The 13 World Cup players who made their debuts before Lamine Yamal was born | OneFootball

Lionel Messi, Cristiano Ronaldo and Luka Modric are among the 13 World Cup players to have made their professional debut before Lamine Yamal was born.

Yamal was born in July 2007 and has become a superstar of world football, despite his tender age.

To illustrate just how young Yamal is, we’ve managed to find 13 players at this summer’s World Cup who made their professional debuts before the Spaniard was born.

Messi, Ronaldo and Modric are no surprise, football’s trio of Benjamin Button figures who their nations are finding it difficult to say goodbye to.

Germany goalkeeper Manuel Neuer retired from international football after Euro 2024, but was called back into the squad by Julian Nagelsmann and started their opening game against Curacao.

World Cup cult hero Guillermo Ochoa also features in this list having made his professional debut in January 2004. We can remember January 2004. God, we’re old.

Other familiar names include Edin Dzeko (January 2003), David Ospina (May 2006) and Axel Witsel (September 2006).

But none of the aforementioned names take the mantle of longest-ago debut… step forward Scotland goalkeeper Craig Gordon.

Gordon made his professional bow for Cowdenbeath on the 8th September 2001, three days before the Twin Towers were destroyed. You’d have to be approaching your 30th birthday to even remember that era.

“I think my age is something to be proud of, Gordon said in a recent interview. “I don’t mind people talking about it because there’s been an awful lot of hard work put in to get to this stage, to still be at a level to allow myself to be picked for this squad.

“In a way, it’s a compliment to how I’ve managed to keep going, how I’ve managed to come back from injuries and always find my way back to this level, so yeah, it’s something I’m very proud of.”

We’ve listed all 13 players below, the country they’ll be representing at this year’s World Cup and the date of their professional debut: