List of players who have appeared in the most FIFA World Cups

Lionel Messi is the player with the most games played at the FIFA World Cup, and one of only six along with German Lothar Matthäus, Portuguese Cristiano Ronaldo and Mexicans Antonio Carbajal, Andrés Guardado, and Rafael Márquez to have entered the field in five different tournaments. Additionally, Matthäus, Messi, Ronaldo, Carbajal, Guardado, Márquez, Gianluigi Buffon, and Guillermo Ochoa are the only players to have made the final squad for five different tournaments.

In the FIFA World Cup, the following male football players have made the most final tournament appearances.

Matches

The following players had caps in at least 15 World Cup final tournament matches, which requires a minimum of three World Cup appearances. ^{[fr 1] [fr 2]}

Rank	Team	Player [o 1]	Matches [o 2]	Tournaments [o 3]
1	Argentina	Lionel Messi	26	2006, 2010, 2014, 2018, 2022
2	Germany	Lothar Matthäus	25	1982, 1986, 1990, 1994, 1998
3	Germany	Miroslav Klose	24	2002, 2006, 2010, 2014
4	Italy	Paolo Maldini	23	1990, 1994, 1998, 2002
5	Portugal	Cristiano Ronaldo	22	2006, 2010, 2014, 2018, 2022
6	Argentina	Diego Maradona	21	1982, 1986, 1990, 1994
	West Germany	Uwe Seeler	21	1958, 1962, 1966, 1970
	Poland	Władysław Żmuda	21	1974, 1978, 1982, 1986
9	Brazil	Cafu	20	1994, 1998, 2002, 2006
	Germany	Philipp Lahm	20	2006, 2010, 2014
	Poland	Grzegorz Lato	20	1974, 1978, 1982
	France	Hugo Lloris	20	2010, 2014, 2018, 2022
	Argentina	Javier Mascherano	20	2006, 2010, 2014, 2018
	Germany	Bastian Schweinsteiger	20	2006, 2010, 2014
15	France	Antoine Griezmann	19	2014, 2018, 2022
	Mexico	Rafael Márquez	19	2002, 2006, 2010, 2014, 2018
	Germany	Per Mertesacker	19	2006, 2010, 2014
	Croatia	Luka Modrić	19	2006, 2014, 2018, 2022
	Germany	Thomas Müller	19	2010, 2014, 2018, 2022
	Germany	Manuel Neuer	19	2010, 2014, 2018, 2022
	West Germany	Wolfgang Overath	19	1966, 1970, 1974
	Brazil	Ronaldo	19	1998, 2002, 2006
	West Germany	Karl-Heinz Rummenigge	19	1978, 1982, 1986
	West Germany	Berti Vogts	19	1970, 1974, 1978
25	West Germany	Franz Beckenbauer	18	1966, 1970, 1974
	Germany	Thomas Berthold	18	1986, 1990, 1994
	Italy	Antonio Cabrini	18	1978, 1982, 1986
	Italy	Fabio Cannavaro	18	1998, 2002, 2006, 2010
	Argentina	Ángel Di María	18	2010, 2014, 2018, 2022
	Brazil	Dunga	18	1990, 1994, 1998
	France	Olivier Giroud	18	2014, 2018, 2022
	Argentina	Mario Kempes	18	1974, 1978, 1982
	West Germany	Pierre Littbarski	18	1982, 1986, 1990
	West Germany	Sepp Maier	18	1970, 1974, 1978
	Italy	Gaetano Scirea	18	1978, 1982, 1986
	Brazil	Cláudio Taffarel	18	1990, 1994, 1998
	France	Raphaël Varane	18	2014, 2018, 2022
38	France	Fabien Barthez	17	1998, 2002, 2006
	Spain	Sergio Busquets	17	2010, 2014, 2018, 2022
	Brazil	Roberto Carlos	17	1998, 2002, 2006
	Spain	Iker Casillas	17	2002, 2006, 2010, 2014
	Uruguay	Edinson Cavani	17	2010, 2014, 2018, 2022
	France	Thierry Henry	17	1998, 2002, 2006, 2010
	Germany	Jürgen Klinsmann	17	1990, 1994, 1998
	Brazil	Lúcio	17	2002, 2006, 2010
	Croatia	Ivan Perišić	17	2014, 2018, 2022
	Spain	Sergio Ramos	17	2006, 2010, 2014, 2018
	West Germany	Karl-Heinz Schnellinger	17	1958, 1962, 1966, 1970
	Belgium	Enzo Scifo	17	1986, 1990, 1994, 1998
	England	Peter Shilton	17	1982, 1986, 1990
	Netherlands	Wesley Sneijder	17	2006, 2010, 2014
	Netherlands	Robin van Persie	17	2006, 2010, 2014
	Italy	Dino Zoff	17	1974, 1978, 1982
54	Italy	Roberto Baggio	16	1990, 1994, 1998
	Italy	Giuseppe Bergomi	16	1982, 1986, 1990, 1998
	Poland	Zbigniew Boniek	16	1978, 1982, 1986
	Germany	Andreas Brehme	16	1986, 1990, 1994
	Belgium	Jan Ceulemans	16	1982, 1986, 1990
	Uruguay	Diego Godín	16	2010, 2014, 2018, 2022
	South Korea	Hong Myung-bo	16	1990, 1994, 1998, 2002
	Brazil	Jairzinho	16	1966, 1970, 1974
	Croatia	Dejan Lovren	16	2014, 2018, 2022
	Uruguay	Fernando Muslera	16	2010, 2014, 2018
	Germany	Mesut Özil	16	2010, 2014, 2018
	Argentina	Oscar Ruggeri	16	1986, 1990, 1994
	Brazil	Gilberto Silva	16	2002, 2006, 2010
	Uruguay	Luis Suárez	16	2010, 2014, 2018, 2022
	France	Lilian Thuram	16	1998, 2002, 2006
	Spain	Andoni Zubizarreta	16	1986, 1990, 1994, 1998
70	Brazil	Bebeto	15	1990, 1994, 1998
	France	Maxime Bossis	15	1978, 1982, 1986
	Belgium	Thibaut Courtois	15	2014, 2018, 2022
	Brazil	Didi	15	1954, 1958, 1962
	Croatia	Mateo Kovačić	15	2014, 2018, 2022
	Netherlands	Dirk Kuyt	15	2006, 2010, 2014
	Japan	Yūto Nagatomo	15	2010, 2014, 2018, 2022
	Brazil	Nílton Santos	15	1954, 1958, 1962
	Germany	Lukas Podolski	15	2006, 2010, 2014
	Brazil	Rivellino	15	1970, 1974, 1978
	Netherlands	Arjen Robben	15	2006, 2010, 2014
	West Germany	Hans Schäfer	15	1954, 1958, 1962
	Brazil	Thiago Silva	15	2014, 2018, 2022
	Germany	Rudi Völler	15	1986, 1990, 1994
	Spain	Xavi	15	2002, 2006, 2010, 2014

1. Name in bold indicates a player still active in international football.
2. Number of finals matches the player entered the field, not counting those as an unused substitute.
3. Year in bold indicates the player won the tournament that year.

Tournaments

The following players have been included in their national squads for multiple World Cup final tournaments. Players with four or more squad inclusions are listed here.

Team	Player [n 1]	In squad [n 2]	Played [n 3]	Tournaments [n 4]	References
Mexico	Antonio Carbajal	5	5	1950, 1954, 1958, 1962, 1966	[fp 1]
Mexico	Andrés Guardado	5	5	2006, 2010, 2014, 2018, 2022	[fp 2] [fl 1] [1]
Germany	Lothar Matthäus	5	5	1982, 1986, 1990, 1994, 1998	[fp 3]
Mexico	Rafael Márquez	5	5	2002, 2006, 2010, 2014, 2018	[fp 4] [fl 2]
Argentina	Lionel Messi	5	5	2006, 2010, 2014, 2018, 2022	[fp 5] [fl 3] [1]
Portugal	Cristiano Ronaldo	5	5	2006, 2010, 2014, 2018, 2022	[fp 6] [fs 1] [1]
Italy	Gianluigi Buffon	5	4	(1998), 2002, 2006, 2010, 2014	[fp 7] [fs 2]
Mexico	Guillermo Ochoa	5	3	(2006), (2010), 2014, 2018, 2022	[fp 8] [2]
Saudi Arabia	Sami Al-Jaber	4	4	1994, 1998, 2002, 2006	[fp 9]
United States	DaMarcus Beasley	4	4	2002, 2006, 2010, 2014	[fp 10]
Switzerland	Valon Behrami	4	4	2006, 2010, 2014, 2018	[fp 11] [fl 4]
Italy	Giuseppe Bergomi	4	4	1982, 1986, 1990, 1998	[fp 12]
Spain	Sergio Busquets	4	4	2010, 2014, 2018, 2022	[fp 13]
Uruguay	Martín Cáceres	4	4	2010, 2014, 2018, 2022	[fp 14]
Brazil	Cafu	4	4	1994, 1998, 2002, 2006	[fp 15]
Australia	Tim Cahill	4	4	2006, 2010, 2014, 2018	[fp 16] [fl 5]
Paraguay	Denis Caniza	4	4	1998, 2002, 2006, 2010	[fp 17]
Italy	Fabio Cannavaro	4	4	1998, 2002, 2006, 2010	[fp 18]
Spain	Iker Casillas	4	4	2002, 2006, 2010, 2014	[fp 19]
Uruguay	Edinson Cavani	4	4	2010, 2014, 2018, 2022	[fp 20]
Argentina	Ángel Di María	4	4	2010, 2014, 2018, 2022	[fp 21]
Cameroon	Samuel Eto'o	4	4	1998, 2002, 2010, 2014	[fp 22]
Uruguay	Diego Godín	4	4	2010, 2014, 2018, 2022	[fp 23]
France	Thierry Henry	4	4	1998, 2002, 2006, 2010	[fp 24]
Spain	Xavi	4	4	2002, 2006, 2010, 2014	[fp 25]
South Korea	Hong Myung-bo	4	4	1990, 1994, 1998, 2002	[fp 26]
Spain	Andrés Iniesta	4	4	2006, 2010, 2014, 2018	[fp 27] [fs 1]
Germany	Miroslav Klose	4	4	2002, 2006, 2010, 2014	[fp 28]
France	Hugo Lloris	4	4	2010, 2014, 2018, 2022	[fp 29]
Italy	Paolo Maldini	4	4	1990, 1994, 1998, 2002	[fp 30]
Argentina	Diego Maradona	4	4	1982, 1986, 1990, 1994	[fp 31]
Argentina	Javier Mascherano	4	4	2006, 2010, 2014, 2018	[fp 32] [fl 3]
Croatia	Luka Modrić	4	4	2006, 2014, 2018, 2022	[fp 33]
Mexico	Héctor Moreno	4	4	2010, 2014, 2018, 2022	[fp 34]
Germany	Thomas Müller	4	4	2010, 2014, 2018, 2022	[fp 35]
Japan	Yuto Nagatomo	4	4	2010, 2014, 2018, 2022	[fp 36]
Germany	Manuel Neuer	4	4	2010, 2014, 2018, 2022	[fp 37]
Brazil	Pelé	4	4	1958, 1962, 1966, 1970	[fp 38]
Portugal	Pepe	4	4	2010, 2014, 2018, 2022	[fp 39]
Spain	Sergio Ramos	4	4	2006, 2010, 2014, 2018	[fp 40] [fs 1]
Italy	Gianni Rivera	4	4	1962, 1966, 1970, 1974	[fp 41]
Uruguay	Pedro Rocha	4	4	1962, 1966, 1970, 1974	[fp 42]
Brazil	Djalma Santos	4	4	1954, 1958, 1962, 1966	[fp 43]
West Germany	Karl-Heinz Schnellinger	4	4	1958, 1962, 1966, 1970	[fp 44]
Belgium	Enzo Scifo	4	4	1986, 1990, 1994, 1998	[fp 45]
West Germany	Uwe Seeler	4	4	1958, 1962, 1966, 1970	[fp 46]
Switzerland	Xherdan Shaqiri	4	4	2010, 2014, 2018, 2022	[fp 47]
Cameroon	Rigobert Song	4	4	1994, 1998, 2002, 2010	[fp 48]
Uruguay	Luis Suárez	4	4	2010, 2014, 2018, 2022	[fp 49]
Belgium	Franky Van der Elst	4	4	1986, 1990, 1994, 1998	[fp 50]
Poland	Władysław Żmuda	4	4	1974, 1978, 1982, 1986	[fp 51]
Spain	Andoni Zubizarreta	4	4	1986, 1990, 1994, 1998	[fp 52]
Saudi Arabia	Mohamed Al-Deayea	4	3	1994, 1998, 2002, (2006)	[fp 53] [fs 3]
England	Bobby Charlton	4	3	(1958), 1962, 1966, 1970	[fp 54] [fs 4]
Spain	Fernando Hierro	4	3	(1990), 1994, 1998, 2002	[fp 55] [fs 5]
South Korea	Hwang Sun-hong	4	3	1990, 1994, (1998), 2002	[fp 56] [fs 6]
Japan	Eiji Kawashima	4	3	2010, 2014, 2018, (2022)	[fp 57]
South Korea	Lee Woon-jae	4	3	1994, 2002, 2006, (2010)	[fp 58] [fs 7]
Scotland	Jim Leighton	4	3	(1982), 1986, 1990, 1998	[fp 59] [fs 8]
Germany	Sepp Maier	4	3	(1966), 1970, 1974, 1978	[fp 60] [fs 9]
Uruguay	Fernando Muslera	4	3	2010, 2014, 2018, (2022)	[fp 61]
United States	Claudio Reyna	4	3	(1994), 1998, 2002, 2006	[fp 62] [fs 10]
Brazil	Ronaldo	4	3	(1994), 1998, 2002, 2006	[fp 63] [fs 11]
Brazil	Nílton Santos	4	3	(1950), 1954, 1958, 1962	[fp 64] [fs 12]
Brazil	Thiago Silva	4	3	(2010), 2014, 2018, 2022	[fp 65]
Belgium	Marc Wilmots	4	3	(1990), 1994, 1998, 2002	[fp 66] [fs 13]
Soviet Union	Lev Yashin	4	3	1958, 1962, 1966, (1970)	[fp 67] [fs 14]
Bulgaria	Dobromir Zhechev	4	3	1962, 1966, 1970, (1974)	[fp 68] [fs 15]
Italy	Dino Zoff	4	3	(1970), 1974, 1978, 1982	[fp 69] [fs 16]
Italy	Enrico Albertosi	4	2	(1962), 1966, 1970, (1974)	[fp 70] [fs 17] [fs 18]
Germany	Oliver Kahn	4	2	(1994), (1998), 2002, 2006	[fp 71] [fs 19] [fs 20]
Japan	Yoshikatsu Kawaguchi	4	2	1998, (2002), 2006, (2010)	[fp 72] [fs 21] [fs 22]
United States	Kasey Keller	4	2	(1990), 1998, (2002), 2006	[fp 73] [fs 23] [fs 24]
Brazil	Émerson Leão	4	2	(1970), 1974, 1978, (1986)	[fp 74] [fs 25] [fs 26]
Australia	Mark Milligan	4	2	(2006), (2010), 2014, 2018	[fp 75]
Cameroon	Jacques Songo'o	4	2	(1990), 1994, 1998, (2002)	[fp 76] [fs 27] [fs 28]
Brazil	Carlos José Castilho	4	1	(1950), 1954, (1958), (1962)	[fp 77] [fs 12] [fs 29] [fs 30]
Japan	Seigo Narazaki	4	1	(1998), 2002, (2006), (2010)	[fp 78] [fs 31] [fs 32] [fs 22]
Spain	Pepe Reina	4	1	(2006), (2010), 2014, (2018)	[fp 79]

1. Name in bold indicates a player still active at international level.
2. Number of finals tournaments in which the player was part of the squad.
3. Number of finals tournaments in which the player played in at least one match.
4. Years in brackets indicate that the player was part of the squad but did not play in any matches.

See also

• List of players who have appeared in four or more FIFA Women's World Cups

References

FIFA website

Player profiles

1. Antonio Carbajal – FIFA competition record (archived)
2. Andrés Guardado – FIFA competition record (archived)
3. Lothar Matthäus – FIFA competition record (archived)
4. Rafael Márquez – FIFA competition record (archived)
5. Lionel Messi – FIFA competition record (archived)
6. Cristiano Ronaldo – FIFA competition record (archived)
7. Gianluigi Buffon – FIFA competition record (archived)
8. Guillermo Ochoa – FIFA competition record (archived)
9. Sami Al-Jaber – FIFA competition record (archived)
10. DaMarcus Beasley – FIFA competition record (archived)
11. Valon Behrami – FIFA competition record (archived)
12. Giuseppe Bergomi – FIFA competition record (archived)
13. Sergio Busquets – FIFA competition record (archived)
14. Martín Cáceres – FIFA competition record (archived)
15. Cafu – FIFA competition record (archived)
16. Tim Cahill – FIFA competition record (archived)
17. Denis Caniza – FIFA competition record (archived)
18. Fabio Cannavaro – FIFA competition record (archived)
19. Iker Casillas – FIFA competition record (archived)
20. Edinson Cavani – FIFA competition record (archived)
21. Ángel Di María – FIFA competition record (archived)
22. Samuel Eto'o – FIFA competition record (archived)
23. Diego Godín – FIFA competition record (archived)
24. Thierry Henry – FIFA competition record (archived)
25. Xavi – FIFA competition record (archived)
26. Hong Myung-Bo – FIFA competition record (archived)
27. Andrés Iniesta – FIFA competition record (archived)
28. Miroslav Klose – FIFA competition record (archived)
29. Hugo Lloris – FIFA competition record (archived)
30. Paolo Maldini – FIFA competition record (archived)
31. Diego Maradona – FIFA competition record (archived)
32. Javier Mascherano – FIFA competition record (archived)
33. Luka Modrić – FIFA competition record (archived)
34. Héctor Moreno – FIFA competition record (archived)
35. Thomas Müller – FIFA competition record (archived)
36. Yuto Nagatomo – FIFA competition record (archived)
37. Manuel Neuer – FIFA competition record (archived)
38. Pelé – FIFA competition record (archived)
39. Pepe – FIFA competition record (archived)
40. Sergio Ramos – FIFA competition record (archived)
41. Gianni Rivera – FIFA competition record (archived)
42. Pedro Rocha – FIFA competition record (archived)
43. Djalma Santos – FIFA competition record (archived)
44. Karl-Heinz Schnellinger – FIFA competition record (archived)
45. Enzo Scifo – FIFA competition record (archived)
46. Uwe Seeler – FIFA competition record (archived)
47. Xherdan Shaqiri – FIFA competition record (archived)
48. Rigobert Song – FIFA competition record (archived)
49. Luis Suárez – FIFA competition record (archived)
50. Franky Van der Elst – FIFA competition record (archived)
51. Władysław Żmuda – FIFA competition record (archived)
52. Andoni Zubizarreta – FIFA competition record (archived)
53. Mohamed Al-Deayea – FIFA competition record (archived)
54. Bobby Charlton – FIFA competition record (archived)
55. Fernando Hierro – FIFA competition record (archived)
56. Hwang Sun-Hong – FIFA competition record (archived)
57. Eiji Kawashima – FIFA competition record (archived)
58. Lee Woon-jae – FIFA competition record (archived)
59. Jim Leighton – FIFA competition record (archived)
60. Sepp Maier – FIFA competition record (archived)
61. Fernando Muslera – FIFA competition record (archived)
62. Claudio Reyna – FIFA competition record (archived)
63. Ronaldo – FIFA competition record (archived)
64. Nílton Santos – FIFA competition record (archived)
65. Thiago Silva – FIFA competition record (archived)
66. Marc Wilmots – FIFA competition record (archived)
67. Lev Yashin – FIFA competition record (archived)
68. Dobromir Zhechev – FIFA competition record (archived)
69. Dino Zoff – FIFA competition record (archived)
70. Enrico Albertosi – FIFA competition record (archived)
71. Oliver Kahn – FIFA competition record (archived)
72. Yoshikatsu Kawaguchi – FIFA competition record (archived)
73. Kasey Keller – FIFA competition record (archived)
74. Leão – FIFA competition record (archived)
75. Mark Milligan – FIFA competition record (archived)
76. Jacques Songo'o – FIFA competition record (archived)
77. Castilho – FIFA competition record (archived)
78. Seigo Narazaki – FIFA competition record (archived)
79. Pepe Reina – FIFA competition record (archived)

World Cup squad lists

1. "Portugal v Spain 2018". Archived from the original on 12 June 2018.
2. "Italy 1998". Archived from the original on 26 December 2013.
3. "Saudi Arabia 2006". Archived from the original on 20 December 2013.
4. "England 1958". Archived from the original on 27 December 2013.
5. "Spain 1990". Archived from the original on 27 December 2013.
6. "Korea Rep 1998". Archived from the original on 26 December 2013.
7. "Korea Rep 2010". Archived from the original on 21 December 2013.
8. "Scotland 1982". Archived from the original on 26 December 2013.
9. "FR Germany 1966". Archived from the original on 25 December 2013.
10. "USA 1994". Archived from the original on 26 December 2013.
11. "Brazil 1994". Archived from the original on 26 December 2013.
12. "Brazil 1950". Archived from the original on 23 December 2013.
13. "Belgium 1990". Archived from the original on 27 December 2013.
14. "Soviet Union 1970". Archived from the original on 26 December 2013.
15. "Bulgaria 1974". Archived from the original on 25 December 2013.
16. "Italy 1970". Archived from the original on 26 December 2013.
17. "Italy 1962". Archived from the original on 26 December 2013.
18. "Italy 1974". Archived from the original on 25 December 2013.
19. "Germany 1994". Archived from the original on 6 June 2014.
20. "Germany 1998". Archived from the original on 6 June 2014.
21. "Japan 2002". Archived from the original on 25 December 2013.
22. "Japan 2010". Archived from the original on 21 December 2013.
23. "USA 1990". Archived from the original on 27 December 2013.
24. "USA 2002". Archived from the original on 25 December 2013.
25. "Brazil 1970". Archived from the original on 26 December 2013.
26. "Brazil 1986". Archived from the original on 26 December 2013.
27. "Cameroon 1990". Archived from the original on 27 December 2013.
28. "Cameroon 2002". Archived from the original on 25 December 2013.
29. "Brazil 1958". Archived from the original on 27 December 2013.
30. "Brazil 1962". Archived from the original on 26 December 2013.
31. "Japan 1998". Archived from the original on 26 December 2013.
32. "Japan 2006". Archived from the original on 20 December 2013.

Ranking of players by World Cup matches

1. "FIFA World Cup Record: Players". FIFA.com. Fédération Internationale de Football Association. Archived from the original on 20 October 2007. Retrieved 21 June 2014.
2. "World Cup - All-time appearances". WorldFootball.net. Archived from the original on 17 December 2022. Retrieved 17 December 2022.

2018 World Cup match lineups

1. "Mexico v Germany". Archived from the original on 12 June 2018.
2. "Mexico 2018". Archived from the original on 28 May 2018.
3. "Argentina v Iceland 2018". Archived from the original on 12 June 2018.
4. "Brazil v Switzerland". Archived from the original on 12 June 2018.
5. "Australia v Peru". Archived from the original on 12 June 2018.

Other sources

1. Match of the Day [@BBCMOTD] (26 November 2022). "5 World Cups! A special milestone for Andres Guardado. He joins an exclusive club alongside fellow compatriots Antonio Carbajal and Rafael Marquez, plus Lothar Matthaus, Lionel Messi and Cristiano Ronaldo" (Tweet). Retrieved 27 November 2022– via Twitter.
2. Peterson, Anne M. (24 November 2022). "Mexico goalkeeper Ochoa wants more in his 5th World Cup". APnews.com. Associated Press. Retrieved 27 November 2022.