Whilst Cristiano Ronaldo’s Portugal career has come to an expectedly bitter end, he does still have a place in history with one of the longest international careers of all time.
The Portuguese striker, who walked out on his country, has played for his national team for over 23 years, putting him among a very select list.
Here’s the top 10 longest gaps between international players’ first and last appearance.
10. Mario Frick (Liechtenstein) – 21 years 351 days
Striker Frick made his international debut for Liechtenstein just a year after the Premier League started, that’s how long ago it was.
That came against Estonia and since then he has gone on to make 125 appearances for his country, just seven off the all-time record. He is though Liechtenstein’s top scorer with 16.
Frick’s final match came in October 2015 when he was 41 but he would go on to manage the U18 and U19 sides for his country.
9. Zlatan Ibrahimovic (Sweden) – 22 years 52 days
The world-famous Swede made his national team debut at the age of 19 back in 2001.
After a pretty spectacular career, he did retire at the age of 34 after Euro 2016 but returned to the squad for the Euro 2020 qualifiers.
Sweden qualified for the tournament but Ibrahimovic did not make the squad and made his final international appearance in the Euro 2024 qualifier against Belgium when he was 41.
8. Pat Jennings (Northern Ireland) – 22 years 58 days
The Northern Irish shot-stopper who had long stints at both Tottenham and Arsenal first played for his country in 1964 in a British Home Championship match against Wales.
Jennings also has the unique trait of having played his final international game after his final club match. He retired from Everton in 1985 but was in the Northern Irish squad for the 1986 World Cup and his final game came on his 41st birthday.
That set the record for the oldest World Cup player until it was broken by Roger Milla in 1994.
7. Bashar Abdullah (Kuwait) – 22 years 71 days
The Kuwait international played 134 games in total for his country having made his debut in 1996.
His international career came to an end in 2007 although he did return for a testimonial match in 2018.
6. Ivan Hurtado (Ecuador) – 22 years 143 days
Six Copa America appearances and two World Cups show just how long centre-back Hurtado played for.
He began his Ecuadorian career in 1992 in a friendly against Guatemala and helped the country secure their first-ever World Cup appearance in 2002 which he captained them for.
They qualified again in 2006 and he surpassed Cafu in 2007 for the record number of appearances for a South American player, a tally that Lionel Messi would surpass in 2022.
He turned to politics in 2013 and was selected into the National Assembly for the National Constituency but still played for his country until a year later.
5. Stanley Matthews (England) – 22 years 228 days
The legendary English footballer made his debut for the national team in 1934 having impressed for the Football League XI.
Unfortunately for Matthews, the peak of his career was disrupted by WWII but after the war was over, he returned to the England fold in 1947.
He would play for another 10 years for the Three Lions but missed out on the 1958 World Cup squad.
4. Cristiano Ronaldo (Portugal) – 23 years 155 days
With a little bit of humility, Ronaldo would rightly have been sent off from Portugal as its best-ever player but that’s not really in his character.
It has ended in a tantrum, but Ronaldo’s Portugal career is still very impressive. He made his debut in 2003 and was a star player at home in Euro 2004.
Since then, he has never really made a huge impression on a major tournament but scored 146 goals, making him the top scorer in international history.
3. Nicky Salapu (American Samoa) – 23 years 155 days
If you Google Nicky Salapu, an article will come up about “the keeper who conceded 31 goals in a game” but he would rather you did not remember that and instead focus on the longevity of his career.
Salapu first played for American Samoa in 2001 and yes he may have conceded 91 goals in qualifiers for the 2002 and 2006 World Cups, including a 31-0 loss to Australia, but he still played for his country.
The story does have a happy ending with American Samoa winning their first-ever qualifier with him in goal and he even became the focus of a movie.
2. Marc Pujol (Andorra) – 25 years 43 days
Midfielder Marc Pujol was born in Spain but opted to play for Andorra which, considering the other midfield talent his birth country had at their disposal, is fair enough.
He made his debut at the age of 17 back in 2000 and was part of the team that played England at Old Trafford in 2006.
Pujol was not exactly a prolific goalscorer though, getting five in his 124 appearances for his country including one in 2021, making him their oldest goalscorer ever.
1. Ildefons Lima (Andorra) – 26 years 82 days
Top of this list is Lima who played for an incredible 26 years for his home country of Andorra.
Like Pujol, he too was born elsewhere, this time in Barcelona, but his family moved to Andorra when he was two months old.
He made his debut in 1997 in what was the country’s second-ever game and in 2016, he registered his 100th cap for his country, surpassing the Andorra record in August 2017 when he played against Wales in a match that was weirdly held in Burton.
In 2023, he became the oldest player to make an appearance in qualifying for Euro 2024 before finally retiring in September 2023. Not bad.
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