Cristiano Ronaldo has joined Lionel Messi as the second man to play at six World Cup tournaments when he started for Portugal against the Democratic Republic of Congo on Wednesday.
Ronaldo recorded his 23rd match at the global stage since a debut at the 2006 edition in Germany and he can become the first player to score at six World Cups.
Statisticians Opta said that at 41 years and 132 days Ronaldo is the oldest outfield player to start a World Cup match.
The Portugal captain was playing his 229th cap, having so far scored 143 goals, both world records.
Argentina great Messi has 27 World Cup matches, having also started 20 years ago. He scored a hat-trick against Algeria on Tuesday to score at five World Cups and equal the all-time tournament record of German Miroslav Klose with 16 goals.
Mexico goalkeeper Guillermo Ochoa is also at his sixth World Cup but was on the bench during his team's 2-0 win over South Africa last week and also an unused substitute in 2006 and 2010.
