Messi and Cristiano Ronaldo expand their legend in their last world dance

The Argentine Leo Messi and the Portuguese Cristiano Ronaldo will become the two players in the 2026 World Cup in the United States, Mexico and Canada, along with the Mexican goalkeeper Guillermo Ochoa, with the most participations in World Cups with six, having all played in the World Cups in Germany 2006, South Africa 2010, Brazil 2014, Russia 2018, Qatar 2022 and the one that starts on the 11th of June, where both yearn to further enlarge their legend, with the one from Madeira still dreaming of achieving glory in a tournament that has been elusive.

The 2026 World Cup will be special and unique for many reasons: the first in three countries (United States, Mexico and Canada), the first with 48 teams, the first with a round of sixteenth and the last World Cup, a priori, with Leo Messi and Cristiano Ronaldo. The two legends of the football universe in the last two decades will have one last opportunity to lift the most prestigious tournament in the world, which would be the second for the Argentine and the first for the Portuguese.

The careers of Messi and Cristiano seem to have been intertwined since their beginnings, and they also have the World Cup as a common link. In 2026, at 41 years old, in the case of the Portuguese, and 38 in the case of the Argentine, they will compete in their sixth. No one in the world of football had reached this figure, and it will be both of them who, this time together, establish a new record and a milestone that means remaining in the top elite of national team football for 24 years.

Thus, Messi and Cristiano Ronaldo will surpass the five participations in a World Cup of the Mexicans Antonio Carbajal, Rafael Márquez and Andrés Guadadado and the German Matthäus (Germany). The Italian goalkeeper Gianluigi Buffon was also present in five World Cups, although in his case he did not play a single minute in France 1998, while goalkeeper Guillermo ‘Memo’ Ochoa would enter that select club of six World Cups if he plays a minute with Mexico.

And the recent history of the World Cups is closely linked to the ’10’ and the ‘7’. Leo Messi is, with 26, the player with the most games played in the history of the tournament, surpassing Matthaus’s 25, while Cristiano Ronaldo (23) will become the second with the most games played if he participates in all of the group stage games.

In addition, the Argentine forward of the American Inter Miami also has it in his power to become the player with the most victories in a World Cup, something he would achieve with two wins, which would surpass the 17 of the German Miroslav Klose.

Cristiano Ronaldo has many fewer victories, for whom luck has eluded him in the competition. ‘CR7’ has as its ceiling in the World Cup the fourth place achieved in Germany 2026, where Zinedine Zidane’s France left them out of the final. In South Africa 2010 they were eliminated in the round of 16 because of the champion Spain; in Brazil 2014 in the group stage; in Russia 2018 in the round of 16; and in Qatar 2022 in the quarterfinals. Now, with one of the best generations in the history of Portugal, he will try to lift the only major tournament that eludes him.

In the case of Messi, his history with the World Cup is much more beautiful, although he also had many disappointments along the way such as the lost final in 2014 against Germany, or much earlier eliminations such as those in 2006 (quarterfinals), 2010 (quarterfinals) and 2018 (round of 16). The one from Rosario, with everything greatest already achieved, had to wait until Qatar 2022 to lift the Jules Rimet Cup, in the final phase of his career and surrounded by a team led by Lionel Scaloni.

MODRIC SIGNS UP

In this way, the one between the United States, Mexico and Canada, regardless of the team that wins the title, the best player or the top scorer, will go down in history as the last World Cup of Lionel Messi and Cristiano Ronaldo, and the only player who was able to snatch the scepter of world football from them in more than a decade of dominance, Luka Modric.

And the Croatian, who will turn 41 next September, will also say goodbye to the World Cups in the summer of 2026. It will be his fifth World Cup with a Croatian team that he has made live the best years in its history. Leader of a generation of unique players such as Ivan Perisic, Ivan Rakitic and Mario Mandzukic, whom he guided in Russia 2018 towards the only final in the country’s history, lost to France. A magical year in which the Ballon d’Or was added to the Champions League with Real Madrid.

Like Messi and Cristiano, the Zadar footballer’s history with the World Cup began in Germany 2006. However, the absence of Croatia in South Africa 2010 means that the current Milan player cannot reach the number of six World Cups. In total, he has played 19 games and scored two goals, both in 2018, in the World Cup. An outstanding performance with which, in addition to being runner-up in Russia, he reached third place in Qatar 2022, where he lost in the semifinals to the champion Argentina.