Olivier Giroud secures victory for Lille and storms into the top 3 oldest scorers in Europa League history

First group stage victory for Lille in the Europa League.

Details: Today, in the opening round of the Europa League group stage, French side Lille hosted Norwegian club Brann at home. The hosts, though facing a tough challenge, managed to snatch a win in the final 10 minutes of regular time thanks to a goal from 38-year-old French striker Olivier Giroud.

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Giroud entered the pitch in the 67th minute and found the back of the net in the 80th minute, finishing off a pass from Tiago Santos. This goal propelled Giroud into the top three oldest goalscorers in Europa League history.

As of now, the top three oldest Europa League scorers are as follows:

• Joaquín (BETIS 3:2 Ludogorets, 2022) — 41 years, 1 month, 25 days.
• Daniel Berg Hestad (Celtic 1:2 Molde, 2015) — 40 years, 3 months, 6 days.
• Olivier Giroud (LILLE 2:1 Brann*, 2025) — 38 years, 11 months, 26 days.

Giroud joined Lille this summer as a free agent after departing from Los Angeles. So far, he has made five appearances for Lille, already scoring three goals. His contract with the French club runs until the summer of 2026.

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