Which players have played the most World Cup games?

Karan Tejwani

• 15 Nov 2022 10:40 GMT
• 4 min read

Lionel Messi is entering his fifth World Cup with the optimism of winning the tournament and should Argentina go all the way to the final, he will claim another record.

Messi has played in 19 matches across four World Cups, including seven matches in 2014 when they finished runners-up, losing to Germany in the final.

He reached the quarter-finals in both 2006 and 2010 before a last 16 exit at the last tournament in 2018, and he will have the tournament, and subsequently the record, in sight.

READ: Why the World Cup will lead to a blockbuster January transfer market

The record for most matches at the World Cup is currently held by Lothar Matthaus, who has played 25 matches, and no other active player can reach it at this tournament.

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Messi could break record

Matthaus 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.

READ: World Cup all-time top scorers: Klose, Ronaldo and the greatest goal kings

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.

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, five players are tied on 20 appearances each: 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.

Messi is one of seven players on 19 tournament appearances and he has one chance to go all the way and become the tournament’s all-time appearance maker.

The next highest active player is Cristiano Ronaldo, who has played 17 World Cup matches and should Portugal go all the way with him involved, he will only be the tournament’s second-highest appearance maker.