Football's best 40-year-olds as Ronaldo joins illustrious list

People often say that forty is the new beginning of life. Cristiano Ronaldo is about to reach this milestone, and he still maintains an amazing scoring efficiency, perhaps he will personally verify whether this statement is correct.

The five-time Ballon d'Or winner scored twice for Saudi Professional League club Al-Nassr on Monday, bringing his career total to 923 goals. At the same time, he remains a regular for the Portuguese national team. So, which other players have maintained strong competitiveness after the age of forty?

Names such as Peter Shilton, Dino Zoff, Roger Milla, and even the great Sir Stanley Matthews are deeply imprinted in the minds of fans of a certain era. Of course, there have also been many such players in the 21st century.

Francesco Totti is a player who played for a single club. In 1993, at the age of 16, Totti made his debut for Roma and has never left the team since. The legendary playmaker made a club-record 786 appearances for the club he supported since childhood, while also scoring 307 goals, also a club record. At the age of 22, he was appointed captain of Roma, the youngest captain in Serie A history, and helped the team win the Italian title in the 2000-01 season. He made his final appearance for the club on May 28, 2017, just eight months after his 40th birthday.

Former England striker Teddy Sheringham was 42 when he retired at the end of the 2007-08 season, then playing for Colchester United. After impressing at Millwall, Sheringham was signed by Nottingham Forest manager Brian Clough in 1991, before joining Tottenham Hotspur in August 1992. He became the top scorer in his first season in the Premier League, but Sheringham truly grew into one of the best forwards in football during his time at Manchester United, winning three Premier League titles and scoring the equalizing goal in the Red Devils' memorable Champions League final in 1999. He was named Football Writers' Association Footballer of the Year in the 2000-01 season and continues to hold the record for the oldest goalscorer in the Premier League, scoring for West Ham United against Portsmouth at the age of 40 years and 268 days.

Romario is considered one of the greatest goalscorers in football history. The former Brazil international first came to prominence after being named top scorer at the 1988 Olympic football tournament. After leaving his boyhood club Vasco da Gama in 1988, he enjoyed a brilliant spell at PSV Eindhoven and Barcelona, scoring 167 goals for the two clubs alone, before returning to Brazil in 1995 to join Flamengo. He made 70 appearances for Brazil, scoring 55 goals, and was named FIFA World Player of the Year after scoring 5 goals in the 1994 World Cup, helping Brazil win the title. In November 2009, he played his last match for America Football Club in Rio de Janeiro, at the age of 43. However, he made a brief comeback last year, playing alongside his son, Romarinho.

Former Argentina international Javier Zanetti joined Massimo Moratti's Inter Milan from Banfield in 1995 and stayed there for 19 years. As Inter Milan's all-time appearance maker, Zanetti played 862 times for the Nerazzurri and ended his playing career at the end of the 2013-14 season, three months before his 41st birthday. He won five Serie A titles and won the Champions League in 2010 under Portuguese coach Jose Mourinho, achieving a historic treble. He made 145 appearances for Argentina before retiring from the national team in 2011.

Gianluigi Buffon has made the most appearances in Serie A and is the goalkeeper with the most international appearances of all time. He was 45 years old when he retired in August 2023. During this glorious 28-year career, the Italian won no fewer than 10 Serie A titles with Juventus and won the World Cup in 2006. At the start of that season, Buffon left Serie A for the first time, joining Paris Saint-Germain and winning the Ligue 1 title in the 2018-19 season. But before hanging up his boots, he returned to where his dream began, making 19 appearances for Parma, then in Serie B, in the 2022-23 season.

Legendary Swedish striker Zlatan Ibrahimovic scored 511 goals for some of Europe's biggest clubs, including Paris Saint-Germain, Manchester United and both Milan clubs. He has won 34 trophies, including 14 league titles, and has been nominated for the Ballon d'Or 11 times. But despite his illustrious resume, he has never won the Champions League trophy, his only European title being the Europa League title he won with the Red Devils in 2017. Ibrahimovic is Sweden's all-time top scorer, scoring 62 goals in 122 appearances, and he retired during his second spell at AC Milan, aged 41.

As the most decorated player in the history of English football, former Manchester United and Wales winger Ryan Giggs won 13 league titles, 4 FA Cups and 2 Champions League titles at Old Trafford, for a total of 34 trophies. He made a club-record 963 appearances for the Red Devils, while also making 64 appearances for Wales. He never represented Wales in any major international tournament, but did captain the British team at the 2012 London Olympics. Giggs made his final appearance for Manchester United in their 3-1 win over Hull City in May 2014, at the age of 40, before being appointed assistant coach to then-manager Louis van Gaal.

Paolo Maldini is widely regarded as one of the greatest defenders in football history, dedicating his entire career to AC Milan, making 902 appearances for the club. He won seven Serie A titles and helped the Rossoneri win the Champions League five times, as well as winning one Coppa Italia title in a brilliant 25-year career. He made 126 appearances for Italy, but retired from the national team before Italy won the World Cup in 2006. At club level, he ended his playing career in 2009, aged 41. Milan retired his number 3 shirt after Maldini left.

Forget Ronaldo, Buffon, Maldini and others, Kazuyoshi Miura was hardly at the twilight of his career when he turned 40 in 2007. Kazuyoshi Miura will be 58 years old three weeks after Ronaldo turns 40, but he still maintains strong competitiveness and currently plays for Suzuka Point Getters in the Japanese fourth division. Affectionately known as "King Kazu", Miura began his career in 1986 with Brazilian club Santos, before also playing for Palmeiras, Genoa, Dinamo Zagreb, Vissel Kobe, Sydney and most recently Portuguese second division side Oliveirense. Between 1990 and 2000, he made 89 appearances for Japan, scoring 55 goals, and lifted the Asian Cup trophy in 1992, one of 18 trophies he won in his career. He was also named Asian Footballer of the Year in 1992.