Gordon, 43, to be oldest player at record 48-team World Cup; Messi, Ronaldo set for sixth appearance

The 2026 World Cup, set to be co-hosted by the United States, Canada, and Mexico, will feature a record 1248 players across 48 national teams. FIFA announced the finalized squad lists on June 1, with the deadline for submissions passing at midnight. This expansion marks the largest World Cup tournament to date.

Among the participants, Scotland's veteran goalkeeper Craig Gordon, at 43 years and 162 days, will be the oldest player. In contrast, Mexico's Gilberto Mora, aged 17 years and 240 days, is the youngest. The age difference between the oldest and youngest players is 25 years.

Several established stars are set to make history. Lionel Messi of Argentina, Cristiano Ronaldo of Portugal, and Guillermo Ochoa of Mexico will all be participating in their sixth World Cup, setting a new record for most appearances. A total of 357 players have previous World Cup experience, while 891 will be making their debut.

The tournament will also welcome four debutant nations: Cape Verde, Curaçao, Jordan, and Uzbekistan. European nations contribute the most players with 35, followed by Asia with 14. Ghana's coach Carlos Queiroz, at 73, will be on his fifth consecutive World Cup, becoming only the second coach in history to achieve this feat.