Lionel Messi and Cristiano Ronaldo are set to establish a new record in football history at the 2026 FIFA World Cup, İdman.Biz reports.
The captains of Argentina and Portugal are both expected to feature at next summer's tournament, which would mark their sixth World Cup appearance. No player has ever reached that milestone before.
Mexico goalkeeper Guillermo Ochoa is also part of his national team's plans for the tournament and could join Messi and Ronaldo in becoming the first footballers to compete in six different World Cups.
Until now, the record has stood at five World Cup appearances. Messi, Ronaldo and Ochoa currently share that mark alongside Mexican legends Antonio Carbajal, Rafael Marquez and Andres Guardado, as well as Germany's Lothar Matthäus and Italy's Gianluigi Buffon.
Messi made his World Cup debut in 2006 and finally lifted the trophy with Argentina in Qatar in 2022, cementing his place among the greatest players in football history. Ronaldo, meanwhile, remains Portugal's all-time leading scorer and continues to extend his remarkable international career into his forties.
Ochoa, one of Mexico's most iconic goalkeepers, has already announced that he intends to retire from professional football after the 2026 World Cup, making the tournament a fitting final chapter in his career.
If all three players take part in the competition in the United States, Canada and Mexico, they will officially become the first footballers ever to appear in six FIFA World Cups, setting a new benchmark that may stand for many years.
