Right, it's now only 7 days away from the World Cup and we're getting excited, nostalgic and emotional all rolled into one. Suddenly, nothing else really matters! Here we are, standing on the cusp of more rich footballing history. And this year will be particularly tough for fans nearing their forties… and here’s why.
Look at them: Cristiano Ronaldo. Lionel Messi. Luka Modric. Guillermo Ochoa.
Four names from another football life, somehow still here, still standing, still part of the biggest tournament on the planet. Some of us here remember their debuts, their first goals, and have followed every kick since.
When the 2006 World Cup kicked off in Germany, Messi was a teenager with long hair and a shy smile. Ronaldo was already box-office, but still raw enough to feel like the future rather than the past. Modric was a skinny midfielder beginning to show Croatia what he might become. Ochoa was Mexico’s wild-haired young goalkeeper, waiting for his World Cup story to properly begin.
Twenty years later, they are still here, which is frankly ridiculous. Beautifully ridiculous.
The numbers behind the legends
Ronaldo will be 41 when the tournament starts, chasing the one trophy that has so far escaped him. He has scored 143 goals for Portugal, played more than 220 times for his country and already has eight World Cup goals to his name. He has lifted the Euros, the Nations League, won five Ballon d’Ors and broken enough records to fill a museum, but this is the one empty space on the wall.
Messi, at 38, arrives as the defending champion and the man who finally got his perfect ending in Qatar. Except maybe it was not the ending. He has 13 World Cup goals, more than 190 Argentina caps and the 2022 Golden Ball sitting beside the trophy he spent a lifetime chasing. For so long his World Cup story was pain, then it became poetry. We all thought he would retire a winner in Qatar, but he wants more. And so do we!
Modric is different. He is not chasing numbers in the same way. He is chasing one more dance. Croatia’s little conductor has taken his country to a World Cup final, a third-place finish and a Nations League final. He has close to 200 caps, a Ballon d’Or and that strange gift of making time slow down when everyone else is panicking.
Then there is Ochoa, the World Cup cult hero. The man who seems to disappear for four years, then reappear every tournament wearing gloves and chaos. He has over 150 Mexico caps and has produced some of the great modern World Cup goalkeeping nights, especially against Brazil in 2014 and Poland in 2022.
More than 700 players were part of that 2006 World Cup. Only these four have made it all the way to 2026.
Football moves fast. These legends refused to. We’re grateful to have them around for one last dance in Canada, USA and Mexico.
