Ronaldo, Messi and other big names chase glory at final World Cup

The FIFA World Cup Qatar 2022 is already shaping up as one for the ages, but the tournament is certainly going to be one to remember for several big-name players as their last shot at glory on the world stage.

It will be especially significant for Cristiano Ronaldo and Lionel Messi – two of the most iconic footballers in modern history. Both Ronaldo and Messi made their World Cup debuts in 2006 but have yet to bring home the trophy for their respective nations of Portugal and Argentina. 

At 37 and with a 20-year-long career of mostly highlights, including five Ballon D’or awards, Cristiano Ronaldo will go down as one of the all-time greats of the game.

Among his achievements he can also count being Portugal’s most-capped player with over 190 appearances for his country, as well as their highest goal-scorer with 118 goals at the time of writing.

Unfortunately for Ronaldo, there is one glaring omission in his trophy cabinet, the coveted World Cup. And with 2022 set to be his final appearance at the Cup, the star forward will be looking to make it count.

The closest Ronaldo has come to achieving his World Cup dreams was in 2006 when Portugal finished fourth, after getting knocked out by eventual winners France.

While he has expressed an interest in representing Portugal at the 2024 European Cup, 2022 will no doubt be the last World Cup for the Portuguese legend; though retirement may come sooner if he lifts the trophy at the end of the tournament.

Ronaldo made headlines recently when talking to Piers Morgan about his exit from Manchester United last month and confirmed that if Portugal were to triumph in Qatar, he would hang up his international boots.  "Yes. Retired. 100 per cent," he said in his interview with Morgan.

It’s fitting that both Ronaldo and Messi will be looking to finish their world cup careers at the same time. The two have battled it out for the top spot in the football rankings for their entire careers and have similar stories especially when it comes to the World Cup.

Just like Ronaldo, Lionel Messi – a seven-time Ballon d’Or winner – has done it all in the sport. And like his Portuguese counterpart, the Argentinan superstar is left searching for glory at the World Cup.

Since Messi started his international career with Argentina, the South American side has shown a lot of promise and in fact, almost took home the Cup in 2014.

However, the star-studded line-up has often failed to meet expectations on the big stage and 2018, where the team failed to progress past the group stage, will be fresh in the mind of the beloved Argentine captain in his final World Cup campaign.

Messi has made no bones about the fact that this will be his last ever World Cup, telling American streaming service Star+ last month that this would “surely” be his final appearance at the biggest sporting event in the world, and admitted to feeling anxious because of that.

“The truth is, there is a little anxiety of wanting it to be now and the nerves of saying, 'well, we're here, what's going to happen, it's the last one, how is it going to go',” he told Star+

Messi and Ronaldo aren't the only players looking to make a big impact in their final Cup outing this year. You can also add Neymar, Luka Modric, Luis Suarez and Robert Lewandowski to that list.

Since he burst onto the scene in 2009, Neymar has been regarded as one of the most explosive players in the game, especially when it came to his tenures at Barcelona and Paris Saint-Germain.

However, he has not yet been able to show his best at the World Cup. Injury cruelly robbed him of a potential fairytale on home soil in 2014, and he was part of a Brazil team that underperformed in Russia four years later.

The lack of gold at the international level may be taking its toll on Neymar, 30, who has suggested this World Cup will in fact be his last.

“I see it as my last because I don't know if I have the strength of mind to deal with football anymore,” he said in the DAZN documentary Neymar Jr And The Line Of Kings.

While Croatian captain and Real Madrid star Luka Modric hasn’t been as upfront about his plans after the World Cup, there are surely limited miles left in the 37-year-old’s international career.

At the next World Cup Modric will be 41 – an unprecedented age to play at this level – so he will surely be looking to make the most of his 2022 campaign with Croatia.

In fact, he came close to realising his World Cup dream in 2018 when France proved too good for the underdogs, taking home the trophy with a 4-2 result in the final.

Uruguayan forward Luis Suarez has something of a chequered history when it comes to on-field performance but has nonetheless been an integral part of his team’s success since his debut in 2007.

The 35-year-old is set to call it quits at international level after this World Cup, his fourth appearance at the tournament. Unfortunately for Suarez and Uruguay, it seems like he has not gone into the competition with his best form and will struggle to make the starting squad for the remainder.

While Barcelona’s prolific striker and Poland’s great hope Robert Lewandowski is refusing to call time on his career after this World Cup, there is no shortage of rumours to suggest this will be the last Cup for the 34-year-old.

If he were to play in the next World Cup he would be 38, which would be so far unheard of. But given that Lewandowski has scored 18 times in 19 appearances for Barcelona this season, there are no signs of rust on the forward.