Is it possible for a player to play in 6 World Cups?

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MemphisWill said:
It will probably happen in 2026. Messi, Ronaldo, Guardado and Ochoa could all set the mark...one of those countries will give their man a ride just because. Mexico qualifies for free, are notorious for clinging onto their "big names", and are shameless attention whores...so my money is on Guardado and Ochoa both doing it in '26.
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If we're going for 6 World Cups, would Ochoa count? As apparently he was an unused sub in 2006.
 
OffTheBench said:
It just needs Messi to make 1 token appearance in 3 years' time, it's hardly outlandish.
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I’d be surprised if he takes a place in the squad for a 5 minute cameo but you never know. He’s such a legend in Argentina they probably wouldn’t care.
If a game is in Miami it would be rude for him not to turn up for a World Cup kick about

However if he picks up an injury and has to quit the game who’s next on the list? Mbappe? He’s be 40 at his 6th World Cup.

Worth noting it’s 2023 and only 15 players have made 20 or more world cup appearances since the tournament began.

And the majority have done that over 3 or 4 tournaments. 6 is no mean feat. Although with more countries qualifying it will become slightly easier.


Maybe it’s going to be a one off. After all Messi is an alien. Which is a fact. Sort of.
 
BernardMatthews said:
I’d be surprised if he takes a place in the squad for a 5 minute cameo but you never know. He’s such a legend in Argentina they probably wouldn’t care.
If a game is in Miami it would be rude for him not to turn up for a World Cup kick about

However if he picks up an injury and has to quit the game who’s next on the list? Mbappe? He’s be 40 at his 6th World Cup.

Worth noting it’s 2023 and only 15 players have made 20 or more world cup appearances since the tournament began.

And the majority have done that over 3 or 4 tournaments. 6 is no mean feat. Although with more countries qualifying it will become slightly easier.


Maybe it’s going to be a one off. After all Messi is an alien. Which is a fact. Sort of.
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Yes after the current pair of Messi and Ronaldo (Guardado?) it's not obvious who would do it.
I reckon Messi is 50/50. Ronaldo pretty unlikely.
 
OffTheBench said:
Yes after the current pair of Messi and Ronaldo (Guardado?) it's not obvious who would do it.
I reckon Messi is 50/50. Ronaldo pretty unlikely.
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Friend wrote a book about Messi a while back now.

Said at the time researching it and speaking to family he was a one in a billion footballer. A real one off.

He’s probably still right. Be a fitting tribute if he made six world cups. Some achievement.
 
MemphisWill said:
It's a meaningful caveat, and Ochoa will have that asterisk. The thread title is "play" so I'd say in this discussion he'd be disqualified. Guardado will do it, I'm pretty sure.
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I'm sorry to be the one to break it to you but barring a miraculous comeback

www.espn.com

Mexico caps leader Guardado retires from team

Mexico midfielder Andres Guardado is officially retiring from an international career spanning 16 years, the Real Betis player announced Wednesday.
www.espn.com www.espn.com
 
OffTheBench said:
I'm sorry to be the one to break it to you but barring a miraculous comeback

www.espn.com

Mexico caps leader Guardado retires from team

Mexico midfielder Andres Guardado is officially retiring from an international career spanning 16 years, the Real Betis player announced Wednesday.
www.espn.com www.espn.com
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It won't be a "miraculous" comeback. He's not retiring from club football. Mexico have zero meaningful matches between now and 2026 - he's taking a break, but he'll definitely be back to set the mark.
 
Kid Chameleon said:
This is a question I've been thinking about for years. The idea that a player could play in his first World Cup at 18 (as Michael Owen did) and play in every World Cup for the next 20 years and still be relevant to the team at the age of 38. We all know about Roger Milla's supersub antics in Italia 90 but Cameroon didn't qualify for a World Cup until 1982 by which time Milla was 30. Maradona would have played in 5 if he had been selected in 1978 and if he had stayed off the drugs he might just have made it to France 98. Michael Owen had a shot at this but with his injury record he was never going to be playing international football at the age of 38. Wayne Rooney didn't because he came on the scene just after the 2002 WC and didn't play in the WC until 2006.

It seems a lot of factors have to be right for a player to be able to do this:

1) He needs an early break. He's got to be a young wonderkid getting in the national team before the age of 20.
2) He needs that early break just before a World Cup.
3) He needs to play for a country that qualifies for every World Cup.
4) He needs to be an exceptional player that the manager will never drop.
5) He needs to be very fortunate with injuries.

I'm not a fan of CR7s attitude but he has played in 5 WC and it's just conceivable that he might do it in 2026 at the age of 41 but he really needed to be on the international scene a few years earlier. If he had played in the 2002 WC at the age of 17, he would have done it in Qatar.
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You almost answered your own question at the end. Definite yes, for me. So much so, that the better question is if, and quite possibly more likely when we'll see someone do 7.
 
Kid Chameleon said:
This is a question I've been thinking about for years. The idea that a player could play in his first World Cup at 18 (as Michael Owen did) and play in every World Cup for the next 20 years and still be relevant to the team at the age of 38. We all know about Roger Milla's supersub antics in Italia 90 but Cameroon didn't qualify for a World Cup until 1982 by which time Milla was 30. Maradona would have played in 5 if he had been selected in 1978 and if he had stayed off the drugs he might just have made it to France 98. Michael Owen had a shot at this but with his injury record he was never going to be playing international football at the age of 38. Wayne Rooney didn't because he came on the scene just after the 2002 WC and didn't play in the WC until 2006.

It seems a lot of factors have to be right for a player to be able to do this:

1) He needs an early break. He's got to be a young wonderkid getting in the national team before the age of 20.
2) He needs that early break just before a World Cup.
3) He needs to play for a country that qualifies for every World Cup.
4) He needs to be an exceptional player that the manager will never drop.
5) He needs to be very fortunate with injuries.

I'm not a fan of CR7s attitude but he has played in 5 WC and it's just conceivable that he might do it in 2026 at the age of 41 but he really needed to be on the international scene a few years earlier. If he had played in the 2002 WC at the age of 17, he would have done it in Qatar.
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It's possible, however, not likely.
 
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