Cristiano Ronaldo and Lionel Messi head to a record-equalling sixth World Cup, with Guillermo Ochoa in the same rarefied air. For the game’s great survivors, 2026 is the last dance.
Three of the most enduring careers in football converge on North America this summer, each pointed at the same milestone. Portugal's Cristiano Ronaldo, Argentina's Lionel Messi and Mexico's Guillermo Ochoa are all bound for a sixth World Cup — and for all three, it is almost certainly the last.
At 41, Ronaldo will captain Portugal at a sixth World Cup, a number no man has reached before (Al Jazeera). Roberto Martínez's squad still leans on him alongside Bruno Fernandes, Vitinha and Rafael Leão.
The motivation is obvious. The World Cup is the one prize that has always eluded him — and at his age, Group K is the start of a genuinely final shot.
Ronaldo, 41 — first man ever to play in six World Cups. Source: Al Jazeera
Messi arrives chasing something rarer still: back-to-back titles. He will play his sixth World Cup as Argentina captain, with Lionel Scaloni keeping 17 of the 2022 winners (beIN Sports).
There is a fitness asterisk — Scaloni acknowledged Messi has carried muscle fatigue and a minor left-hamstring issue, though he played down early reports (NBC). Having already lifted the trophy in Qatar, anything he adds in 2026 is gravy on an all-time legacy.
Less heralded globally but no less remarkable, 40-year-old Guillermo Ochoa was named in Mexico's squad and could appear at a record-equalling sixth World Cup (Al Jazeera). A home tournament is a fitting stage for a goalkeeper whose shot-stopping has defined Mexico's recent World Cup memories.
The poignancy is sharpened by who stands behind them. Mexico's own 17-year-old Gilberto Mora will be the youngest player at the tournament — 26 years Ochoa's junior. The generation that defined two decades is overlapping, for one last summer, with the one that will define the next.
Records, redemption and farewells, all in one tournament. You do not have to pick a favourite to appreciate that we are watching the closing act of an era.
See more veterans taking a final bow in our last-dance feature, and place your bragging-rights picks on the predictions page.
Kickoff XI is an independent publication and is not affiliated with FIFA.
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