Messi and Ronaldo have become the first players to play in six World Cups. Mexico cult hero Guillermo Ochoa has also been named in a record sixth World Cup squad, but he didn’t make it onto the pitch in 2006 or 2010.
The two era-defining rivals made their World Cup debuts as youngsters way back in 2006 and have since featured in every edition of FIFA’s flagship tournament.
While Ronaldo has won the European Championship and two Nations Leagues, he’s only ever known World Cup heartbreak. In fact, he’s famously failed to score or assist in the World Cup knockout stages.
Portugal made it as far as the World Cup semis in Ronaldo’s first tournament as a 21-year-old, Germany 2006, but since then it’s been disappointment after disappointment. They went out in the Round of 16 in 2010 and 2018, bookending group stage humiliation in Brazil in 2014.
They did make it as far as the quarters last time out, but Ronaldo found himself benched for the knockout stages. As a substitute, he was unable to inspire them to come back from behind in a shock defeat to surprise package Morocco.
Messi, meanwhile, knew little but suffering for the first 16 years of his senior international career. Argentina lost three Copa America finals, and one World Cup final, before their captain finally got his hands on a trophy.
But it’s been joy after joy since the 2021 Copa America. They retained the trophy three years later, having lifted the World Cup in Qatar 2022.
