Japanese striker Kazuyoshi Miura extended his own record as the oldest goalscorer in professional football, netting for Fukushima United in a 7-0 thrashing of Iwaki Furukawa in the Emperor's Cup on 25 July 2026, aged 59 years and 149 days. It was his first competitive goal in almost four years, and the achievement reignited the Guardian's Knowledge column's long-running fascination with football's oldest marksmen, prompting a wider look at who else holds age-related scoring records across the men's and women's game.

The piece lists other notable veterans: Innocent Benza, aged 51, is believed to be the oldest top-flight goalscorer after netting for Herentals College FC in Zimbabwe in 2023; Billy Meredith (49 years, 208 days) and Stanley Matthews (49 years, 14 days) hold historic English top-flight marks from 1924 and 1964 respectively. The oldest goalscorer on record overall is Ezzeldin Bahader, who scored a penalty on his debut for an Egyptian third-division side aged 74 in 2020, while Brazil's Formiga tops the women's game, scoring for her country in 2019 aged 41. The column separately notes that new Labour leader Andy Burnham's Everton allegiance means the UK again has a football-supporting prime minister, continuing a series on PMs' club loyalties since 1945.