Oldest Nations League scorers: Cristiano Ronaldo, Roy Chipolina, Luka Modrić, Edin Džeko
Monday, March 24, 2025
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Cristiano Ronaldo is the first 40-year-old to score in the UEFA Nations League and remains the oldest player to register in the competition.
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As their sides progressed through to the Nations League final in 2019, 2021, and 2023 respectively, 34-year-old Cristiano Ronaldo, 33-year-old Karim Benzema and 37-year-old Luka Modrić were all on semi-final scoresheets.
Ronaldo, meanwhile, has since become the oldest player to score in the competition, and more recently the first player older than 40 to register at this level. UEFA.com reveals the oldest goalscorers in the competition's history.
Who are the oldest scorers in Nations League history?
40 years 46 days: Cristiano Ronaldo (Portugal) vs Denmark, 23/03/2025
39 years 246 days: Roy Chipolina (Gibraltar) vs Bulgaria, 23/09/2022
38 years 365 days: Luka Modrić (Croatia) vs Poland, 08/09/2024
38 years 208 days: Edin Džeko (Bosnia and Herzegovina) vs Germany, 11/10/2024
37 years 297 days: Konstantin Vassiljev (Estonia) vs Malta, 09/06/2022
37 years 247 days: Marcio Vieira (Andorra) vs Moldova, 14/06/2022
37 years 143 days: Michael Mifsud (Malta) vs Faroe Islands, 07/09/2018
37 years 76 days: Goran Pandev (North Macedonia) vs Estonia, 11/10/2020
36 years 216 days: Liam Walker (Gibraltar) vs San Marino, 15/11/2024
36 years 46 days: Ivan Perišić (Croatia) vs France, 20/03/2025
Three of the top four strikes in this category have come in the current edition of the competition. Cristiano Ronaldo edged into top spot after his instinctive goal in Poland in October and twice extended his record when scoring twice against the same opponents the following month, and again against Denmark in the play-off decider.
Who are the oldest scorers in the Nations League Finals?
37 years 278 days: Luka Modrić (Croatia) vs Netherlands, 14/06/2023
34 years 120 days: Cristiano Ronaldo (Portugal) vs Switzerland, 05/06/2019
33 years 295 days: Karim Benzema* (France) vs Spain, 10/10/2021
33 years 115 days: Ciro Immobile (Italy) vs Spain, 15/06/2023
33 years 80 days: Joselu (Spain) vs Italy, 15/06/2023
32 years 219 days: Georginio Wijnaldum (Netherlands) vs Italy, 18/06/2023
31 years 360 days: Andrej Kramarić (Croatia) vs Netherlands, 14/06/2023
28 years 271 days: Bruno Petković (Croatia) vs Netherlands, 14/06/2023
28 years 147 days: Romelu Lukaku (Belgium) vs France, 07/10/2021
28 years 125 days: Mario Pašalić (Croatia) vs Netherlands, 14/06/2023
*Denotes scoring in a Nations League final
Four different goalscorers were required as Croatia defeated the Netherlands 4-2 in the 2023 Nations League semi-finals and, remarkably, all four of those players placed themselves among the ten oldest players to score at the Finals stage. Noa Lang had drawn Netherlands level deep into added time, but a stunning Petković strike and a Modrić penalty propelled Croatia to an extra-time victory.
