Are any 1990s World Cup stars still playing professional football? | The Knowledge

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“Everton and Cameroon legend Samuel Eto’o took part in the 1998 World Cup and is still playing in Turkey,” tweets Deej. “Is there anyone still playing professionally who appeared at an earlier World Cup?”

Let’s proceed straight to an age-old favourite: Kazuyoshi Miura, the Japanese forward who last year, at the age of 50, broke Sir Stanley Matthews’ record to become the oldest goalscorer in professional football history. He didn’t actually play in the World Cup but let’s not split hairs when the trivia is this rewarding. “Miura comes close as part of Japan’s 1994 play-off-losing side (and wasn’t part of 1998 because of a spat with the coach),” notes Tom Prankerd. “Brad Friedel (retired 2015) seems to have been the last active professional player to be part of the 1994 World Cup, unless Sigurd Rushveldt’s comeback with Lyngen/Karnes is in need of an update.”

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