9 greats set to play their last World Cup: Messi, Salah, Ronaldo & more… | OneFootball

The World Cup can often be the stage for a final swansong and here’s some of the big names we could be saying goodbye to at the 2026 tournament.

Ask any footballer and World Cup glory would likely be the answer for how they most want to end their career and with some of the most recognisable names in the game approaching 40 or beyond, it may be the time they consider hanging up their boots.

Here are nine footballing greats set to play in their last World Cup:

Lionel Messi

When Messi chose Miami as his next club in 2023, the location of the 2026 World Cup was put forward as one of the reasons why.

Messi has already achieved World Cup glory but the chance to add another star to Argentina’s shirt remains his final goal in football.

He’s 38 now and if his old pal Ronaldo is seen as a hindrance to his national team, Messi is still very much central to Argentina. Lionel Scaloni has built a system to get the best out of Messi which is essentially keep him free of any defensive responsibility.

Messi already has an excellent record at the World Cup. He scored and assisted in his very first game back in 2006. He and Argentina reached the final in 2014. 2018 was somewhat of a disappointment with a quarter-final exit but he answered that with victory in Qatar.

Messi’s World Cup legacy is already complete and another trophy would be just more icing on the cake.

Cristiano Ronaldo

If Messi’s World Cup legacy is complete, Ronaldo’s is still there waiting to be.

He does have international success via the Euros, but the World Cup remains the ultimate prize and there will be critics who suggest he cannot be considered the best player of all time without it.

This is probably his best ever chance. If most Portugal squads during Ronaldo’s era have been elevated by him, this is one that can pull him to the mountaintop.

PSG’s duo of Vitinha and Joao Neves are two of the best midfielders in the world. Bruno Fernandes is coming off a record-breaking season with Manchester United.

There are question marks over Roberto Martinez as an elite coach, but a third-place finish with Belgium in 2018 was respectable.

As for Ronaldo, he has been routinely poor in knockout matches, failing to even score. His best finish came all the way back in 2006 when Portugal lost the third-place playoff to Germany.

Guillermo Ochoa

The World Cup isn’t only for superstars and like Mariah Carey appearing every Christmas, the quadrennial tournament means a re-emergence of Guillermo Ochoa.

Like Messi and Ronaldo, this will be Ochoa’s sixth World Cup although he may have lost the No. 1 spot to Raul Rangel.

Still, Ochoa will make history if he even plays for a minute and do not rule out Mexico to do well given their host advantage.

Luka Modric

Modric has already cemented himself as Croatia’s best-ever footballer and that is not just for his club performances either.

In the Modric era, Croatia have enjoyed their best ever World Cup results. Having largely been confined to group stage exits, they reached the final in 2018 before following that up with a third-place finish in 2022.

Modric is into his 40s now and reportedly considering making this his final professional appearances and even if Croatia is an ageing squad, England fans will be the first to tell you how foolish it is to rule them out.

Neymar

Neymar is perhaps somewhat fortunate that he has not already played his final World Cup but Carlo Ancelotti named him in the squad, perhaps to avoid endless questions of why he is not there.

His participation remains in doubt. A calf injury scuppered any plans of an early appearance but if Brazil make it far in the competition, he may be able to take to the field.

But even if he does, it will be a shadow of the player he once was. 2014 was Neymar’s World Cup and if he had not been on the end of one of the worst challenges in World Cup history from Juan Camilo Zuniga, maybe he could have prevented the following 7-1 smashing by Brazil.

His powers have waned dramatically since then, but he remains a beloved figure in his homeland.

Kevin De Bruyne

One of the few remaining members of Belgium’s so-called golden generation, although they failed to truly live up to that billing.

Their best tournament came in 2018 when they reached the third-place playoff but away from that, they have been largely underwhelming. They reached the quarters in 2014 and failed to even get out of the group last time.

De Bruyne has made somewhat of a mark though, scoring twice and assisting four in his 13 games but he would have liked to have had more of an influence.

Belgium, as they always have been since 2014, are touted by some as a dark horse this time round.

Mohamed Salah

Salah’s exit from Liverpool looks to signal his departure from the top tier of football and this World Cup may well be the last time we see him on the biggest stage.

Pre-2026, Egypt had only qualified for one tournament since 1994 and even though Salah scored in both of the games he played in, he was unable to stop them leaving after the group stage.

They have a tough group this time round with Iran and Belgium no pushovers. New Zealand though represent a path to a first World Cup match victory in Egypt’s history.

Sadio Mane

Sadio Mane is back in the Senegal World Cup squad after missing the 2022 tournament with a fibula injury.

Unfortunately for Mane, that coincided with his country’s best appearance at the tournament in their history but they are once again tipped by some as dark horses this time round.

Mane is 34 now and plays his football in Saudi Arabia but played a big part in Senegal’s AFCON win*.

James Rodriguez

The star of the 2014 World Cup may not have troubled the top level of club football for a while but he does still regularly show up for his country.

No one had more assists in the CONMEBOL qualification process, including Messi, and Rodriguez has 10 goal contributions in his eight World Cup matches.

He missed the 2022 tournament due to a hamstring injury but is back in the squad now and is likely to be a starter.