When it comes to longevity in football, we have had many over the years who continued to ply their trade well into their forties. England goalkeeper Peter Shilton represented England in the 1990 FIFA World Cup at the age of 40 and continued playing club football until 1997, retiring at 47 after his final season in the third division for Leyton Orient.
The legendary English winger, Stanley Matthews, was 50 when he hung up his boots in 1965, finishing his second season at Stoke City. We have seen several other top footballers who have played into their 40s – Zlatan Ibrahimovic, Gianluigi Buffon, Javier Zanetti, Francesco Totti, to name a few.
Football buffs might have heard about Kazuyoshi Miura, fondly called ‘King Kazu’, who is continuing to play club football at 58. He’s playing for the Japanese fourth-tier side Atletico Suzuka Club.
On the other side of the world, there is another unique football story, of a man who started playing football two years before Mario Kempes won Argentina’s first World Cup in 1978, and is still playing!
Having debuted in 1976, at 14, Robert Carmona, of Uruguay, at 63, is the oldest active footballer in the world and is recognised by the Guinness World Records for achieving this feat.
On a personal note, while researching more about King Kazu, the Internet perhaps caught on with the algorithm and one fine day on Instagram, I came across a post about Carmona and his unique story. Out of curiosity, just to get to know him better, I dropped a text, hoping for a reply.
“Hola amigo, ¿cómo estás?” came the reply after a few days – “Hello friend, how are you?”
During the COVID period, while I was still pursuing my Sports Management Diploma, I learnt Spanish, primarily with the idea of picking up a foreign language. Spanish was the choice, perhaps because numerous footballers and coaches from Hispanic countries had come to India in recent years. With the aim of working in sports, I thought that learning Spanish might be helpful.
Finally, learning the language came in handy, and that’s how the conversation started – and in Spanish. I was mesmerised, and I hope the readers will enjoy it as well. Without altering much, below is the entire conversation – translated into English.
Here is his story.
First, could you please tell me a little about yourself? I am from India, so help my readers get to know you better.
Carmona: My name is Robert Carmona. I was born in Montevideo, Uruguay, on April 30, 1962. I am 63 years old. I have been a footballer since my childhood. I played youth football until the age of 13. At 14, I made my official debut with Club Deportivo Puey in the Las Piedras league, Canelones, in the OFI tournament.
Since then, up to the present day, I have played continuously and officially for 50 clubs in different countries, including Uruguay, the United States, Italy, Spain, and Canada.
In the 2025 season, I am signed with Club LIFFA in the First Division D of the Uruguayan Championship under the AUF. I recently received an offer to play for two seasons (2025/26) with Club Estudiantes El Colla in the Rosario league of Colonia, in the National Championship of OFI.
I play as a creative midfielder, the number 10 role. I am left-footed and considered quite intelligent on the pitch. It is estimated that I have played around 2,000 to 2,200 matches and scored about 55 goals in my career.
This is your 50th season as a player, as I understand it. What has inspired you the most to keep going for so long?
Carmona: Yes, this is my 50th season. For me, football is a profession. I started earning money from the game at the age of 14, and I have continued doing so to this day. It doesn’t matter to me whether I get paid a lot or a little, or whether I am given a car or an apartment — I receive my wage because this is my job, and like every worker, I deserve my salary.
Since childhood, I dreamed of becoming a footballer and a professional. I never wanted to do anything else but play football. My motivation and inspiration come from life itself. We must take care of our body and mind, live healthily without alcohol or drugs, and maintain a good and balanced diet so that we can enjoy a dignified old age, especially after turning 60.
I believe everyone should practice sports — it should be mandatory, not just for professionals. We must also instil this in children and teenagers: life is short, and we only get one. That is why we must take care of it, because our health is our greatest treasure. My health, and that of everyone else, is the daily inspiration that drives me to be who I am.
Being part of the Guinness World Records as the world’s oldest professional footballer — when did this happen, and how do you feel about it now?
Carmona: To have the opportunity and honour of being part of the Guinness family, and to win the award — the Guinness World Record — as the longest-serving active and official footballer in the world… wow, it feels like touching the sky with my hands.
Imagine this: out of 8 billion people in the world, I am the only one to hold this title. Incredible, right? It happened in 2009, when I was playing for a club in Uruguay. My daughter, Agustina Carmona, discovered that there was a possibility of breaking the record as the longest-active footballer. At that time, I was 48 years old. I thought, why not? Why couldn’t I achieve it?
That’s when I began building the path toward earning the Guinness award. It wasn’t easy — but consistency, discipline, professionalism, and perseverance allowed me to become who I am today, and to transform my career into a way of showing everyone that with sacrifice, dedication, and mental strength, dreams can be conquered.
I can proudly say that I am a fortunate man, a chosen one. I feel like the happiest person in the world for having had the chance to be an official footballer and enjoy the career I have built. In football, I don’t need anything more. To be a Guinness World Record holder is everything — pure pride.
Over all these years as a professional player, how have you seen football evolve? How would you compare football in the 1980s to the game today?
Carmona: Without a doubt, not only has football evolved, but humanity itself has changed as well. I acknowledge the great improvements and advances in many areas of life, but I also believe that these changes are happening at a staggering pace. And in football, many things are being lost — far too many.
I have played on every kind of field: dirt, grass, and synthetic. I’ve seen wooden goalposts, portable ones, even foldable goals with wheels. I’ve played with and without VAR, with three substitutions and with five. I’ve gone through pre-seasons on sand and others based only on ball work. I’ve shared the pitch with players with long hair, shaved heads, and even painted nails. I’ve heard music blasting in dressing rooms. All of this I can accept and adapt to — it’s part of today’s game, and that’s fine.
But what we cannot allow is the loss of our identity. Uruguayan football was historically a world power from the very beginning of the sport. And today, we have become just entertainers, copying everything we can and importing whatever is invented abroad, giving power to many who know little about football — and handing it all over in exchange for a few dollars. It’s pathetic.
The football of the 1980s was the most successful era in our country’s history. The great players of Uruguay’s past, as well as those of the world, will not return. Football back then was real. Today, it has become more of a musical spectacle, driven by sponsorship deals and filled with fragile athletes who are part of a massive money-making show.
What does a normal day in your life look like? How much do you train, and how many matches do you currently play on average?
Carmona: My days are very active — from early morning until late at night. They are filled with interviews, meetings, commercial recordings, and rehearsals with our tropical music band, La Súper Banda, which we run in partnership with the producer LyM Producciones.
I also dedicate time to social work through my foundation, Hacéle un Gol a la Vida (“Score a Goal Against Life’s Challenges”). We focus on critical contexts, supporting children and people who need help with healthy living, nutrition, and physical activity.
In addition, I am the owner of two football clubs in Uruguay, a production company that works in radio, model casting, and events, and I even run a museum dedicated to my football career. Above all, I am blessed with a beautiful family: my wife, Dr Edivia Rodríguez, and my children, Santiago and Agustina Carmona. I truly have no free time — but I am happy and grateful for life. I fight every day for everything I have.
As for training, I practice with my club six days a week. And when I am without a club, I continue to train throughout the rest of the year, about two hours a day. Until 2022, I was playing around 20 to 25 official matches per season. Today, depending on the league and injuries (which sometimes can be frequent), I usually play about 8 to 10 matches per year.
Do you know about Kazuyoshi Miura from Japan? Continuing at 58.
Carmona: I don’t know him personally, but in 2018, a European businessman wanted to organise a friendly match between my team and Kazu’s team, but unfortunately, the economics didn’t work out.
When you signed with your most recent club, how did your family react?
Carmona: My family has always supported me from the very beginning. They never make things difficult for me — instead, they care for me. They tell me that if I feel good, I should keep going, and if not, I have nothing left to prove. But in the end, the decision is always mine.
In your illustrious career, which stage was the most memorable for you and why? And which would you say was the most successful? Who would you say was the most important global football figure you played with?
Carmona: I have faced and played alongside many great players. Among them: Giorgio Chinaglia from Italy, Marco Etcheverry from Bolivia, Enrique Chachagua from El Salvador, Omar Paz from Honduras, and Jorge Zabala from Ecuador — just to name a few. Of course, many more, including countless great Uruguayan players.
But without a doubt, sharing the pitch with Diego Maradona was the greatest gift football has ever given me. There are many other great Uruguayans, of course, but the list would be long, and it would be unfair to single out some over others. Being able to live those moments on the field with legendary figures of the game is something only this profession can offer. I am truly grateful.
The Diego Maradona chapter and sharing the pitch with him
Carmona: Football allowed me to fulfil dreams, achieve goals, build a decent livelihood, travel, and enjoy discovering different cultures and languages. It gave me fame, worldwide recognition, and the chance to live off my profession, to help those in need, and to be a good person. Among colleagues from different countries, I was fortunate to meet someone who, for me, was one of the greatest exponents of world football. For me, meeting Diego Maradona was like winning a World Cup. Around 2006, in Buenos Aires, Argentina, the president of Club Tristán Suárez—today the mayor of Ezeiza and my friend Gastón “Gato” Granados—got in touch with me and asked if I would like to meet the great Diego, since they were friends.
Well, after that, we began talking, since he was the guest of honour at Club Tristán Suárez, and he would come with his wife, Verónica Ojeda, to the city of Ezeiza. For a few months, we shared meetings, football conversations, experiences, anecdotes, and games among friends, along with several internationally known footballers. It was a very, very beautiful experience—perhaps the best I’ve ever had in football. Of course, there are many more things to tell, but that will be for another time.
Later, I saw him briefly before a World Cup qualifier in Uruguay, and what I carry with me is what he gave us on the field—for me, he was an extraterrestrial, unique in his kind. I’m not the one to speak about his personal life—everyone lives as they choose. From my place, I can only give my opinion as a colleague, and his private life is not for me to comment on.
How long would you like to continue playing?
Carmona: It’s clear that most footballers retire around 30 to 35 years of age. I have long surpassed that barrier and have shown the world that even with a privileged physique, clean living, healthy eating, and constant training, it’s not enough to reach this level. Being highly professional — something few truly are — or playing regularly, well, or even excellently, is still not enough on its own.
What I mean is this: having reached this point, I have no intention of stopping. I have no retirement date. As long as my phone rings and clubs want to hire me, I will continue playing and carrying forward my legacy. It will take hundreds of years for anyone to surpass my world record.
There’s Carmona for a long time to come.
What message would you give to young players starting in this sport?
Carmona: The message I want to share is this: life is short, it passes in the blink of an eye, and nothing comes back. What you don’t do at the right moment is a battle lost — it can never be recovered.
Everything that seems easy often ends up being the costliest. No one gives you anything; your dreams and goals are yours to achieve. Your greatest enemy is yourself. No one is lost in this life because of others — we lose our way by being weak. No one forces you to fail. The responsibility is always yours.
Fight for your life, my friends, and move forward toward victory. We all have the same opportunities — it’s up to each of us to seize them.
Do you have any regrets in life? And how do you view the upcoming World Cup in the United States with your country, Uruguay?
Carmona: I believe I have no regrets — only mistakes, like any human being — but I always try not to repeat them, and I correct them myself. I don’t need the comments or opinions of others.
When it comes to football, I am not a fan who watches every game. I watch only selected matches. I enjoy watching great players, and during a World Cup, I may watch a few games, but not all of them. Still, it will undoubtedly be a great World Cup — as I said, a show full of spectacle and glamour.
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