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 |
|---|---|---|
26 | Lionel Messi | Argentina |
25 | Lothar Matthaus | Germany |
24 | Miroslav Klose | Germany |
23 | Paolo Maldini | Italy |
22 | Cristiano Ronaldo | Portugal |
21 | Diego Maradona | Argentina |
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 | Bastian Schweinsteiger | Germany |
19 | Antoine Griezmann | France |
19 | Rafael Marquez | Mexico |
19 | Per Mertesacker | Germany |
19 | Luka Modric | Croatia |
19 | Thomas Mueller | Germany |
19 | Manuel Neuer | 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. Longtime rival Cristiano Ronaldo of Portugal is another player set to appear in the USA this summer, with CR7 boasting over 20 World Cup appearances to his name.
Whilst plenty of retired defenders and former World Cup winners appear on this list, such as Germany's Philipp Lahm, Brazilian full-back Cafu and Paolo Maldini of Italy, there are a number of iconic present-day players heading into the summer.
Goalkeeper Hugo Lloris has made 20 appearances for France across an international career spanning four World Cups. At the end of FIFA World Cup 2026 though, Manuel Neuer is expected to top the list of goalkeepers with the most appearances in the competition.
