The most World Cup appearances ever recorded by a single player

Most players are lucky to reach one World Cup. Reaching five or six means staying fit and staying selected for a country good enough to qualify across two decades. The 2026 tournament is already being shaped by that reality, with the betting UK odds reflecting just how much the presence or absence of the game’s longest-serving icons still moves the market. As June approaches, a handful of names sit alone at the top of the all-time appearances list, and how they got there is worth knowing before the tournament begins.

Cristiano Ronaldo – 22 appearances, sixth tournament incoming

Ronaldo arrives at the upcoming tournament having played 22 matches across five World Cups without winning one, and with a record that does not survive close inspection. All eight of his tournament goals have come in the group stage, and he has never scored in a knockout match, a stat that often comes up in any betting calculator.

Portugal’s deep run in 2006 remains his best tournament, and he was famously dropped to the bench by Fernando Santos during the 2022 last-16 win over Switzerland. At 41, this will be his sixth World Cup, which is a record in itself, and the one remaining trophy that has always stayed out of reach.

Paolo Maldini – 23 appearances

Italy played 23 World Cup matches across four tournaments with Paolo Maldini in the side and never won the title. He reached the 1994 final, the 1990 semi-final, and went out in the last 16 twice. Four tournaments, no trophy, and still one of the finest defenders the game has produced.

Miroslav Klose – 24 appearances

Klose scored 16 World Cup goals across four tournaments, a record that still stands, and his 24 appearances put him third on the all-time list. He scored five goals in both 2002 and 2006, and added four more in 2010 before winning the tournament in 2014. His 16th goal came against Brazil in the 7-1 semifinal. He was subbed for Mario Gotze late in the final, and his replacement scored the winner.

Lothar Matthaus – 25 appearances

Matthaus made 25 appearances and played in five World Cups across 16 years, from Spain 1982 through France 1998, and lifted the trophy as West Germany’s captain in 1990. He was recalled to the national team at 37 after a four-year absence, which explains why his total reached 25 in the first place. For a long time, that number was the record, until Lionel Messi overtook him in Qatar.

Lionel Messi – 26 appearances

The World Cup appearance record belongs to Messi, who has played 26 World Cup matches across five tournaments, and will add to that at a sixth this summer. He went to Germany in 2006 as a teenager, spent the next decade falling agonisingly short, and finally won the thing in Qatar in 2022.

That final run alone, scoring in every knockout round on the way to lifting the trophy, pushed him past Matthaus. His total of 13 goals and eight assists in World Cup football makes him the most productive player in the tournament’s history. Now 38, Messi is still going strong for club and country and will likely still play a large part for Argentina this summer.