England's Walcott will be youngest player at World Cup

May 18, 2006 23:21 IST

England's Theo Walcott will be the youngest player at the World Cup finals in Germany, FIFA said on Thursday.

Tunisia's 40-year-old goalkeeper Ali Boumnijel will be the oldest player at the tournament which starts on June 9.

The 17-year-old Walcott's call-up was a major surprise with the striker yet to start a first team game for Arsenal. Walcott could become the youngest player since Pele in Sweden in 1958 to score a goal at the finals.

Boumnijel, should he feature for the North African side, will become the fifth oldest player in World Cup history behind Cameroon's Roger Milla, Northern Ireland's Pat Jennings, England's Peter Shilton and Italian Dino Zoff.

One hundred and two of the 736 players registered by the 32 teams in the finals play in England.

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