"I will continue to burn with passion." That's Kazuyoshi Miura, 59 years old, extending his loan at J3 League side Fukushima United until June 2027. Not winding down. Not a farewell tour. A full commitment to helping Fukushima win promotion to J2.
His loan from Yokohama FC, which began in December, has been extended through the new autumn-to-spring calendar Japan's leagues are switching to. He made six appearances in the shortened early-2026 schedule. The most recent came this month — at 59 years, three months and 12 days — setting his own record, again, as the oldest player in professional league history.
What 42 seasons actually looks like
Miura turned professional in 1986 with Santos in Brazil, having moved there alone at 15 with no guarantee of anything. Over the next four decades he played in Brazil, Italy with Genoa, Croatia with Dinamo Zagreb, Australia with Sydney FC, and Portugal with Oliveirense. He scored 55 goals in 89 appearances for Japan before retiring from international football in 2000 — famously left out of the 1998 World Cup squad despite being one of the country's biggest names at the time.
That omission still stings in the retelling. But Miura just kept playing.
Now he's at a third-tier club chasing promotion, not a prestige gig cashing in on his name. Fukushima United are a genuine J3 side with a genuine objective, and Miura is — by his own word — training daily to contribute to it. Whether a 60-year-old can make a meaningful on-pitch difference at that level is a fair question. The record appearances, though, keep coming regardless.
For J3 promotion markets, Fukushima's odds are unlikely to shift on the back of this news alone. But the attention Miura brings to a club that would otherwise exist well outside the spotlight? That has real value — commercial, psychological, and in terms of sheer footfall through the gates.
"Let's share the joy together," he said. He'll be 60 when 2027 comes around. Still going.
