The last dance: Lionel Messi and Cristiano Ronaldo get ready for sixth and final World Cup

PARIS – Lionel Messi’s career seemed complete after he led Argentina to victory at the 2022 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 the 2026 tournament in North America.

This will be the last dance for Messi and Ronaldo, who will become the first players to appear in six different World Cups, two decades on from their fresh-faced debuts at the Finals.

They have since become icons far beyond the football pitch, two of the most recognisable people on the planet as they head into middle age and contemplate retirement.

Messi appeared to suggest that there would not be much point in carrying on after he skippered Argentina to victory in Qatar.

“Obviously I wanted to finish my career with this. I can’t ask for any more,” he said after dragging Lionel Scaloni’s side to 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?”

Plenty more, it turns out.

Messi was in the middle of an underwhelming spell at Paris Saint-Germain then and six months later he departed for Major League Soccer (MLS). There he is excelling with Inter Miami, with whom he won the MLS Cup in 2025.

He might no longer be playing at the very highest level every week, but he remains crucial for Argentina. Messi captained his country to victory at the Copa America in the US in 2024 and was the top scorer in South American World Cup qualifying with eight goals.

“I love playing football and I’m going to do it until I can’t any more,” he said recently.

At one stage there were some doubts as to whether he would play at another World Cup, a tournament he first graced in 2006, when aged 18 he scored in a 6-0 demolition of Serbia and Montenegro in Gelsenkirchen.

“I will do everything to make sure he is there,” insisted Scaloni, with Messi now just two games away from reaching 200 caps.

He is set to add to his record of 26 appearances in World Cup matches, including their run to the 2014 final in Brazil.

Messi has 13 World Cup goals, meaning Miroslav Klose’s record of 16 is within striking distance, especially as Argentina’s Group J opponents do not appear the toughest. They will begin against Algeria and Austria before tackling Jordan, three days after Messi’s 39th birthday.

He has a couple of years on Ronaldo, but the 41-year-old Portuguese talisman was also determined to carry his international career on in the hope of landing the ultimate prize.

Ronaldo was a teenager when Portugal lost to Greece in the Euro 2004 final on home soil, but he made up for that by captaining them to victory at Euro 2016 over hosts France.

Yet the World Cup has proven harder, at least after Portugal got to the 2006 semi-finals. They have won only one World Cup knockout match since, when they hammered Switzerland 6-1 in 2022.

Roberto Martinez became coach after that and restored Ronaldo as the first-choice striker, which he remains despite not scoring at Euro 2024, where Portugal lost in the last eight to France on penalties.

He is the most-capped men’s player of all time with 226 international appearances.

Ronaldo 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.”

Portugal, who go into Group K with Colombia, Uzbekistan and Democratic Republic of Congo, are genuine contenders to win it even if there are doubts as to whether Ronaldo is holding back a talented squad.

Personally, he will be seeking to add to his eight World Cup goals from 22 games.

“He is more than just a football player,” said Martinez.

“He is the captain and he shows exemplary commitment to his country. He is incredible.”

Lifting the World Cup at 41 would be quite the way for Ronaldo to finish – and if both Portugal and Argentina top their groups, he and Messi would be on course to meet in the quarter-finals in Kansas City on July 11. AFP