With average ages of 26 each, England and France are among the youngest teams at the 2018 FIFA World Cup in Russia, second only to Nigeria’s squad which has an average age of 25.9.
Despite their low average age, France do not lag behind in experience, however, with six players having played more than 40 international games each. England, on the other hand, have just one player with the experience of more than 40 international caps.
Australia’s Daniel Arzani is the youngest player in the tournament and the only one to have been born in 1999. Egypt’s Essam El-Hadary is the oldest with his age of 45.
There are just seven teenagers in the tournament this summer, while El-Hadary is the only player above 40.
Mexican 39-year-old veteran Rafael Marquez, set to play in his fifth World Cup, is the oldest outfield player in the tournament.
Russia’s Sergei Ignashevich(38)and Australia’s Tim Cahill(38) are the other two 1970s-born players to be taking the flight to Russia this month.
Costa Rica, Mexico and debutants Panama, who have the three oldest squads, are also heavy on experience. Panama, in particular, have six players with the experience of more than 100 international games.
Among the young faces, Nigerian Francis Uzoho is the youngest goalkeeper at the age of 19. England forward Harry Kane, 24, is the youngest player to captain his team in Russia.
Belgium, whose average age of 27.6 is below the mean average age of 27.9, boast of one of the more experienced sides at the World Cup. With 12 players having featured in more than 50 internationals each, the Red Devils may have finally found the necessary balance between talent and experience that could help take them to World Cup glory.
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