Most FIFA World Cup Appearances – Lionel Messi on The List
Most player appearances in FIFA World Cup? Which players make the list of the Most FIFA World Cup appearances? Who is the player with most FIFA World Cup appearances? Is it Oliver Giroud? Lionel Messi? Cristiano Ronaldo or Luka Modric? Thomas Muller? Well, let’s quit the guessing and find out in the list below.
”FIFA World Cup” – Most FIFA World Cup Appearances
FIFA World Cup is the biggest football event in world football, in fact in the world of sports. The event draws over 1 billion viewers around the world making one of the most watched football event in world, so making an appearance in this match is a big achievement. Apart from the EURO Cup, it is the biggest international event in world football.
The World Cup is the most prestigious association football tournament in the world, as well as the most widely viewed and followed single sporting event in the world. The cumulative viewership of all matches of the 2006 World Cup was estimated to be 26.29 billion with an estimated 715.1 million people watching the final match, a ninth of the entire population of the planet.
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Player’s with most appearances in FIFA World Cup
The Player with the most FIFA World Cup appearances was tied to five players, Cafu, Philipp Lahm, Grzegorz Lato, Javier Mascherano, Bastian Schweinsteiger all five tied at 20 appearances for in the World Cup.
Now Messi leads the list with 26 after making an appearance for Argentina in the World Cup final 2022.
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Most player appearances in FIFA World Cup list
Here is the list of the most FIFA World Cup appearances. List is updated after the conclusion of the World Cup 2022 final between Argentina vs France.
The following players had caps in at least 17 World Cup final tournament matches, which requires a minimum of three World Cup appearances.
Team | Player | Matches | Tournaments |
Argentina | Lionel Messi | 26 | 2006, 2010, 2014, 2018, 2022 |
Germany | Lothar Matthäus | 25 | 1982, 1986, 1990, 1994, 1998 |
Germany | Miroslav Klose | 24 | 2002, 2006, 2010, 2014 |
Italy | Paolo Maldini | 23 | 1990, 1994, 1998, 2002 |
Portugal | Cristiano Ronaldo | 22 | 2006, 2010, 2014, 2018, 2022 |
Argentina | Diego Maradona | 21 | 1982, 1986, 1990, 1994 |
West Germany | Uwe Seeler | 21 | 1958, 1962, 1966, 1970 |
Poland | Władysław Żmuda | 21 | 1974, 1978, 1982, 1986 |
Brazil | Cafu | 20 | 1994, 1998, 2002, 2006 |
Germany | Philipp Lahm | 20 | 2006, 2010, 2014 |
Poland | Grzegorz Lato | 20 | 1974, 1978, 1982 |
Argentina | Javier Mascherano | 20 | 2006, 2010, 2014, 2018 |
Germany | Bastian Schweinsteiger | 20 | 2006, 2010, 2014 |
France | Hugo Lloris | 19 | 2010, 2014, 2018, 2022 |
Mexico | Rafael Márquez | 19 | 2002, 2006, 2010, 2014, 2018 |
Germany | Per Mertesacker | 19 | 2006, 2010, 2014 |
Germany | Thomas Müller | 19 | 2010, 2014, 2018, 2022 |
Germany | Manuel Neuer | 19 | 2010, 2014, 2018, 2022 |
West Germany | Wolfgang Overath | 19 | 1966, 1970, 1974 |
Brazil | Ronaldo | 19 | 1998, 2002, 2006 |
West Germany | Karl-Heinz Rummenigge | 19 | 1978, 1982, 1986 |
West Germany | Berti Vogts | 19 | 1970, 1974, 1978 |
West Germany | Franz Beckenbauer | 18 | 1966, 1970, 1974 |
Germany | Thomas Berthold | 18 | 1986, 1990, 1994 |
Italy | Antonio Cabrini | 18 | 1978, 1982, 1986 |
Italy | Fabio Cannavaro | 18 | 1998, 2002, 2006, 2010 |
Brazil | Dunga | 18 | 1990, 1994, 1998 |
France | Antoine Griezmann | 18 | 2014, 2018, 2022 |
Argentina | Mario Kempes | 18 | 1974, 1978, 1982 |
West Germany | Pierre Littbarski | 18 | 1982, 1986, 1990 |
West Germany | Sepp Maier | 18 | 1970, 1974, 1978 |
Italy | Gaetano Scirea | 18 | 1978, 1982, 1986 |
Brazil | Cláudio Taffarel | 18 | 1990, 1994, 1998 |
France | Fabien Barthez | 17 | 1998, 2002, 2006 |
Spain | Sergio Busquets | 17 | 2010, 2014, 2018, 2022 |
Brazil | Roberto Carlos | 17 | 1998, 2002, 2006 |
Spain | Iker Casillas | 17 | 2002, 2006, 2010, 2014 |
Uruguay | Edinson Cavani | 17 | 2010, 2014, 2018, 2022 |
Argentina | Ángel Di María | 17 | 2010, 2014, 2018, 2022 |
France | Olivier Giroud | 17 | 2014, 2018, 2022 |
France | Thierry Henry | 17 | 1998, 2002, 2006, 2010 |
Lothar Matthaus
West Germany’s 1990 World Cup-winning captain Lothar Matthaus led the list for most football World Cup appearances by a player before the World Cup final in 2022.
Featuring across five different editions of the World Cup between 1982 and 1998, Matthaus made 150 appearances for Germany with 25 of those coming in the World Cup. Messi equaled that record after he started his side’s semifinal match against Croatia in the 2022 edition.
Lionel Messi
Lionel Messi broke the record of most FIFA World Cup appearances by taking the Argentina outfit for the 26th time during the final of World Cup 2022 against France at Lusail Stadium, Qatar. He has appeared in five World Cups from 2006 to 2022. He played in two finals in 2014 and 2022. He is one of the players who scored goals in each World Cup he played.
Most World Cups played as a player
There are six different players in World Cup history have made appearances at five different editions, the most by a single individual. It also includes modern legends Cristiano Ronaldo and Leonel Messi who played their last World Cup in 2022.
- Antonio Carbajal (1950, 1954, 1958, 1962, 1966)
- Lothar Matthaus (1982, 1986, 1990, 1994, 1998)
- Rafael Marquez (2002, 2006, 2010, 2014, 2018)
- Andres Guardado (2006, 2010, 2014, 2018, 2022)
- Lionel Messi (2006, 2010, 2014, 2018, 2022)
- Cristiano Ronaldo (2006, 2010, 2014, 2018, 2022)
Most FIFA World Cup Appearances and more about FIFA World Cup
- List of World Cup Top Goal Scorers All Time
- World Cup and Africa: African Nations as Part of FIFA
- How many times have Argentina won World Cup? FIFA World Cup Football!
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