For two decades, Cristiano Ronaldo and Luka Modric have been fixtures at the summit of the game. At the 2026 World Cup, both are still here — older than nearly everyone around them, and still writing records into the tournament's history.
The records keep coming
At 41, Ronaldo became the first player to score at six different World Cups, ESPN reported, after scoring twice in Portugal's 5-0 win over Uzbekistan — a result Al Jazeera also covered. Modric, at 40, set his own mark: ESPN reported he became the oldest player to record an assist at a World Cup, setting up a late winner for Croatia against Ghana and then helping to protect the lead in the closing minutes.
It is, by most accounts, the first time two outfield players past 40 have appeared at the same World Cup — a distinction that until now belonged, on his own, to Cameroon's Roger Milla.
But the years show, too
The fuller picture is more complicated than the headlines, which is why the original framing of the story — from Yahoo Sports — spoke of a "struggle" against Father Time as much as a triumph over it. In Portugal's group-stage loss to Colombia, Ronaldo played the full 90 minutes but had only a couple of touches inside the opposition box, a statistic that captured how the game can pass even a great goalscorer by. Portugal's group campaign was uneven — a draw, a defeat and then the rout of Uzbekistan — before it advanced.
Modric's tournament has leaned less on moments and more on stamina and craft: against Ghana he was among the most active players on the pitch, his passing and positioning still doing the quiet work that made his reputation. Croatia, beaten heavily by England in their opener, recovered to reach the knockout rounds.
Toward one more meeting
Their managers have defended them in familiar terms — Portugal's Roberto Martinez insisting there is "not an issue physically or mentally" with his captain over 90 minutes, Croatia's Zlatko Dalic praising Modric's commitment. Both know the arithmetic: at these ages, every match may be the last of its kind.
The two shared a Real Madrid dressing room and four Champions League titles, and their countries are now on course to meet again in the knockout rounds — a fixture, if it holds, that would pit the two aging greats against each other one more time on the biggest stage. Neither is the player who once won the Ballon d'Or. But both are still, at 40 and 41, doing something rare: not just appearing at a World Cup, but shaping it.
