Best Soccer Players Over Age 35

According to various reports, the average age to retire from soccer is 35 years old. We rarely see soccer players continue to play at the top level past 40, but it still happens.

Who are the best ones? How effective are they at this age? If you're betting on soccer, should you put some money down on these guys?

Let's break it down.

Who are the Oldest Soccer Players?

Pepe 

Portuguese star Pepe has been one of this generation's very best defenders. At 40 years old, he still regularly plays for the Portugal national team and continues to win trophies at Porto.

He made his debut at 18 and has collected three Champions League titles and even played a key role in the Euro 2016 triumph for Portugal.

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Atiba Hutchinson

Canada's record-breaking Atiba Hutchinson has been representing his country for 20 years and has accumulated 103 caps along the way.

He has recently left Besiktas in Turkey after 10 years but after turning 40 in 2023, Hutchinson continues to captain Canada and will surely have options to return to a club in North America in 2023-24.

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Cristian Riveros

Cristian Riveros has spent his career moving around Europe and South America and currently plays for his boyhood back in Paraguay, Libertad.

The midfielder started his professional career with Cristóbal Colón in 1999 aged just 17 and began playing for the Paraguay national team in 2005 before retiring in 2018.

Roque Santa Cruz

Another Paraguayan still living the high life in professional soccer is the Premier League's cult hero, Roque Santa Cruz. 

Santa Cruz started his professional career in 1997 for Olimpia at 16. He then caught the eye of the European heavyweights, Bayern Munich, where he spent eight successful seasons before moving to Blackburn Rovers.

The striker became a cultural icon at Blackburn and Manchester City in England. After spending a few seasons in Spain, Santa Cruz ended up back at Olimpia for five years before a move to Libertad where he remains at 41.

Endō Yasuhito

At 43, Endō Yasuhito continues to play for Júbilo Iwata after starting his career in 1998. The midfielder represented Japan for 13 years and received 152 caps.

Yasuhito has spent his entire professional career in his home country and after making over 1,100 official appearances, he is in the rare bracket of players to do so in the history of soccer.

Gianluigi Buffon

Gianluigi Buffon is one of the greatest goalkeepers in the history of soccer, with numerous records to his name. The former Juventus star has made more appearances in Serie A than any other man and has more Serie A titles (10) than any other player. 

Buffon made 176 appearances for the Italy national team and no Italian has ever made more. The legendary goalkeeper continues to play in Serie B for his boyhood club Parma, where he is the club captain and continues to showcase his phenomenal talent at 45 years of age.

Miura Kazuyoshi

The legendary figure of Miura Kazuyoshi might not be the greatest soccer player ever. Still, he is the only man in history to play a game in the past five decades and the oldest professional player in the history of the sport.

At the stunning age of 56, Kazuyoshi made headlines across world soccer in 2023 when he opted to continue playing by heading to U.D. Oliveirense on loan from Yokohama FC.

The Japanese striker started playing in 1986 at 18 in Brazil and moved around a bunch of Brazilian clubs before heading back to Japan.

Kazuyoshi continues to play 20 years past the average age at which soccer players tend to retire. It makes him one of the oldest athletes in the world and one of the most impressive soccer players of all time.

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