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Veteran Qatar striker Sebastian Soria has a chance to become the oldest outfield player to appear at a World Cup after the 42-year-old was included in the country’s provisional squad for the tournament on Tuesday.
Uruguay-born Soria was in a group of 34 players selected by Qatar coach Julen Lopetegui which cannot be cut to more than 26 ahead of the World Cup, which starts on June 11.
If Soria plays at the World Cup – where Qatar is in a group with co-hosts Canada, Switzerland and Bosnia-Herzegovina – he will break Roger Milla’s record as the oldest field player in the tournament’s 96-year history. Milla was also 42 when he played his last World Cup with Cameroon in 1994 in the United States.
The oldest ever World Cup player is Egyptian goalkeeper Essam El Hadary, who was 45 years, 161 days when he played against Saudi Arabia in 2018.
Sebastian Soria of Qatar SC celebrates after scoring a goal during the Ooredoo Qatar Stars League match between Qatar SC and Al-Gharafa SC at the Khalifa International Stadium. (Photo by Noushad Thekkayil/NurPhoto via Getty Images)
Scotland’s 43-year-old goalkeeper Craig Gordon should also be in this year’s World Cup if he recovers from injury in time.
Soria’s international career looked set to end in 2017 and he was not selected for the 2022 World Cup by the host nation.
He was called up again last October and played in Qatar’s crucial World Cup qualifier. Soria came on as a second-half substitute in a 2-1 win over the United Arab Emirates in Doha.
“Thank God for letting me live this,” Soria wrote on his Instagram account after the match, “proud to wear the Al Anabi shirt again and represent this beautiful country.”
Soria switched to playing in the Qatari league in 2004 and was naturalized as a citizen before making his national team debut in 2007.
Qatar kicks off its World Cup campaign on June 13 against Switzerland in San Francisco. Qatar will then play Canada in Vancouver and close Group B against Bosnia and Herzegovina in Seattle on June 24.
Report from the Associated Press.
