Who has made the most FIFA World Cup appearances?
The FIFA World Cup is notorious for the longevity of many players fortunate enough to play in the tournament. Longevity is an understated quality among professional footballers and any player to have accumulated a large number of appearances in the biggest tournament in world football deserves significant credit.
With that in mind, we take a look at which players have made the most appearances in men's World Cup history:
WORLD CUP APPEARANCES | PLAYER | NATION |
|---|---|---|
28 | Lionel Messi | Argentina |
25 | Lothar Matthaus | Germany |
24 | Miroslav Klose | Germany |
23 | Paolo Maldini | Italy |
23 | Cristiano Ronaldo | Portugal |
21 | Diego Maradona | Argentina |
21 | Manuel Neuer | Germany |
21 | Uwe Seeler | West Germany |
21 | Władysław Żmuda | Poland |
20 | Cafu | Brazil |
20 | Philipp Lahm | Germany |
20 | Grzegorz Lato | Poland |
20 | Hugo Lloris | France |
20 | Javier Mascherano | Argentina |
20 | Luka Modric | Croatia |
20 | Bastian Schweinsteiger | Germany |
19 | Antoine Griezmann | France |
19 | Rafael Marquez | Mexico |
19 | Per Mertesacker | Germany |
19 | Thomas Mueller | Germany |
19 | Wolfgang Overath | West Germany |
19 | Ronaldo | Brazil |
19 | Karl-Heinz Rummenigge | West Germany |
19 | Berti Vogts | West Germany |
Argentina's Lionel Messi has made the most individual appearances in FIFA World Cup history as it stands, playing in over 25 matches at the tournament from his FWC debut in 2006. Long-time rival Cristiano Ronaldo, meanwhile boasts over 20 FIFA World Cup appearances to his name.
Goalkeeper Hugo Lloris made 20 appearances for France across an international career spanning four FIFA World Cups, but he was overtaken in the goalkeeping department by Manuel Neuer in the 2026 edition.
