Every amazing World Cup record that Messi & Ronaldo can break in 2026 | OneFootball

Barring a late injury, Lionel Messi and Cristiano Ronaldo are set for a record-breaking World Cup this summer and several milestones could be toppled by the pair.

Messi and Ronaldo will be in North America for what could be their final World Cup appearance and despite already having many tournament records between them, they could add more to the list before they retire.

First up is one that will be broken the minute either of them steps onto the pitch for the first time.

Currently, the pair are joint first with Mexico’s Antonio Carbajal, Andres Guardado and Rafael Marquez and Germany’s Lothar Matthaus on five World Cup tournaments, but if they play any minutes this summer, they will move clear of the chasing pack.

Messi will have the standalone record for 24 hours at least with Argentina’s opening group stage match kicking off 24 hours before Portugal’s campaign gets underway.

Messi already holds the record for World Cup games played at 26 but Ronaldo could overtake him this summer.

The Portuguese superstar is four behind, so could level with Messi if Argentina are knocked out in the group stages and Portugal make it all the way to the final. If Messi suffers an early injury, Ronaldo could become the outright leader.

While in theory, any player could break the top goalscoring record, Messi is the most likely to out of the pair.

He is on 13 goals, three short of Germany’s Miroslav Klose’s record. Ronaldo meanwhile is only eight from his 22 games and has never scored in the knockout stages.

Away from those two, there is a realistic chance that Kylian Mbappe breaks the record as the Frenchman is currently on 12, level with Pele.

The record for most goals in a single tournament will take some beating as it stands at the 13 scored by Just Fontaine in 1958. The top scorer in 2022 was Mbappe on eight.

There is some dispute over who holds the all-time assist record with Opta stats only going back to 1966 but Pele’s tally of 10 is largely reported as the most.

Messi will equal that tally should he assist two goals this summer. Ronaldo meanwhile only has two assists in his World Cup career.

Messi could also equal the record number of appearances in a final which stands at three, held by Cafu who reached back-to-back-to-back finals from 1994 to 2002.

The Argentinian is on two having been there in 2014 and 2022. while Ronaldo has never made it to the World Cup final.

Ronaldo meanwhile has a chance to break a few age-related records. He will not be the oldest player ever to play in a World Cup for that belongs to Egypt’s Essam El Hadary at 45 years and 161 days, but he could become the oldest player ever in a final.

That is currently set at the 40 years and 133 days of Italy’s Dino Zoff in 1982. Should Portugal reach the final, Ronaldo would be 41 years and 164 days old.

The oldest goalscorer in World Cup history is Cameroon’s Roger Milla who scored against Russia at the 1994 World Cup at the age of 42 years and 39 days so that is out of reach for both of them.

Ronaldo could though break the record for oldest goalscorer in a final which is 35 years, 274 days by Nils Liedholm in 1958. Messi could also break this if he scores in New Jersey.