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Soccer - 2006 FIFA World Cup Germany - Third Place Play-Off - Germany v Portugal - Gottlieb-Daimler-Stadion. Lukas Podolski, Germany

8 players from World Cup 2006 we can’t believe are still playing in 2023

Seventeen years have passed since the 2006 World Cup took place in Germany. If you want to feel really old, there are people out there on the cusp of legitimately buying pints that weren’t even born when Zizou headbutted Marco Materazzi.

Everyone knows the likes of Lionel Messi, Cristiano Ronaldo and Luka Modric are still going today, having caught the eye in Germany as rising stars before going to establish themselves as some of the finest players of all-time. But what about the players from that tournament you didn’t realise were still playing?

We’ve identified eight players that participated at Germany 2006 and how they’re getting on today.

Gianluigi Buffon

Buffon was 28 when he was part of Italy’s World Cup-winning XI, only letting in two goals as the Azzurri lifted the trophy in Berlin.

He’s since won 11 league titles, become Serie A’s all-time appearance-maker, and left Juventus for a second time at the end of the 2020-21 season.

“As long as I have the arrogance or the assumption that I am a good goalkeeper, I will carry on and find something exciting. If I don’t find anything exciting, I could well retire, because I’ve done more or less everything by now,” the 44-year-old said.

The goalkeeper now plays for Parma, the club where he started his career.

Gianluigi Buffon, Italy goalkeeper during a FIFA all-stars match against Italy, 16 December 1998

READ: Six brilliant keepers who just couldn’t displace Buffon as Italy No.1

Theo Walcott

Yes, we know Walcott didn’t play in Germany. But it’s worth remembering how controversial his inclusion in the England squad was.

“A few decisions were wrong, like not taking five strikers,” Steven Gerrard wrote in his autobiography. “He certainly shouldn’t have brought Theo Walcott to Germany.

“Not only were England embarking on an arduous World Cup campaign with only four forwards but one of them was Theo Walcott.

“I almost fell over when I heard. Now let’s get one or two things right about Theo. He’s a nice lad and one day he will mature into a very good player.

“But he had no right to be in Germany. None at all. I was gobsmacked to find him on the plane.”

It’s also debatable whether Walcott counts as ‘still playing’, having left boyhood club Southampton for a second time following their relegation at the end of last season. But the 34-year-old free agent is yet to announce his retirement and may well yet find a new club.

Lukas Podolski

Scoring three goals during Germany’s joyous march to the semi-finals, Podolski was named the best young player of the 2006 World Cup by FIFA.

The winger arguably never quite fulfilled that early potential, but he was part of Die Mannschaft’s 2014 World Cup-winning squad, and he’s provided some magical moments with that left peg over the years – including during a three-year spell at Arsenal.

Now 38, Podolski now plays his football for Polish club Gornik Zabrze. Of course he’s still scoring worldies.

Marcell Jansen

A lesser-known name but an interesting story nonetheless.

Left-back Jansen was named in Jurgen Klinsmann’s squad as a 20-year-old from Borussia Monchengladbach. He started the early games, with Philipp Lahm shifted out to the right to accommodate him.

Jansen went on to play for Bayern Munich and hung up his boots as a professional with Hamburg in 2015. He was only 29.

Here’s where the story gets interesting. Four years later he returned to Hamburg as club president and remains in the post today. Alongside that role, Jansen has returned to the pitch and intermittently makes appearances for Hamburg’s third team. He scored six goals in nine appearances in the local Oberliga Hamburg last term.

Roque Santa Cruz

Death. Taxes. Roque Santa Cruz playing football.

The Paraguayan is 41 years old and turning out in his home country for Libertad.

Andres Guardado

At the age of 36, Mexico stalwart Guardado became the only player alongside Messi and Ronaldo to feature in every World Cup from 2006 to 2022 – and one of only six players in history to play in five World Cups.

The versatile midfielder has spent the last six seasons turning out for Real Betis, for whom he’s made over 200 appearances. He’s still got another year on his contract at the Estadio Benito Villamarin.

Dmytro Chyhrynskyi

Ukraine’s first and only ever World Cup appearance saw them reach the quarter-finals, where they lost to eventual champions Italy.

We’re cheating a bit here because Chyhrynskyi suffered an injury and didn’t actually appear for Ukraine, but he was named in Oleg Blokhin’s squad.

The centre-back notably went on to spend an unsuccessful stint at Barcelona but has enjoyed a long and fruitful career since and is still turning out for Greek Super League side Ionikos.

READ: Ranking Pep Guardiola’s 17 signings at Barcelona from worst to best

Ryan Babel

The one-time Liverpool winger went to Germany as a fresh-faced graduate from Ajax’s academy.

Fast forward nearly two decades and he’s winding down his career as a grizzled veteran and something of journeyman, with – of course – Turkish Super Lig experience on his CV.

Babel spent last season turning out for Yorkshire Istanbul-based lub Eyupspor. He even made a couple of appearances for Oranje as recently as 2021.


READ MORE: 15 bonkers moments from the 2006 World Cup: Zidane, Rooney, Poll…

TRY A QUIZ: Can you name every player to score at the 2006 World Cup?