Gilberto Mora breaks a 96-year-old record

Gilberto Mora has rewritten Mexican football history, becoming the youngest player from the country ever to feature at a World Cup. The supertalent's appearance wasn't just a milestone in his career — it also shattered one of the longest-standing and most untouched records in Mexican football.

At the precise age of 17 years and 240 days, the teenager came on as a substitute in the 66th minute, replacing Álvaro Fidalgo during the group stage match against South Africa. Just one minute after stepping onto the pitch, Mexico doubled their lead.

The record had previously been held by legendary defender Manuel Rosas, whose achievement had seemed entirely untouchable for exactly 96 years. Known by his nickname "El Chaquetas", the defender made his historic debut at just 18 years and 88 days during the very first World Cup in Uruguay back in 1930.

Rosas remains one of the most colourful figures of football's romantic era — he was the first player to score a penalty at a World Cup, the author of the first own goal in World Cup history, and the second youngest goalscorer in the tournament's history after Pelé. The scale of what Gilberto Mora achieved on the pitch is all the greater for unseating such a mythical figure.