Jordan Ayew is set to become Ghana's oldest-ever FIFA World Cup player against Panama on Wednesday, and André Ayew remains part of the same three-tournament standard he is about to match. At 34 years and 279 days old at kickoff, the Ghana captain is positioned to extend a record that had belonged to Denis Odoi.
Odoi set the previous mark at 34 years and 185 days during Ghana's match with South Korea at the 2022 FIFA World Cup in Qatar. Ayew would push that record by 94 days, a clear margin for a milestone built on longevity rather than one-off form.
Panama Opens Group L
The match comes in Ghana's opening Group L encounter at the 2026 FIFA World Cup at BMO Field in Toronto. Group L also includes England and Croatia, so this first game gives Ghana an early chance to bank a result before the group tightens.
Ayew's place in the record book would not be his only line of distinction. He will make his third FIFA World Cup appearance, having represented Ghana at the 2014 FIFA World Cup, the 2022 FIFA World Cup and now the 2026 FIFA World Cup.
Jordan Ayew's Three-Tournament List
That third appearance puts him alongside Andre Ayew, Asamoah Gyan and Sulley Muntari as the only Ghanaian players to feature in three different World Cup tournaments. For Ghana, that is a narrow club and a sign that this team has leaned on the same names across multiple cycles.
Jordan Ayew and Ghana now enter Wednesday with a record chase attached to a group game that still carries immediate tournament weight. If he takes the field, the number beside his name will move from a personal marker to a national one, and the next page of Ghana's World Cup history will have his name at the top.
