PARIS (Kashmir English): Lionel Messi’s career seemed complete in 2022 after he lifted the trophy for Argentina at the FIFA World Cup, but the motivation to keep playing is still there for him and his great rival Cristiano Ronaldo as the duo prepare to make history at this year’s global event in North America.
This will be the last global event, it seems, for Messi and Ronaldo, who will become the first players worldwide to appear in six different World Cups, two decades on from their fresh-faced debuts at the finals.
Interestingly, if both Portugal and Argentina top their groups, Ronaldo and Messi would be on course to meet in the quarter-finals in Kansas City on July 11.
The 2026 FIFA World Cup will be the biggest in history, featuring 48 teams and 104 matches for the first time.
The tournament kicks off in less than a month, on June 11, 2026, in Mexico City and concludes on July 19, 2026, in New Jersey, USA.
The two are the most recognisable people on the planet as they head into middle age and contemplate retirement.
After Argentina’s victory in Qatar in 2022, Messi appeared to suggest that there would not be much point in carrying on. “Obviously I wanted to finish my career with this. I can’t ask for any more,” he said after victory over France on penalties in that World Cup final in Doha.
“My career is coming to an end because these are my final years. What more could there be after this?”
At one stage there were some doubts as to whether he would represent his nation at another World Cup, an event he first graced in 2006, when aged 18 he scored in a 6-0 demolition of Serbia and Montenegro in Gelsenkirchen.
Messi is now just two games away from reaching 200 caps.
Messi has 13 FIFA World Cup goals
The Argentinean star has 13 World Cup goals, meaning Miroslav Klose’s record of 16 is within striking distance, especially as Argentina’s group teams do not appear the toughest.
Argentina will launch their World Cup campaign against Algeria, then Austria before tackling Jordan in Dallas, three days after Messi’s 39th birthday.
On the other hand, Ronaldo, 41, was determined to carry his international career on in the hope of landing the ultimate prize.
Ronaldo was a teenager when he lost the Euro 2004 final with Portugal on home soil, but he made up for that by captaining them to victory at Euro 2016.
He is the most-capped men’s player of all time with 226 international appearances.
He confirmed recently this would be his last World Cup, insisting: “I’m going to be 41 years old and I think it will be the moment.”
