A large replica of the World Cup trophy was displayed during the opening ceremony for the 2026 World Cup Group A match between Mexico and South Africa at the Mexico City Stadium on June 11, 2026. (Photo by Alfredo ESTRELLA / AFP)
Football legends Cristiano Ronaldo and Lionel Messi are about to make history at the 2026 FIFA World Cup. They will be the first players to take part in six World Cups. Mexico's goalkeeper Guillermo Ochoa will join them as the third player to be named in six World Cup squads, as reported by PUNCH Sports Extra.
These three players made their World Cup debuts at Germany 2006. They have remained key players in football for the last twenty years. Messi and Ronaldo are expected to represent Argentina and Portugal, while Ochoa's inclusion in Mexico's squad makes him the third player to reach this six-World-Cup milestone.
Interestingly, even though Messi and Ronaldo have dominated football for almost two decades and played in five previous World Cups together, they have never faced each other in the tournament. Their only meeting was in a friendly match in Geneva in February 2011. They have played against each other 35 times at the club level, though.
Ronaldo is heading to the World Cup for the sixth time as Portugal aims for their first World Cup title. The 41-year-old made his tournament debut in Germany in 2006. He played six matches and scored once, helping Portugal finish fourth.
At Qatar 2022, Ronaldo made history as the first player to score in five different World Cups. He achieved this by converting a penalty in Portugal's opening 3-2 win over Ghana. Since then, he has played 22 World Cup matches, scoring eight goals and providing two assists.
Portugal comes to the tournament as one of the favorites. They had a strong qualifying campaign, losing only once in their last 13 matches, winning 10 and drawing two. Their last competitive game ended with a stunning 9-1 win over Armenia.
Messi is also set for his sixth World Cup appearance as defending champions Argentina start their campaign against Algeria in Kansas City. The Argentine star was just 18 years old when he made his World Cup debut in 2006. He played two matches as a substitute and one as a starter, scoring his first tournament goal against Serbia and Montenegro.
Messi already holds the record for the most World Cup matches played (26) and most total minutes (2,314). At 38, he is Argentina's top scorer at the World Cup, with 13 goals, making him fourth on the all-time list, three behind Germany's Miroslav Klose.
He also shares the record for the most goal contributions with Brazil's Pele, with 21. Messi is the only player to have scored in every round of the tournament, including the group stage, round of 16, quarter-final, semi-final, and final.
Since then, Messi and Ronaldo have been the backbone of their teams at every World Cup, making significant contributions in South Africa 2010, Brazil 2014, Russia 2018, and Qatar 2022.
Ochoa's World Cup journey is different from the two stars. He was part of Mexico's squads for Germany 2006 and South Africa 2010 but did not play in either. He finally made his World Cup debut at Brazil 2014, keeping a clean sheet against Cameroon and impressing in matches against Brazil, Croatia, and the Netherlands.
He was Mexico's first-choice goalkeeper at Russia 2018, helping the team achieve memorable wins over Germany and South Korea before they exited in the Round of 16 against Brazil. At Qatar 2022, Ochoa played in all three group-stage matches, but Mexico could not move past the first round after drawing with Poland, losing to Argentina, and beating Saudi Arabia.
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