Egypt keeper El Hadary makes history as World Cup's oldest player
Faryd Mondragon's record as the oldest player in World Cup history was surpassed by 45-year-old Egypt goalkeeper Essam El Hadary.
Essam El Hadary became the oldest player in World Cup history when he lined up for Egypt against Saudi Arabia on Monday.
The goalkeeper appeared five times in qualifying and, at 45 years and 161 days old, made his finals debut in Volgograd, with Egypt and Saudi Arabia playing just for pride having already been eliminated.
El Hadary took the record from Faryd Mondragon, who appeared in goal for Colombia in 2014 just three days after his 43rd birthday.
There are three managers at Russia 2018 – Serbia's Mladen Krstajic, Aliou Cisse of Senegal and Belgium boss Roberto Martinez – who are younger than the Pharaohs keeper.
Mohamed Salah also started for Egypt, despite reports he was considering quitting the national team over a controversial appearances alongside Chechen leader Ramzan Kadyrov.
