Aging but still hungry: The legendary World Cup stars to watch

The World Cup, beginning Thursday afternoon, features the biggest names in global soccer, including two — Lionel Messi of Argentina and Cristiano Ronaldo — who are considered among the greatest to ever step on a field.

Before the matches kick off, let’s preview the players who are expected to have the largest impacts for their countries. First up are the legends, players who have competed at the highest levels for years and figure to do the same again in the coming weeks.

Lionel Messi, Argentina

Messi is arguably the best player to ever compete. He has won the Ballon d’Or award a record eight times, claimed 10 Spanish championships and four European Champions League titles and scored 672 goals for Barcelona — the most for a single club ever. Internationally, he was instrumental in leading Argentina to victory in the 2022 World Cup and paces the country with 116 career goals scored. In the final against France, Messi scored the opening goal on a penalty kick and added another in extra time to propel Argentina to victory.

Simply put, the only thing that could stop Messi at the 2026 World Cup is Father Time. At 38, he’s still a high-level player but not exactly what he was in his prime. He has 12 goals and eight assists for MLS’ Inter Miami, which ranks second in the MLS standings.

Argentina, ranked No. 3 in the world by FIFA, needs Messi’s elite skills to remain among the best in the world. He fits up top with Julián Alvarez and should work well with midfielders Enzo Fernández and Alexis Mac Allister. Argentina is looking to become the first team since Brazil in 1962 to win back-to-back World Cups. Because of Messi’s playmaking ability and incredible goal-scoring prowess, he could help it do just that.

— Greg Rosenstein

Cristiano Ronaldo, Portugal

Ronaldo is among the most famous, most decorated and wealthiest players ever to step on a soccer pitch. What, then, is motivating the 41-year-old to don Portugal’s kit for his sixth and final World Cup this summer? The lack of a World Cup title is the one gap on his historic résumé. And it doesn’t help that the other player most mentioned alongside him in soccer’s GOAT debate, Argentina’s Lionel Messi, claimed his long-sought World Cup trophy in 2022.

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