was scored by Turkey's Hakan Sükür after only 11 seconds against South Korea in 2002.
- The latest goal scored in a match was by Italian Del Piero who scored in the 121st minute when Italy beat Germany 2-0 in 2006. In the same match Fabio Grosso scored in the 119th minute. In 2014, Algerian Abdelmoumene Djabou also scored in the 120+1st minute against Germany
- The fastest hat-trick was made by Hungary's Laszlo Kiss against El Salvador in 1982, when he scored after 70, 74 and 77 minutes.
- The only substitute to have scored a hat-trick was Hungary's Laszlo Kiss against El Salvador in 1982, when he scored after 70, 74 and 77 minutes.
- The record for the most goals at a World Cup is 13 by Frenchman Just Fontaine in 1958, which he achieved in six games.
- The overall top goal scorer in the World Cup is German Miroslav Klose, who has scored 16 goals.
- The only players to have scored from three headers in a single match are Tomáš Skuhravý in 1990 and Miroslav Klose in 2002.
- Hungary holds the record for the highest thrashings - beating El Salvador 10-1 in 1982 and South Korea 9-0 in 1954.
- Three players have scored in four successive finals tournaments. Both Pelé of Brazil and Uwe Seeler of West Germany scored in the finals of 1958, 1962, 1966 and 1970, and German Miroslav Klose scored in 2002, 2006, 2010 and 2014.
- The only players to have scored in every match including the final are Jairzinho of Brazil, who did this in the 1970 World Cup and Alcide Ghiggia of Uruguay in 1950. However, Ghiggia only played four games whereas Jairzinho played six.
- The first player to score a penalty goal wasMexico's Manuel Rocquetas Rosas against Argentina on 19 July 1930.
- The only 'Olympic goal' (goal scored directly from a corner kick) in the World Cup was scored for Colombia by Marcos Coll, beating goalkeeper Lev Yashin in a 4–4 draw with the Soviet Union in 1962.
- The most goals ever scored by one player in a World Cup match is five, by Russian Oleg Salenko.
- The only players to have scored in two World Cup finals are; Vava of Brazil in 1958 and 1962, Pelé of Brazil 1958 and 1970, Paul Breitner of West Germany in 1974 and 1982, and Zinedine Zidane: 2 v. Brazil in '98, and one in '06 v. Italy.
- The first player to score a hat-trick in a World Cup match was United States's Bert Patenaude who did this against Paraguay in the first round of the 1930 World Cup. Some records wrongly have the first player scoring a hat-trick asGuillermo Stabile of Argentina in their 6:3 win over Mexico on 19 July 1930, two days after Patenaude.
- The only player to score four goals in one match and still end up on the losing team was Poland's Ernst Willimowski against Brazil in 1938. Leonidas of Brazil also scored three goals in that match when his team won 6-5.
- The highest scoring game in World Cup history was in 1954, when Austria defeated Switzerland 7-5.
- The first substitute to score a goal was Juan Basaguren when he netted the last goal against El Salvador in Mexico's 4-0 win in 1970.
- The only player to have scored a goal plus an own-goal in the same match is Ernie Brandts of Holland in the second phase match against Italy in 1978. The Dutch team won 2-1.
- The 1994 joint golden boot winner Russian Oleg Salenko is the only player to win the award playing for a team that were eliminated in the group stages. His six goals are the only international goals he ever scored.
- The only player to have scored for two countries is Robert Prosinecki who represented Yugoslavia in 1990 scoring against the United Arab Emirates, and Croatia in 1998 scoring against Jamaica.
- The fastest goal by a substitute was made by Ebbe Sand of Denmark against Nigeria in the second round in 1998. Sand scored only 16 secs after coming on in Denmark's 4-1 win.
- Greek defender Sokratis Papastathopoulos scored his first international goal, and became the player with the longest (single) second name of any goalscorer in World Cup history.
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Who Scored The First Ever Fifa World Cup Goal Leaders
Related Pages
Who Scored The First Ever Fifa World Cup Goals Scored
- List of top goal scorers for each world cup, and the list of top scorers overall.
- More World Cup Trivia
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