final World Cup appearance and expect to go out with a bang.
It also includes Robert Lewandowski, Luis Suárez, Luka Modric, Dani Alves,
Manuel Neuer, and Thomas Müller.
Perhaps the 2026 World Cup, set for North America, is one more tournament
than these grizzled veterans can handle.
The name is CRISTIANO RONALDO (Portugal)
The 37-year-old Ronaldo has had a disappointing season with Manchester
United and will be desperate to prove his worth in Qatar, which could be a
bad sign for Portugal’s Group H opponents. Already, Ronaldo has set a new
record for appearances by a Portuguese player with 191. He has scored 117
goals for the Portuguese national team and is the all-time leader in goals
scored by a man in international play. The five-time Ballon d’Or winner has
been a consistent goal scorer throughout his career, whether during his
first tenure at United, his time at Real Madrid, or his time with Juventus,
where he helped them win two Serie A titles before returning to the Premier
League. His return, however, has not been as triumphant as he had hoped at
this point in the season. Ronaldo has scored just once in nine Premier
League matches this season, primarily due to his use as a substitute.
SPONSOR: LIONEL MESSI (Argentina)
The Rosario child artist represents a great deal of optimism for Argentina.
Now 35 years old, Messi has won seven Ballon d’Or awards, one more than
Ronaldo, and he did most of his best work at Barcelona. Now playing for a
PSG financed by Qatar, Messi was not included on the final list of 30
candidates for the 2022 Ballon d’Or. The good news is that Messi appears to
have found his form again this year. With Argentina in the final of the
World Cup in 2014, he came close to winning the tournament. Still, the only
major international championship he has won was the Copa América in 2021.
