How Many World Cup Appearances Does Lionel Messi Have? The Historic Record He Could Break in 2026
He already holds the record for most World Cup appearances by any male player in history. In 2026, at 38 years old, he is about to do something no man has ever done.
- Messi holds the all-time record for World Cup appearances with 26 games, surpassing Germany's Lothar Matthäus in the 2022 final. If he plays a single match at the 2026 World Cup, he will become the first male player ever to appear at six different tournaments.
- Argentina named Messi in their 55-man preliminary squad on May 11, with the final 26-man roster due to FIFA by June 1. Coach Lionel Scaloni has made no secret of wanting Messi involved, and the captain is expected to feature in Group J against Algeria, Austria and Jordan.
- Messi currently stands at 13 World Cup goals and needs four more to overtake Miroslav Klose as the tournament's all-time top scorer. With Argentina opening their defence on June 16 in Kansas City, those records are very much within reac
Most people assumed it was over in Qatar. Messi had finally won the thing, bagged the Golden Ball, scored in the final and the shootout, and walked away with every honour the tournament could offer. Retirement from international football felt like the natural next step. Then he kept going.
The answer to the question fans keep asking is 26. Messi has made 26 appearances at the FIFA World Cup across five tournaments, the most of any male player in history, surpassing Germany's Lothar Matthäus in the 2022 final. And now, four years later, he is 38 years old and about to step into a sixth. Nobody has done that. Not in the men's game. Not once.
A World Cup Career Nobody Else Has Had
Messi's World Cup story started in Germany in 2006, when he was a teenager coming off the bench. He scored once, against Serbia, and started only one group game. Argentina went out in the quarter-finals. He was 18 years old and already being talked about as the next great.
South Africa in 2010 brought more heartbreak. Another quarter-final exit, another defeat to Germany. Brazil 2014 was the closest he had come until Qatar: he won the Golden Ball as Argentina reached the final, only to lose to Germany in extra time. Russia 2018 was by his own admission his weakest tournament.
Then came Qatar. He had 24 appearances going into that tournament. He ended it with 26, moving past Matthäus' long-standing record, lifting the trophy, and doing everything anyone could have asked of him on a football pitch. That was supposed to be the ending.
He has not fully confirmed his 2026 participation, but his inclusion in Argentina's 55-man preliminary squad in May tells its own story. Scaloni named him without hesitation, and the captain has said he would not want to be a burden to Argentina if not fully match-sharp, which is a very different thing from saying he will not be there.
What He Could Still Break
The appearance record is already his. One game in 2026 makes him the first man to play at six different World Cups. The only other players to have done it across any gender are Brazil's Formiga, who played at seven, and Marta, who played at six. He would be in company that does not exist in the men's game yet.
The goals record is the other conversation. Miroslav Klose finished his career with 16 World Cup goals, the record in the men's tournament. Messi sits on 13. Four more would put him above Klose, and with Argentina expected to go deep into the knockout rounds as defending champions, the matches will be there if the form is.