[{"data":1,"prerenderedAt":-1},["ShallowReactive",2],{"header-nav":3,"footer-nav":29,"article-kazuyoshi-miura-scores-age-59-fukushima-united":82,"category-counts-nav":97,"related-kazuyoshi-miura-scores-age-59-fukushima-united":107},[4,8,11,14,17,20,23,26],{"label":5,"to":6,"exact":7},"Home","\u002F",true,{"label":9,"to":10},"World Cup","\u002Fworldcup",{"label":12,"to":13},"Standings","\u002Fstandings",{"label":15,"to":16},"Football","\u002Fcategory\u002Ffootball",{"label":18,"to":19},"Basketball","\u002Fcategory\u002Fbasketball",{"label":21,"to":22},"Tennis","\u002Fcategory\u002Ftennis",{"label":24,"to":25},"F1","\u002Fcategory\u002Ff1",{"label":27,"to":28},"Long Reads","\u002Fcategory\u002Flong-reads",{"brand":30,"columns":32,"tagline":80,"copyright":81},{"description":31},"In-depth sports journalism covering football, basketball, tennis, F1, and beyond. Daily analysis, long reads, and expert opinion.",[33,51,59],{"heading":34,"links":35},"Leagues",[36,39,42,45,48],{"label":37,"to":38},"Premier League","\u002Ftag\u002Fpremier-league",{"label":40,"to":41},"La Liga","\u002Ftag\u002Fla-liga",{"label":43,"to":44},"NBA","\u002Ftag\u002Fnba",{"label":46,"to":47},"Formula 1","\u002Ftag\u002Fformula-1",{"label":49,"to":50},"Champions League","\u002Ftag\u002Fchampions-league",{"heading":52,"links":53},"Content",[54,56,57],{"label":55,"to":16},"Analysis",{"label":27,"to":28},{"label":58,"to":16},"Data & Stats",{"heading":60,"links":61},"Company",[62,65,68,71,74,77],{"label":63,"to":64},"Terms of Service","\u002Fservice",{"label":66,"to":67},"Privacy Policy","\u002Fprivacy",{"label":69,"to":70},"Editorial Policy","\u002Feditorial",{"label":72,"to":73},"Contact Us","\u002Fcontact",{"label":75,"to":76},"About Us","\u002Fabout",{"label":78,"to":79},"Website Disclaimer","\u002Fdisclaimer","Built for the love of sport","© SportPulse. All rights reserved.",{"title":83,"slug":84,"category":85,"badge":86,"author":87,"excerpt":88,"date":89,"readTime":90,"image":91,"imageAlt":83,"tags":92,"body":95,"_path":96},"Miura Scores at 59: World's Oldest Pro Finds the Net Again","kazuyoshi-miura-scores-age-59-fukushima-united","football","Football: Feature","Marcus Wright","Kazuyoshi Miura, 59, ends a near four-year goal drought for Japan's Fukushima United in the third tier.","2026-07-26 21:02:04","2 min read","\u002Fimages\u002Farticles\u002Fkazuyoshi-miura-scores-age-59-fukushima-united.webp",[93,94],"J-League","Japanese Football","## King Kazu Strikes Again at 59\n\n**Kazuyoshi Miura** scored for the first time in nearly four years, converting a cross in the **52nd minute** as **Fukushima United** demolished **Iwaki Furukawa** 7-0 in the Emperor's Cup. At **59 years and 149 days old**, he remains the world's oldest professional footballer, and his goal was a reminder that \"King Kazu\" still has a finish in those famous legs.\n\nThe goal ended a drought stretching back to **2022**, a stretch during which Miura continued to train and be selected without troubling the scoresheet. He is now preparing for his **42nd professional season**. For a player whose career began in **1986**, the gap was a footnote, not a full stop.\n\n## From Maradona's Napoli to a Cup Tie in Fukushima\n\nMiura turned professional the same year Maradona was still at Napoli. He debuted for Santos in Brazil as a teenager, moved to **Genoa** in 1994 to become one of the first Japanese players in Serie A, and returned home to become the face of the J-League's launch. He earned **89 caps** for Japan, scoring **55 goals** in international football.\n\nHe has outlasted entire generations of teammates and opponents. Players born after his career started have retired before him. The gap between his first professional contract and this latest goal spans **39 years**, covering multiple World Cups, the birth of the Champions League, and the entire modern era of Japanese football.\n\n## Fukushima United: Not a Mascot, a Registered Player\n\nFukushima United compete in **J3**, the bottom rung of Japan's professional football pyramid. The club gave Miura a platform to continue playing when higher-tier sides had moved on. He joined as a registered player, not a mascot or ambassador, training daily and earning squad places on merit.\n\nThis was an Emperor's Cup fixture, a knockout competition open to clubs across Japan's football pyramid. J3 may lack the glamour of the top flight, but the cup tie was a proper competitive match. Miura's goal put Fukushima **5-0** up; they added two more to complete the rout and advance to the next round. His finish, a first-time strike after a trademark run into the box to meet a teammate's cutback, was instinctive and clinical.\n\n## Five Decades of Goals\n\nMiura's goal is a data point in the longest professional football career in history. He has now scored in five different decades of his life, a claim almost no other footballer on the planet can make.\n\nThe broader significance is cultural as much as sporting. Miura represents a version of athletic dedication that existed before sports science became an industry, before load management and rotation policies. He simply never stopped playing, and his body, improbably, has not fully told him to quit.\n\nAt 59, Kazuyoshi Miura is still a professional footballer who scores in competitive matches.\n\n> *Updated: 2026-07-26 - Added goal timing (52nd minute), opponent (Iwaki Furukawa), competition (Emperor's Cup), final score (7-0), exact age at goal (59 years 149 days), and 42nd-season context.*","\u002Farticles\u002Fkazuyoshi-miura-scores-age-59-fukushima-united",[98,99,100,101,85,102,103,104,105,106],"analysis","basketball","cricket","f1","general","golf","mma","long-reads","tennis",[108,121,134],{"id":109,"stem":109,"path":110,"title":111,"category":85,"badge":55,"badgeType":112,"author":113,"authorRole":114,"authorInitials":115,"date":116,"readTime":117,"image":118,"imageAlt":111,"tags":119,"excerpt":120},"golden-boot-race-world-cup-strikers-analysis","\u002Farticles\u002Fgolden-boot-race-world-cup-strikers-analysis","The Greatest Golden Boot Race: Who Survives the Scorching Pace?","category","James Chen","Senior Football Analyst","JC","2026-06-24 10:35:37","6 min read","https:\u002F\u002Fichef.bbci.co.uk\u002Face\u002Fstandard\u002F976\u002Fcpsprodpb\u002F8ed1\u002Flive\u002F2ba03d90-6eaf-11f1-b1db-af71d47507d6.png","World Cup, Football","An unprecedented Golden Boot race is unfolding at the World Cup, separating true tactical architects from flat-track bullies.",{"id":122,"stem":122,"path":123,"title":124,"category":85,"badge":125,"badgeType":112,"author":126,"authorRole":127,"authorInitials":128,"date":129,"readTime":130,"image":131,"imageAlt":124,"tags":132,"excerpt":133},"middlesbrough-lankshear-tottenham-transfer-record-fee","\u002Farticles\u002Fmiddlesbrough-lankshear-tottenham-transfer-record-fee","Boro Bet House on Lankshear: £20m Gamble or Steal","Football: Transfers","Sarah Martinez","Transfer Correspondent","SM","2026-07-23 01:04:45","3 min read","\u002Fimages\u002Farticles\u002Fmiddlesbrough-lankshear-tottenham-transfer-record-fee.webp","Championship, EFL, Transfers","Middlesbrough are prepared to shatter their transfer record for a 19-year-old with one senior goal. Michael Carrick's project just found its striker.",{"id":135,"stem":135,"path":136,"title":137,"category":85,"badge":138,"badgeType":112,"author":126,"authorRole":127,"authorInitials":128,"date":139,"readTime":117,"image":140,"imageAlt":137,"tags":9,"excerpt":141},"world-cup-golden-boot-third-place-play-off-rules","\u002Farticles\u002Fworld-cup-golden-boot-third-place-play-off-rules","The Third-Place Play-Off's Secret Role in Deciding World Cup Golden Boot Winners","Feature","2026-07-16 09:03:15","\u002Fimages\u002Farticles\u002Fworld-cup-golden-boot-third-place-play-off-rules.webp","That forgotten consolation match has repeatedly decided who takes home the Golden Boot. The history is wilder than you think."]