Cameroon Legend Roger Milla has spoken about his record of being the oldest goalscorer at a FIFA World Cup. Milla wrote his name into FIFA World Cup history 26 years ago in Cameroon’s meeting with Russia at USA 1994.

Milla told FIFA.com about that match and reflected on his incredible career
When he came on against Russia in his side’s final group match at the 1994 FIFA World Cup USA™ – played at Stanford Stadium, Palo Alto on Tuesday 28 June – Cameroon’s Roger Milla took just a minute to enter the annals of football history.

With the Africans trailing 3-0 at half-time to an Oleg Salenko hat-trick, Cameroon’s French coach, Henri Michel, decided to bring on his veteran striker, who at the time became the oldest player ever to take part in a World Cup match (a record that has since been beaten, first by Colombia’s Faryd Mondragon at Brazil 2014 and then by Egypt’s Essam El Hadary at Russia 2018).

The evergreen Milla did not stop there, however. Within a minute of coming on, he picked the ball up on the edge of the box, held off the challenge of Dmitriy Khlestov and shot home past Stanislas Cherchesov. It was a goal that gave him another record – that of the oldest scorer in a World Cup match, a distinction he still holds today. To mark the 24th anniversary of a remarkable match that ended in a 6-1 win for the Russians, FIFA.com spoke to the legendary Cameroonian.

“Very, very pleased, as you could see in my celebration, even though we ended up losing the match. I’m still very proud of it today. To my mind, that goal and that record showed the people who doubted me that I still had it in me, despite my age. Physically, I wasn’t 100 per cent, but I still had my technique. It’s a lovely record,” said Milla.

“It’s a fine individual achievement but nothing gave me more satisfaction than helping Cameroon reach the quarter-finals of the World Cup in 1990. That was historic for our country and our continent.

“I don’t think at all about individual performances when I walk on to the pitch and even less so before a competition. The idea of beating that record didn’t even cross my mind. If I score and we don’t win, I’m every bit as disappointed as my team-mates. We all wanted to do even better than we’d done in 1990, but unfortunately we didn’t manage it.

When asked where that record ranks among the great World Cup records, Milla responded saying every record has its own story behind it.

“I couldn’t put one ahead of another. Every one of those players has made their mark on the World Cup in their own little way. As a goalscorer, I can obviously identify with the records of [Miroslav] Klose and Just Fontaine but I couldn’t rank them. My record is just one of many. For me, the only record that really stands out is that of ‘O Rei’ Pele with his three World Cups. Words can’t describe what he achieved at such a young age.

Milla adds that the record will be hard to break but admits it is not impossible.

“Nothing’s impossible but it’ll be very difficult to beat. Football’s a very different sport today and it’s really hard to see anyone other than a keeper getting capped at the age of 42. And, as we all know, keepers don’t score very often. I think my record has got a few good years left in it yet.