Football’s best 40-year-olds as Ronaldo joins illustrious list

They say 40 is when life begins.

As he approaches the milestone and continues to score goals at an incredible rate, Cristiano Ronaldo will soon learn if that is accurate.

The five-time Ballon d’Or winner scored twice for Saudi Pro League club Al-Nassr on Monday, taking his career tally to 923 goals – and is still a regular for Portugal.

Which other players have continued to excel after surviving the big four?

A one-club player, Totti made his Roma debut as a 16-year-old in 1993 and never left the Giallorossi.

The legendary playmaker made a club-record 786 appearances in all competitions for his boyhood club, scoring 307 goals – another record. He helped Roma win the Italian title in 2000-2001 when he became the youngest skipper in Serie A history at the age of 22.

Former England striker Teddy Sheringham was 42 when he hung up his boots at the end of the 2007-08 season, while at Colchester United.

Sheringham made an impression at Millwall as a teenager before joining Tottenham in August 1992 after impressing under Brian Clough at Nottingham Forest.

Sheringham really blossomed into one of the game’s best forwards, winning three Premier League titles and scoring the equaliser in the Red Devils’ memorable Champions League triumph in 1999, despite finishing as the Premier League’s top scorer in its inaugural season.

After finishing as the top scorer at the 1988 Olympic football competition, former Brazil international Romario was regarded as one of the game’s greatest goalscorers.

After leaving his first-team team, Vasco da Gama in 1988, he scored 167 goals for both PSV Eindhoven and Barcelona before making his return to Brazil with Flamengo in 1995.

He netted 55 times in 70 appearances for Brazil, winning the Fifa World Player of the Year award in 1994 after scoring five goals in the Selecao’s World Cup-winning campaign.

Former Argentina international Javier Zanetti spent 19 years at Inter after joining Massimo Moratti’s team from Banfield in 1995.

Inter’s record appearance maker, Zanetti played 862 times for the Nerazzurri before calling time on his playing career at the end of the 2013-14 season, three months before his 41st birthday.

As part of a historic treble led by Portuguese boss Jose Mourinho, he won five Serie A titles and the 2010 Champions League.

Serie A’s record appearance holder and the most capped goalkeeper of all time, Gianluigi Buffon was 45 when he retired from football in August 2023.

The Italian won 10 Serie A titles with Juventus and the 2006 World Cup during his glittering 28-year career.

After departing Serie A for the first time at the beginning of that campaign, Buffon also won the 2018-19 Ligue 1 title with Paris St-Germain.

Legendary Sweden striker Zlatan Ibrahimovic scored 511 goals for some of Europe’s biggest clubs, including PSG, Manchester United and both Milan sides.

He was nominated for the Ballon d’Or no less than 11 times, winning 34 titles, including 14 league titles.

He never won the Champions League title, though, despite having a stellar CV and the only one his Red Devils won with the 2017 Europa League.

The most decorated player in English football history, former Manchester United and Wales winger Ryan Giggs won 13 league titles, four FA Cups and two Champions Leagues – among 34 trophies – at Old Trafford.

He made a club-record 963 appearances for the Red Devils, as well as winning 64 caps for Wales at international level.

He captained Team GB at the 2012 Olympic Games in London despite never having participated in a significant international tournament with Wales.

Widely regarded as one of the greatest defenders of all time, Paolo Maldini spent his entire career at AC Milan, making 902 appearances for the club.

In a remarkable 25 years of playing, he helped the Rossoneri win five Champions Leagues and a Coppa Italia while also winning the Serie A on seven occasions.

Before Italy’s 2006 World Cup triumph, he had retired from his country’s 126 caps. At club level, he ended his playing days at the age of 41 in 2009.

Forget Ronaldo, Buffon, Maldini and co though – Kazuyoshi Miura had barely reached the twilight of his career when he turned 40 in 2007.

Miura, who turns 58 three weeks after Ronaldo turns 40, is still going strong, currently plying his trade for Atletico Suzuka in Japan’s fourth tier.

Known affectionately as ‘ King Kazu’, Miura’s career began in 1986 with Brazilian club Santos and included spells with Palmeiras, Genoa, Dinamo Zagreb, Vissel Kobe, Sydney and – more recently – Portuguese second-tier side Oliveirense.