Liverpool legend Robbie Fowler named superstar forwards Lionel Messi and Cristiano Ronaldo in his all-time FIFA World Cup XI. The Englishman picked the two iconic attackers, who will be seen in action at this summer’s footballing extravaganza, to lead the line in his team.
Widely considered to be two of the greatest players of all-time, Messi and Ronaldo have asserted their dominance on the sport for the better part of two decades. The pair have collectively racked up 1883 goals and 675 assists in 2479 games, winning 13 Ballon d’Or titles between them (eight for the Argentine and five for the Portuguese icon) (stats via messivsronaldo.app).
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Having featured in every World Cup tournament since 2006, Cristiano has bagged eight goals and two assists in 22 tournament appearances. His best-ever result in the competition with Portugal was a fourth-placed finish, achieved in the 2006 edition.
Messi has also featured in the last five World Cups, with 13 goals and eight assists in 26 tournament appearances. His Argentina side fell short against Germany in the final of the 2014 edition; however, he led them to the title with a win over France in the 2022 edition.
Speaking to Daily Mail Sport on behalf of BetMGM, Fowler admitted that it was a ‘nightmare’ for him to just pick 11 players in his all-time lineup. He started off by naming four forwards – Ronaldo, Messi, Ronaldo Nazario and Diego Maradona – before choosing to exclude the Brazilian marksman.
In midfield, he chose 1994 winner Dunga (with Brazil), 2010 winner Andres Iniesta (with Spain) and his former Liverpool teammate and England captain Steven Gerrard. In the centre of the defence, he selected Three Lions duo Rio Ferdinand and John Terry, with 2002 winner Roberto Carlos (with Brazil) and 2014 winner Philipp Lahm (with Germany) as the full-backs.
He rounded his team out with another 2014 winner, Manuel Neuer, in between the sticks.
Lionel Messi and Cristiano Ronaldo set to break appearance record at 2026 FIFA World Cup
Legendary forwards Lionel Messi and Cristiano Ronaldo are set to break an iconic FIFA World Cup record at the 2026 edition.
As it stands, the pair are two of six players to have played a game at five different World Cup editions. They share the record with Mexican trio Antonio Carbajal, Rafael Marquez and Andres Guardado, as well as German legend Lothar Matthaus.
If they make an appearance at the upcoming tournament, the Argentine and Portuguese legends will become the only two players to have played at six different World Cup tournaments. Another record could also potentially be in the latter’s sight, depending on his team’s performances in the group stage.
While Messi is already the outright leader in terms of appearances at the tournament (26 games), Ronaldo is not far behind (22 games). If Portugal makes it out of the group stage and the latter features in every game, he will surpass Matthaus (25 games) and cement himself as second on the list.
Portugal will take on DR Congo (June 17), Uzbekistan (June 23) and Colombia (June 27) in the group stage of the competition. On the other hand, Argentina will face off against Algeria (June 16), Austria (June 22) and Jordan (June 27).
Edited by Aaryan Nagraj
