You might have heard us say this before.
Back in 2018, we confidently predicted that the two greatest soccer players of their generation, Lionel Messi and Cristiano Ronaldo, were about to play in the World Cup for the final time. They were both in their 30s and sporting logic dictated that the twilight of their careers was fast approaching. Then Ronaldo scored a hat-trick in his first game.
Having learned absolutely nothing, we said it again four years later, in 2022. By then, they were both in their mid-to-late 30s and firmly on their farewell tours. Then Messi went and won the World Cup.
But hear us out: This time, without a doubt, we can say categorically that for Messi and Ronaldo, this summer will mark the last dance at the greatest tournament in sports.
“Definitely, yes,” Ronaldo told CNN last year. “Because I will be 41 years old.”
See, even Cristiano says so. The moment he steps on the pitch for Portugal, he will be the oldest outfield player at the 2026 World Cup. He’ll also set a record by playing in the tournament for a sixth time. The only other man to do it, inevitably, will be the 38-year-old Messi.
It’s only fitting that they should take their World Cup curtain calls together—even if we were certain it was going to be eight years ago. For the past two decades, their entire careers have played out in parallel, their greatness most easily understood in comparison to each other. Ronaldo pushed Messi and Messi drove Ronaldo. They have both admitted that much.
“People admire them for the continuity they have,” says the former Sweden striker Zlatan Ibrahimovic. “Your legacy is not what you did in the short term, it’s for what you did in the long term.”
The thing about the long term is that time catches up to you eventually. Though Messi has scored 12 times in 14 games for Inter Miami this season, and Ronaldo bagged 28 in 30 for Al-Nassr in Saudi Arabia, there is no question that these soccer heroes have lost a step. Ronaldo may still look like he belongs in a Marvel movie, but his dip in efficiency already saw him benched at the World Cup four years ago. As for Messi, he continues to stroll through matches like he’s wandering around an art gallery.
But make no mistake: dropping Messi from the lineup is strictly out of the question.
“It makes no sense to say that I am the one in charge,” Argentina manager Lionel Scaloni said recently. “We always talk with Messi about all the decisions we make.”
Asked if those comments reflected his relationship with Ronaldo, Portugal manager Roberto Martinez replied, “We work differently.”
The question now is precisely what that work entails—and actually playing soccer is only part of it. Both Messi and Ronaldo have clearly acknowledged how late in their careers they are. Since the last World Cup in Qatar, they have both left Europe and migrated to leagues where they can relax into life as past-their-prime superstars enjoying one last hurrah.
Ronaldo jumped first in late 2022 by moving to Riyadh, where the petro-riches of the Saudi Pro League have him earning upwards of $200 million a season. That makes him, by some distance, the highest paid athlete in the world. (Sorry, Shohei Ohtani.)
Then, in 2023, Messi bolted Paris Saint-Germain for Major League Soccer, where executives moved heaven and earth to pay him like the GOAT he was. Not only does he draw a league-record salary of $28.3 million per season from Inter Miami, he also signed an unprecedented revenue-sharing deal with MLS that cut him into the league’s deals with its two largest commercial partners, Apple and Adidas.
Now, they both have one final opportunity to turn the world’s most popular sporting event into a payday. For men who have already endorsed everything from Russian banks and Egyptian steel to hair-transplant clinics and Cirque du Soleil, this American summer represents a potential extravaganza.
Ronaldo is currently starring in a Nike ad alongside LeBron James. Messi is headlining campaigns for Adidas, Michelob Ultra, Lay’s, and Lowe’s. (The hardware chain has even released a 10-foot inflatable front-lawn Messi, which can be yours for $99.) All of which means they’ll be all over your TV screens regardless of how they do on the pitch.
Still, there’s one on-pitch spectacle they haven’t yet delivered. Their entire rivalry has unfolded without a single epic showdown when it mattered most—Messi and Ronaldo have never faced off at a World Cup. But this Hollywood summer could provide that too. Should Portugal and Argentina both win their groups, the bracket will have them on a collision course for the quarterfinals.
June 11 in Kansas City: Messi vs. Ronaldo in what is definitely, undoubtedly their last World Cup as players.
For real this time.