The World Cup has 72 players aged 35 and above, and Luka Modric is one of the names that makes the number feel less like a curiosity and more like a new reality. Modric is 40, still on the stage where football’s sharpest demands are usually supposed to start fading.
That is why searches for Luka Modrić Age are rising now. This year’s World Cup has also set a record for the highest number of players aged 40 and above, a group that includes Cristiano Ronaldo at 41, Lionel Messi at 39, Guillermo Ochoa at 40, Vozinha at 40, Manuel Neuer at 40 and Edin Džeko at 40. The old idea that the top level belongs almost entirely to players in their mid-20s does not fit what is in front of viewers today.
The numbers are not just a footnote. They show how much longer elite careers can run when recovery is better and the body is managed more carefully. Vaibhav Daga said sports medicine has shifted from being reactive to being proactive, and he pointed to hybrid pitches that reduce micro-slips and protect joints, along with tailored, antioxidant-rich meals and strict limits on alcohol to safeguard deep and REM sleep. In other words, the modern game is helping older players stay in it longer.
There is still a catch. The headline age totals do not tell you how many of those 72 players are regular starters and how many are being used in shorter bursts, and that matters because age alone no longer defines influence. Outfield players such as Messi, Modric and Ronaldo have adapted their game for maximum impact with minimal effort, conserving runs, picking their moments and making experience count as much as pace.
The contrast with the past is stark. There were just two players aged 35 and above at the 1974 World Cup, seven in the 1990 tournament in Italy and 41 at the World Cup in Qatar. The climb to 72 this year is not an accident of selection. It is evidence that the sport has changed around its veterans, and Modric at 40 is one of the clearest faces of that change.
