Who are the oldest & youngest players at FIFA World Cup 2026? Their age difference is astonishing 25 years & 287 days

With just less than 10 days remaining at the FIFA World Cup 2026, the football's governing body has officially released the final rosters of all the 48 teams competing in the United States, Mexico and Canada from June 11 to July 19 at the grandest stage. A total of 1248 players will be relishing their FIFA World Cup dream this time in North America.

Expanded to 48 countries from 32 for the first time in history, the FIFA World Cup 2026 brings in a new wave of players and nations into the spotlight, including four debutants - Cape Verde, Curacao, Jordan and Uzbekistan. Among the 1249, 891 player are set to experience the FIFA World Cup for the first time while 357 are returning players.

Amid the wave of global superstars, two names have grabbed the limelight - Scotland’s Craig Gordon and Mexico's Gilberto Mora. While Gordon has been officially declared as the oldest player at 43 years and 162 days, Mora is more than 25 years younger than Gordon. The Mexican is aged at 17 years and 240 days. The age difference is 25 years & 287 days to be precise.

Interestingly, both are first-timers at the FIFA World Cup.

Who is Craig Gordon? All you need to know

Gordon has been playing for international football since 2004 and during his time, Scotland have never qualified for the FIFA World Cup. In fact, the last time Scotland qualified for the FIFA World Cup was in 1998.

Having graduated from Heart of Midlothian (commonly known as Hearts) youth academy, Gordon started his senior professional career in 2001 for Cowdenbeath during a loan spell. He made his debut for Hearts in 2002 and went on to establish himself as the first choice goalkeeper at the club.

The biggest move of his career came in 2007 when Gordon was signed by English Premier League club Sunderland. However injuries affected his game time at the Stadium of Light with Gordon playing 95 games over a five-year period. Things were tough for Gordon that time.

He was without a club for two years due to injury before Scottish giants Celtic signed him in 2014 and spent six trophy laden years with them. He rejoined Hearts in 2020. With Scotland, Gordon played the 2006 FIFA World Cup qualifiers and consistent played for five years until injury sidelined him.

He returned to the national team after a four-year injury layoff and was a part of Scotland's EURO 2020 squad. In the FIFA World Cup 2026 qualifiers, Gordon started in Scotland's last two games against Greece and Denmark. For Scotland, Gordon has so far played 84 matches, 7103 minutes with 17 clean sheets.

Who is Gilberto Mora? All you need to know

Hailed as the next big star in Mexico, Mora comes with a flair. Born in 2008 in southern Mexico's Tuxtla Gutierrez and nurtured in Tijuana, the attacking midfielder comes with a game intelligence, creativity between the lines, close control, through-balls and composure under pressure.

Having made his top-flight debut at just 15 years and 10 months, Mora was an instant hit in the footling circle, breaking a host of Liga MX age records. He impressed at the FIFA U-20 World Cup in Chile last year, helping Mexico to reach the quarterfinals, and played with maturity above his age.

The breakthrough of his career came in 2025 CONCACAF Gold Cup where Mora set up Raul Jimenez for the winning goal against Honduras in the semifinals. In that same tournament against Saudi Arabia, Mora became Mexico's youngest ever senior team debutant at 16 years.

Should Mexico head coach Javier Aguirre play Mora at the FIFA World Cup 2026, he could become the youngest ever to represent the national team at the sport's grandest stage on home soil.