Inspiration for Lionel Messi and Cristiano Ronaldo? Roger Milla, Rafa Marquez and Miroslav Klose among aging stars who shined at World Cup

Milla had played professional football for nearly 15 years before the world knew who he was. A quick striker with an eye for goal, Milla made a fine career in France before bursting onto the scene for the Cameroonian national team - with the caveat that he did so at the age of 38.

Milla was almost retired by then. In fact, he did so at 36, before a last-gasp call-up from the President of Cameroon himself convinced the forward to lace up his boots again. And in Italia 90, he was crucial as Cameroon made the deepest run of any African Nation at a World Cup. He bagged four goals in five games and was a national hero after his country made a remarkable run to the last eight.

He ran it back one more time in 1994 and bagged again, at 42 years old. But most remember him for Italia 90, the year a near-unknown man lit up the World Cup.

Shilton's England legacy is complicated. He was something of a journeyman during his club career, and was handed the unenviable job of taking the goalkeeper gloves after Gordon Banks retired due to injury in 1970.

But he was also remarkably effective when brought into the side. Indeed, if England were perennially coming up short at World Cups and major tournaments, then Shilton would hardly be to blame. He proved as such in 1990, when he took the field as a 40-year-old. That World Cup is remembered for the wrong reasons for the English - who suffered a heartbreaking exit on penalties. But Shilton, for his part, had a solid tournament, setting a World Cup record by registering his 10th clean sheet in the competition.

Atiba Hutchinson's World Cup feels deserved, if only because he survived some mightily dark times to get there. The Brampton, Ontario native saw it through the tough years of Canada's soccer journey, serving as a stalwart of a team that could never quite figure it out. And as a new generation entered the fray in the mid-2010s, Hutchinson remained a part of the squad. By the time the 2022 World Cup rolled around, Hutchinson was a bit-part player for Besiktas.

But he was still good enough to feature for the national team, and represented Canada just shy of his 40th birthday at the 2022 World Cup. Canada got grouped and exited early. But Hutchinson got his deserved moment in the sun.

It is something of a surprise that Pepe has retired. The center back was such an important and regular part of the football landscape that it would be fair to wonder if the Portuguese defender would ever hang them up. Indeed, most careers end after high-profile departures from big clubs. Pepe left Real Madrid in 2017, and still had seven years of football left in him.

And at the 2022 World Cup, he played a key role for an accomplished yet limited Portugal side. Pepe started every game and even scored in a 6-1 thrashing of Switzerland in the round of 16. He had one more tournament in his legs after that, when he played for the Selecao in Euro 2024. But the 2022 World Cup seems a more fitting final act - a 39-year-old proving he could still provide for an elite nation.

Marquez is a true legend of the Mexican game. He is the fourth most-capped player in the history of the team, the fourth player ever to play for his national team in five straight World Cups. No other Mexican has played more World Cup matches than his 19.

By 2018, Marquez, then 39, had lost much of his shine. Mexico rather underwhelmed at the tournament, too, with Marquez and Co. failing to break the Round of 16 curse that had held the side since 1986. He made three appearances and one start as El Tri's World Cup hopes ended in the knockouts against Brazil. It wasn't the sweetest end, but Marquez's light still shines on.

Klose was never the flashiest striker, nor necessarily the most gifted. But by 2014, he had become something even more valuable for Germany: inevitable. The forward arrived in Brazil at 36, no longer a week-to-week force at club level, but still trusted by manager Joachim Low because he knew exactly where to be when tournament football got tense.

And he delivered one final time. Klose scored against Ghana in the group stage, then made history in the semifinal demolition of Brazil, moving past Ronaldo to become the World Cup’s all-time leading scorer. Germany went on to win the tournament, giving Klose the perfect ending: a record, a winners’ medal and proof that timing, intelligence, and instinct can survive even when the legs begin to fade.