A broken arm, a broken wrist, a torn patella tendon, knee surgery and a double leg fracture. And that's just scratching the surface without mentioning the ankle, the thigh, the neck and the shoulder. Not even Humpty Dumpty suffered as many injuries as Craig Gordon has. But, unlike the old nursery rhyme character, various specialists over the years keep putting this goalkeeper back together again.
"I've managed to come back so many times it's really not normal," says Gordon, speaking exclusively to ESPN from his plush hotel room in Fort Lauderdale ahead of Scotland's return to the World Cup after a 28-year absence.
"Not many people have been able to do that and prolong their careers with the number of injuries that I've had and still play on so, yeah, I'm very, very grateful to be where I am and in this position. But I want to continue to do well and do myself justice and make sure that I keep showing what us old guys can still do."
And not only is this 43-year-old bionic individual at a World Cup with Scotland, he's also the oldest of the 1,248 players at this summer's tournament, a mere two years and 36 days older than the second oldest player, a certain Cristiano Ronaldo.
"I think my age is something to be proud of, Gordon says. "I don't mind people talking about it because there's been an awful lot of hard work put in to get to this stage, to still be at a level to allow myself to be picked for this squad.
"In a way, it's a compliment to how I've managed to keep going, how I've managed to come back from injuries and always find my way back to this level, so yeah, it's something I'm very proud of. I'm well aware [my age] is something that's going to follow me around for these next few weeks but I think it's a good thing. Somebody has to be the oldest guy in this tournament. Just so happens to be me."
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'It was always my dream to play for Scotland and get to a World Cup'
More than 90 minutes after referee Łukasz Kuźma blew his final whistle to signal the end of Scotland's 2-2 draw with Finland in June 2024, the only people on the pitch at Hampden Park were Craig Gordon, his wife and the kids, taking precious photos for the family album. Pretty much everyone else had gone home. But Craig knew this would likely be the last time he would play for Scotland. This was the farewell. The end of an international career that spanned more than twenty years. And it needed documenting for posterity.
"That was it," he says, looking back. "My international career was over that night as far as I was concerned. It was the last time I would play at Hampden, my final game for Scotland and, at that point, I felt as if my career was coming to an end. That's why I went back out on to the pitch with my family. For one last time."
The 41-year-old, who had recovered from a double leg break that meant he missed the entire Euro 2024 qualifying campaign, had come on against Finland as a second-half substitute for Angus Gunn to win his 75th cap and become Scotland's oldest-ever international player, surpassing David Weir. While that might seem like something to celebrate, his 21-minute cameo came shortly after Steve Clarke had informed Gordon that he was being left out of his final 26-man squad for the upcoming Euros in Germany.
But it ain't over 'til it's over...
Four months later, in October 2024, a rib injury sustained by Angus Gunn playing for Norwich City against Hull City opened the door for an international recall for Craig Gordon for the Nations League games against Croatia and Portugal. After winning his 76th cap in Zagreb, it was back to Hampden for cap number 77 against Ronaldo and Co. A lot had changed in just 130 days since those family photos were taken with an empty stadium and a set of floodlights providing the backdrop.
Craig picked up the man-of-the-match award against the Portuguese for a string of fantastic saves, none-more-so than a wonderful late stop to deny Bruno Fernandes from close range then quickly smothering the ball to deny Cristiano the chance to score from the rebound.
"Aye, Ronaldo wasn't very happy with me for that!" Gordon chuckles.
Six more international appearances would follow over the next eighteen months, including the night of his life in November 2025. Scotland beat Denmark 4-2 to secure a return to the World Cup for the first time in 28 years and that game saw Craig become the oldest European player to play in a World Cup qualifier, breaking a 68-year record previously held by Sir Stanley Matthews.
"Contrast how I was feeling after the Finland match to then beating Denmark and qualifying for the World Cup. At no point did I ever think I would get that opportunity again; working back from yet another injury to play in that game, one of the greatest ever nights for Scotland, one of the country's greatest footballing achievements, one of our greatest games and featuring some of the greatest goals ever scored at Hampden," he says. "I was on that pitch when it really mattered, playing a small part to get Scotland over the line, how emotional it was, and everything that went on that night is something that will never be repeated again."
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The Gordon-Fletcher connection
The last time Gordon saw Tyler Fletcher -- son of former Manchester United and Scotland midfielder Darren Fletcher -- was the evening of Saturday October 3, 2009. The youngster was just two and a half years old and it was bedtime so his daddy was taking the wee man upstairs to tuck him in his cot.
Darren and Craig had played against each other at Old Trafford earlier in the day; an own goal by Anton Ferdinand four minutes into stoppage time denying Sunderland their first victory at the Theatre of Dreams since 1968 and Sir Alex Ferguson's side escaping with a point in a 2-2 draw. Both players were heading north the following day to join up with the Scotland squad ahead of the trip to Japan so Darren had invited Craig over for dinner and to stay at his house on the outskirts of Manchester before flying up to Glasgow the next morning.
"After the game we met up in the players' car park, drove to his house, had a meal then Darren put Tyler to bed," said Gordon. "I told [Tyler] that story just the other day and we were laughing about how far things have come since then for both of us."
Fast forward nearly 17 years and you'll find 43-year-old Craig and 19-year-old Tyler -- two people at diametrically opposite ends of their footballing careers -- together again at a hotel in Glasgow, both part of Steve Clarke's Scotland squad preparing for the nation's World Cup send-off against Curacao at Hampden.
The links/similarities between the two families are uncanny...
Craig played for Tynecastle Boys Club as a youngster
Darren played for Tynecastle Boys Club as a youngster
Craig made his Scotland debut on May 30 [2004] in a 4-1 win
Tyler made his Scotland debut on May 30 [2026] in a 4-1 win
...And who scored the opening goal of the game on Craig's full international debut? Darren Fletcher, of course, with a low drive after just five minutes of the game against Trinidad and Tobago at Easter Road in Edinburgh.
June 23, 1998 -- Stade Geoffroy-Guichard, Saint-Étienne: Scotland 0-3 Morocco
Leighton; Weir, Hendry, Boyd; McNamara (McKinlay 54), Burley, Lambert, Collins, Dailly; Gallacher, Durie (Booth 83)
Prior to this weekend, that was the line-up the last time a Scotland team played at the World Cup. And, just like this year, the Scots also had the oldest player at the tournament in their squad; Jim Leighton, at the age of 39 years and 334 days, started all three games in France 28 years ago.
Gordon may be the eldest of the 1,248 players selected by the 48 nations for this tournament, but will he be able to replicate his fellow goalkeeper and get some time on the pitch 28 years later?
"I hope so, but it won't be the end of the world if I don't," he says. "When you actually stop and look back, it's pretty hard to believe how far I've come over the years to get to this point where I think I'm finally at peace with everything that I've managed to achieve. I've been driven for so long to just keep looking forward and not look back, look at the things I need to improve and what I need to develop. But I'm now at a point, at this age, with much more contentment than at any place I've been throughout my career."
His contract with Heart of Midlothian expires at the end of this month and by the time Craig Gordon eventually returns to his Edinburgh home in July -- following a well-deserved family holiday at Walt Disney World after the World Cup -- he'll be a free agent. But will this tournament be the 43-year-old's farewell to football?
"Maybe. I don't know yet. I think you get more perspective as you get older, especially when you start to get towards the end of something, like knowing this career is not going to go on much longer," he admits.
"I've probably felt for the last 10 years that I didn't know how long I have left playing. And I've used that to drive me to keep going to, to give my best every day, to make sure I was doing everything right, you know, probably at the expense of a lot of other things. But it's definitely easier to look back the closer you get to the end. And, I have to say, it's actually a nice place to be."