Which players have appeared in the most FIFA World Cups?
FIFA World Cup 2026 will be the 23rd edition of the famous tournament and will feature plenty of players who have already appeared in multiple men's World Cups across their respective careers.
In this piece, we cast an eye on both active and retired players who have appeared in the most editions of the FIFA World Cup over the course of its history
TOURNAMENTS | PLAYER | NATIONALITY | APPEARANCES | APPS PER TOURNAMENT |
|---|---|---|---|---|
5 | Lionel Messi | Argentina | 26 | 3-2006, 5-2010, 7-2014, 4-2018, 7-2022 |
5 | Lothar Matthaeus | West Germany / Germany | 25 | 2-1982, 7-1986, 7-1990, 5-1994, 4-1998 |
5 | Cristiano Ronaldo | Portugal | 22 | 6-2006, 4-2010, 3-2014, 4-2018, 5-2022 |
5 | Rafael Marquez | Mexico | 19 | 4-2002, 4-2006, 4-2010, 4-2014, 3-2018 |
5 | Andres Guardado | Mexico | 13 | 1-2006, 3-2010, 4-2014, 4-2018, 1-2022 |
5 | Antonio Carbajal | Mexico | 11 | 3-1950, 1-1954, 3-1958, 3-1962, 1-1966 |
4 | Miroslav Klose | Germany | 24 | 7-2002, 7-2006, 5-2010, 5-2014 |
4 | Paolo Maldini | Italy | 23 | 7-1990, 7-1994, 5-1998, 4-2002 |
4 | Diego Maradona | Argentina | 21 | 5-1982, 7-1986, 7-1990, 2-1994 |
4 | Uwe Seeler | West Germany | 21 | 5-1958, 4-1962, 6-1966, 6-1970 |
4 | Luka Modric | Croatia | 19 | 2-2006, 3-2014, 7-2018, 7-2022 |
4 | Thomas Mueller | Germany | 19 | 6-2010, 7-2014, 3-2018, 3-2022 |
4 | Manuel Neuer | Germany | 19 | 6-2010, 7-2014, 3-2018, 3-2022 |
4 | Fabio Cannavaro | Italy | 18 | 5-1998, 3-2002, 7-2006, 3-2010 |
4 | Angel Di Maria | Argentina | 18 | 5-2010, 5-2014, 3-2018, 5-2022 |
4 | Sergio Busquets | Spain | 17 | 7-2010, 2-2014, 4-2018, 4-2022 |
4 | Edinson Cavani | Uruguay | 17 | 6-2010, 4-2014, 4-2018, 3-2022 |
4 | Iker Casillas | Spain | 17 | 5-2002, 3-2006, 7-2010, 2-2014 |
4 | Thierry Henry | France | 17 | 6-1998, 2-2002, 7-2006, 2-2010 |
4 | Karl-Heinz Schnellinger | West Germany | 17 | 2-1958, 4-1962, 6-1966, 5-1970 |
4 | Enzo Scifo | Belgium | 17 | 7-1986, 4-1990, 4-1994, 2-1998 |
4 | Sergio Ramos | Spain | 17 | 3-2006, 7-2010, 3-2014, 4-2018 |
4 | Hugo Lloris | France | 20 | 3-2010, 5-2014, 6-2018, 6-2022 |
4 | Cafu | Brazil | 20 | 3-1994, 6-1998, 7-2002, 4-2006 |
4 | Javier Mascherano | Argentina | 20 | 5-2006, 4-2010, 7-2014, 4-2018 |
4 | Diego Godin | Uruguay | 16 | 5-2010, 4-2014, 5-2018, 2-2022 |
4 | Luis Suarez | Uruguay | 16 | 6-2010, 2-2014, 5-2018, 3-2022 |
4 | Andoni Zubizarreta | Spain | 16 | 5-1986, 4-1990, 4-1994, 3-1998 |
4 | Myungbo Hong | South Korea | 16 | 3-1990, 3-1994, 3-1998, 7-2002 |
4 | Giuseppe Bergomi | Italy | 16 | 3-1982, 3-1986, 7-1990, 3-1998 |
4 | Yuto Nagatomo | Japan | 15 | 4-2010, 3-2014, 4-2018, 4-2022 |
4 | Xavi Hernandez | Spain | 15 | 3-2002, 4-2006, 7-2010, 1-2014 |
4 | Franky Van der Elst | Belgium | 15 | 4-1986, 4-1990, 4-1994, 3-1998 |
4 | Pele | Brazil | 14 | 4-1958, 2-1962, 2-1966, 6-1970 |
4 | Andres Iniesta | Spain | 14 | 1-2006, 6-2010, 3-2014, 4-2018 |
4 | Gianluigi Buffon | Italy | 14 | 4-2002, 7-2006, 1-2010, 2-2014 |
4 | Martin Caceres | Uruguay | 12 | 2-2010, 4-2014, 5-2018, 1-2022 |
4 | Denis Caniza | Paraguay | 12 | 4-1998, 4-2002, 3-2006, 1-2010 |
4 | Xherdan Shaqiri | Switzerland | 12 | 1-2010, 4-2014, 4-2018, 3-2022 |
4 | Pepe | Portugal | 12 | 2-2010, 2-2014, 4-2018, 4-2022 |
4 | Hector Moreno | Mexico | 12 | 2-2010, 4-2014, 3-2018, 3-2022 |
4 | Djalma Santos | Brazil | 12 | 3-1954, 1-1958, 6-1962, 2-1966 |
4 | DaMarcus Beasley | United States | 11 | 3-2002, 3-2006, 1-2010, 4-2014 |
4 | Pedro Rocha | Uruguay | 10 | 2-1962, 4-1966, 1-1970, 3-1974 |
4 | Valon Behrami | Switzerland | 10 | 1-2006, 1-2010, 4-2014, 4-2018 |
4 | Gianni Rivera | Italy | 9 | 1-1962, 2-1966, 4-1970, 2-1974 |
4 | Tim Cahill | Australia | 9 | 4-2006, 2-2010, 2-2014, 1-2018 |
4 | Rigobert Song | Cameroon | 9 | 2-1994, 3-1998, 3-2002, 1-2010 |
4 | Sami Al Jaber | Saudi Arabia | 9 | 2-1994, 3-1998, 1-2002, 3-2006 |
4 | Samuel Eto’o | Cameroon | 8 | 1-1998, 3-2002, 3-2010, 1-2014 |
Over five male players have achieved the rare feat of making at least one appearance in five different FIFA World Cups. Three of those are Mexican internationals, all of whom have since retired. Antonio Carbajal appeared in all five World Cup tournaments to have taken place during the 1950s and 1960s, whilst every World Cup to have taken place this century prior to 2026 featured at least one of Rafael Marquez or Andres Guardado.
Also on the list of players to have appeared in the most FIFA World Cup competitions is Lionel Messi, the Argentinian having played in every World Cup since his tournament debut in 2006. The 2026 FIFA World Cup will be Messi's sixth, as will be the case with Cristiano Ronaldo, leaving the pair alone as the only two players to have achieved such a feat.
Like Messi, Ronaldo also made his World Cup bow in 2006, although the Portuguese superstar played three more games in that tournament compard to his long-time rival.
The only other player to reach the feat of playing in five men's FWCs is German legend Lothar Matthaus. The notorious midfielder made 25 appearances across the five World Cups in which he played a part in, with only Messi having made more across the same number of World Cups.
