Who is the oldest footballer to score their first international goal?

“Andreas Weimann scored his first senior Austria goal against France last week at the age of 30,” notes Niall McVeigh. “Are there any players who were older when breaking their international duck?”

“Italy have at least 13 players who have scored their first international goal after their 30th birthday, Fabio Cannavaro included,” begins Andrea Ferrioli. “Here’s the top three: Marco Materazzi, first goal at 32 years and 307 days old (Czech Republic 0-2 Italy at the 2006 World Cup – his second was in the final); Daniele Massaro, first goal at 33 years and 26 days (Italy 1-1 Mexico at the 1994 World Cup, his only international goal in 15 caps); and Francesco Caputo, first goal at 33 years and 62 days (Italy 6-0 Moldova, a friendly on 7 October 2020).”

Elsewhere, Frank Hoekman offers Cees van Kooten, “who was 32 when he scored on his Netherlands debut against Cyprus in 1981”. Tom Aldous flags that “Marcos Senna scored his first goal for Spain at the age of 32”. And Paul Brack can offer a raise: “Kjell Moe scored on his Norway debut in a 4-2 defeat to Denmark on 26 August 1945. He was 35 years and 305 days old.”

“A great example is Athletic Bilbao’s legendary striker, Aritz Aduriz,” writes Adi Zalmanowicz. “He had the tough luck to be a prolific goalscorer in Spain while Fernando Torres, Fernando Llorente, Pedro and David Villa were around, so only earned his first cap at 29. With a late-career resurgence, he was brought back into the squad before Euro 2016, and scored his first goal in a 1-1 friendly draw with Italy on 24 March 2016, when he was 35 years and 41 days old. His second and last goal, in a 4-0 World Cup qualifier against North Macedonia on 12 November 2016, made him Spain’s oldest-ever scorer, at 35 years and 275