Roger Milla was 42 when he scored his last World Cup goal, and for thirty-two years nobody has got near him. This summer someone finally did. That is the new piece this week. There is also a semi-final coming that reopens an old wound, and a favourite worth rereading while the bracket keeps eating the favourites.
The oldest goalscorers in World Cup history
Milla scored for Cameroon against Russia in 1994 at 42 years and 39 days, and he beat his own record to do it. Cameroon lost that match 6-1. The number is what survived. This summer Cristiano Ronaldo, past 41, became the oldest man ever to score in a World Cup knockout match, and the first to score at six different tournaments. He is second on the list and no closer to first than anyone else has ever been. New this week, the full list and what it takes to still be scoring at that age. Read it: https://thearchv.ca/explainers/oldest-world-cup-goalscorers/
The biggest upsets in World Cup history
Four of the eight quarter-finalists were not the ones anyone drew in June. That is not a fluke, it is the pattern. The USA beating England in 1950, Cameroon knocking out the holders in 1990, Senegal doing it to France in 2002, Saudi Arabia ending Argentina’s tournament before it started in 2022. Worth another look with the semi-finals about to start. Read it: https://thearchv.ca/explainers/biggest-world-cup-upsets/
The live window
Four left. France play Spain in Dallas on Tuesday. England play Argentina in Atlanta on Wednesday, which is the fourth World Cup meeting between those two and the first since 2002. Bellingham scored twice to beat Norway on Saturday. Alvarez settled Argentina’s quarter-final in extra time against ten men. Nobody in that last four got there quietly.
That’s this week. If there’s an era, a club, or a final you want drawn next, just reply and tell us. We read every one.
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