Kick Off

One last shot at immortality

The 2022 FIFA World Cup will see Argentina’s Lionel Messi and Portugal’s Cristiano Ronaldo become just the fifth and sixth players to feature at five consecutive World Cup tournaments (Spain’s Sergio Ramos and Mexico’s Andrés Guardado and Guillermo Ochoa could join them) after Antonio Carbajal, Lothar Matthäus, Gianluigi Buffon and Rafael Márquez, while Messi could go on to break Matthäus’ record of 25 matches if he and La Albiceleste go on to reach the final.

Despite being regulars at the tournament, though, the FIFA World Cup trophy has eluded both superstars at each time of asking. Both Messi and Ronaldo

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