PEPE THE FIRST EVER !
Pepe, first ever scorer aged 40+ in EC&UCL !
The Portuguese defender Pepe once again wrote his name in the history of Europe's main club tournament. In the game vs Royal Antwerp (2-0), he became the first ever goal scorer aged 40+, not only in the modern era of the Champions League (since 1992), but also including the period of European Cup (since 1955). His exact age was 40 years 254 days.
Pepe broke the age record that had stood since 1960 and belonged to the Norwegian Willy Olsen.
Regarding the Champions League only, Francesco Totti held the record until yesterday (38 years 59 days). Pepe exceeded his achievement by more than 2.5 years!
Just 2 weeks ago, in the previous round of the Champions League, Pepe set another record in the tournament’s history, becoming the oldest outfield player.
On the same day as Pepe, another “old” goal was scored by Olivier Giroud (for Milan), who took 15th place in the ranking, which covers the entire history of the tournament, and 8th in a separate ranking for the Champions League.
OLDEST | SCORERS | IN EUROPEAN | CUP & | CHAMPIONS' | LEAGUE | |
Player | Nationality | Club | Age | Game | Date | |
1 | Pepe | Portugal | Porto | 40-254 | Royal Antwerp 2-0 | 07/11/2023 |
2 | Willy Olsen | Norway | Fredrikstad | 39-219 | Ajax 4-3 | 31/08/1960 |
3 | Manfred Burgsmüller | Germany | Werder | 38-294 | Dynamo Berlin 5-0 | 11/10/1988 |
4 | Gordon Smith | Scotland | Dundee | 38-292 | Anderlecht 2-1 | 13/03/1963 |
5 | Ferenc Puskás | Spain | Real Madrid | 38-174 | Feijenoord 5-0 | 22/09/1965 |
6 | Francesco Totti | Italy | Roma | 38-059 | CSKA Moscow 1-1 | 25/11/2014 |
7 | John O'Neill | Ireland | Waterford | 38-011 | Újpesti Dózsa 2-3 | 19/09/1973 |
8 | Alfredo di Stéfano | Spain | Real Madrid | 37-308 | Zürich 6-0 | 07/05/1964 |
9 | Ryan Giggs | Wales | Manchester United | 37-289 | Benfica 1-1 | 14/09/2011 |
10 | Filippo Inzaghi | Italy | Milan | 37-086 | Real Madrid 2-2 | 03/11/2010 |
11 | Javier Zanetti | Argentina | Inter | 37-071 | Tottenham 4-3 | 20/10/2010 |
12 | Henri Skiba | France | La Chaux-de-Fonds | 37-064 | Saint-Étienne 2-0 | 16/09/1964 |
13 | Luka Modrić | Croatia | Real Madrid | 37-054 | Celtic 5-1 | 02/11/2022 |
Edin Džeko. | Bosnia & H | Inter | 37-054 | Milan 2-0 | 10/05/2023 | |
15 | Olivier Giroud | France | Milan | 37-038 | PSG 2-1 | 07/11/2023 |