In football, timing is everything. By the time most footballers reach their thirties, they’ve either worn the national jersey or accepted that the dream is gone.
For some, international football arrives early, teenage debuts, fame, and the burden of expectation.
For others, the call takes years, sometimes decades. Their moment comes not in the glow of youth but in the calm of experience.
And yet, when it finally comes, it feels just as sweet.
Across the world, from London to Vigo, Sao Paulo to Accra, football has seen a small but special tribe of players who refused to be forgotten, who earned their first senior call-ups well past the age most players are written off.
They are football’s late bloomers and Ghana’s Benjamin Asare now stands among them.
Full list of Black Stars players in Morocco ahead of Central African Republic game
Asare’s call that came at 32
When Hearts of Oak goalkeeper Benjamin Asare received his first-ever call-up to the Black Stars in March 2025, few outside the Ghana Premier League could have predicted it.
At 32 years old, Asare was not the young upstart most coaches gamble on. But his form left no room for debate: 18 league appearances, just seven goals conceded, and an incredible 12 clean sheets.
He had become the safest pair of hands in the domestic game, consistent, composed, and unflappable.
So, when Otto Addo announced his 23-man squad for the World Cup qualifiers against Chad and Madagascar, Asare’s name was there. And unlike many late arrivals, he didn’t come to make up the numbers.
He started both games, kept two clean sheets, and within weeks had become Ghana’s number one goalkeeper a rise as unlikely as it was deserved.
But Asare’s story isn’t unique in spirit. Around the world, others have waited just as long, and proved just as ready when the call came.
Jamie Vardy
In 2015, Jamie Vardy became the face of English football’s most improbable fairy tale.
But before the Premier League titles and the golden boot, there was rejection, graft, and years in England’s non-league wilderness.
He was 28 when Roy Hodgson handed him his first England call-up. By that time, Vardy had played for Halifax, Fleetwood, and Leicester, clubs that rarely feed the national team. But within a year, he was scoring at Euro 2016.
Iago Aspas
Iago Aspas’ name was once synonymous with failure after a short-lived, forgettable spell at Liverpool.
But back home at Celta Vigo, he rebuilt himself into Spain’s most consistent forward.
At 29, when many Spanish attackers were fading, Aspas made his debut for La Roja, scoring on his first appearance.
He went on to feature at the 2018 World Cup, a reward for his reinvention and patience.
Jonathan Clauss
France is not short of stars. So, when Jonathan Clauss received his first international call-up at 29, it was met with disbelief, even among French fans.
A right-back who had spent his prime years in Ligue 2 and at Lens, Clauss wasn’t part of the “next big thing” generation.
Yet, by the time Didier Deschamps called, his performances were too good to ignore.
Jean-Philippe Mateta
Long seen as a journeyman striker in France and England, the Crystal Palace forward’s blistering Premier League form finally earned him a call-up to the French national team at 28.
For a country overflowing with attacking talent, his inclusion was not just a surprise, but a statement: hard work can break through even the deepest talent pools.
Pascal Gross
In 2023, Pascal Gross was 32 when he finally wore Germany’s colors. For years, the former Brighton midfielder had been one of the Premier League’s most intelligent playmakers, but Joachim Low and Hansi Flick had overlooked him.
When new manager Julian Nagelsmann brought him in, Groß didn’t waste time, developing into one of Naglesman’s secret weapons.
Dan Burn and Rickie Lambert
Few stories fit the phrase “better late than never” like Rickie Lambert’s.
Once a beetroot factory worker, Lambert made his England debut at 31, and scored with his first touch, three minutes after coming on.
A decade later, Dan Burn followed that path. In March 2025, aged 31, he received his first-ever call-up to England’s senior team.
After years in the Championship and lower-tier Premier League sides, Burn’s form at Newcastle finally made him impossible to ignore.
Willy Caballero and Maxwell
At 36, Willy Caballero finally made his Argentina debut in 2018, months before the World Cup.
Likewise, Brazil’s Maxwell, despite winning trophies with Inter Milan, Barcelona, and PSG, didn’t earn his first cap until 31.
These players have shown and continue to show that, for every teenage prodigy who fades, there’s a late bloomer who endures.
What connects them isn’t speed, but survival, the ability to stay hungry long enough for the door to open and together, they form football’s quiet rebellion against time.
FKA/EB
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