Ronaldo's Last Tournament Fails to Break Milla's Record

Roger Milla’s record as the oldest goalscorer in FIFA World Cup history still stands. The Cameroon legend keeps his spot at the top despite Cristiano Ronaldo's impressive performance in his last tournament. Ronaldo scored in a record sixth World Cup, according to PUNCH Sports Extra.

Ronaldo, who is 41 years old, scored against Uzbekistan in Portugal’s second group match at the 2026 tournament. This made him the second-oldest scorer in World Cup history at 41 years and 138 days.

He later scored a penalty in Portugal’s win over Croatia in the last-32 round. Portugal faced Spain in the quarter-finals, where they were eliminated. This brought Ronaldo's record to 41 years and 147 days. But that is still behind Milla’s unbeatable mark of 42 years and 39 days, set when Milla scored against Russia at the USA ‘94 World Cup.

Milla first made his mark on the world stage at Italia ‘90. He was 38 years old then and scored four goals, helping Cameroon become the first African nation to reach the quarter-finals of a World Cup.

His famous dance by the corner flag is one of the most memorable moments in football. Four years later, he scored again against Russia in the United States, dancing once more despite Cameroon losing 6-1 and exiting the tournament at the group stage. Milla’s goal at 42 years and 39 days remains unbroken after over thirty years.

Ronaldo's performance at this tournament also pushed Argentina’s Lionel Messi down from third to fourth on the all-time list. Messi celebrated his 39th birthday during the tournament and scored against Austria on June 22, at 38 years and 363 days, initially placing him third.

But Ronaldo's later goal against Croatia moved him ahead of Messi. Messi has since scored against Jordan, Cape Verde, and Egypt. His total at these finals is eight goals, but he still has not broken Ronaldo's age record when scoring.

Croatia’s Ivan Perisic and Austria’s Marko Arnautovic, both 37 years old, also made their marks in this tournament. Perisic’s goal against Portugal on July 3 placed him seventh on the all-time list. Arnautovic scored against Algeria in Austria’s final group match, putting him in ninth place.

With the 2030 World Cup planned to have matches in both Portugal and Argentina, there is a chance that Ronaldo or Messi could try to break Milla’s record on home soil. But for that to happen, both players would need to keep playing international football into their forties.