Which players have played the most World Cup games?

Updated: 3 Jun 2026 22:03 BST |
4 min read

Lionel Messi is entering his sixth World Cup with the optimism of retaining the title and extending his lead at the top of the tournament’s all-time appearance charts.

Messi has to date played in 26 matches across five World Cups, including seven games in both the 2014 and 2022 editions. The eight-time Ballon d’Or winner was at his scintillating best as the Albiceleste triumphed in Qatar three-and-a-half years ago.

It was at the 2022 World Cup where Messi overtook Germany legend Lothar Matthaus as the all-time appearance king in the history of FIFA’s showpiece event. Matthaus’ record of 25 games had stood for 24 years, but Messi set a new benchmark in the final.

Can Ronaldo catch Messi?

Messi, Cristiano Ronaldo and Guillermo Ochoa will all participate in a record-breaking sixth World Cup in North America this summer. Because of the tournament’s expansion to 48 teams, there will be an additional game – a round of 32 – for players to contend with.

This means that Messi has the chance to extend his record and make it impossible for anyone to catch him at least for the foreseeable future. If Argentina reach another final, and Messi plays every game, his tally will sit at 34 appearances.

Only three active players can mathematically catch the 38-year-old at the tournament in Canada, Mexico and the US. One of them is Portugal captain Ronaldo, who currently sits on 22 appearances.

Should Messi struggle for fitness or Argentina underperform, while Portugal go deep and Ronaldo stays fit, CR7 could conceivably overtake his long-time rival.

Germany goalkeeper Manuel Neuer and Croatia’s ageless wonder Luka Modric both currently have 19 World Cup games under their belt. However, the chances of them catching up with Messi are slim indeed.

The players with the most World Cup appearances

Messi’s 26 World Cup appearances place him first on the all-time appearance charts, followed by Matthaus with 25.

The 1990 Ballon d’Or winner played for Germany in five World Cups between 1982 and 1998, winning the tournament in 1990 and reaching the final in 1986.

He is one ahead of Miroslav Klose, who played in four World Cups for Germany between 2002 and 2014, winning in the last one, as well as reaching the final in 2002 and semi-finals in 2006 and 2010.

Klose is one ahead of Italy’s Paolo Maldini, who played 23 matches, reaching the final in 1994, which was his longest run across the four World Cups he played.

Portugal legend Ronaldo is the only player to have featured in 22 matches. He won the Euros with his country in 2016 but has yet to taste success at a World Cup.

After him, three players have made 21 appearances: Diego Maradona, one of the World Cup’s greatest-ever players, West Germany’s Uwe Seeler and Poland’s Wladyslaw Zmuda.

All three played in four World Cups, and all three had at least one long run: Maradona went all the way in 1986 and reached the final in 1990.

Following them, six players are tied on 20 appearances each: Hugo Lloris, Cafu, Philipp Lahm, Grzegorz Lato, Javier Mascherano and Bastian Schweinsteiger.

Out of them, Lahm, Lato and Schweinsteiger played in three World Cups, with the German duo reaching two semi-finals in 2006 and 2010 before winning in 2014.

Cafu, meanwhile, was a winner in 1994 and 2002, captaining the side in the latter and was the last Brazil captain to lift the famous trophy. Lloris entered this illustrious company by reaching the final again with France in 2022 after winning the World Cup in 2018.