The upcoming World Cup will have a historic component that is impossible to ignore: it will be the first and last time that Lionel Messi, Cristiano Ronaldo, Kylian Mbappe and Erling Haaland will meet in a World Cup. A constellation of talent that, for reasons of age, cycles and sporting contexts, will not be repeated, marking a unique event for fans.
The simultaneous presence of Messi and Cristiano is already a statistical anomaly. Both have prolonged extraordinary careers for almost two decades and yet they arrive at this final event at a twilight point. At their ages, it is practically impossible for them to play in another World Cup. That is why this edition becomes the definitive farewell of the two giants who dominated global soccer for more than 15 years.
Messi and Cristiano: an inevitable farewell to an unrepeatable era
For Lionel Messi, this World Cup represents the end of a golden cycle with Argentina. A world champion, Copa America winner and multiple Ballon d’Or winner, the Argentine arrives at the tournament with the certainty that it will be his last participation. His level is still high, but the calendar no longer allows him to think about a new World Cup cycle.Cristiano Ronaldo is in a similar situation with Portugal. Although his physical fitness is still admirable, age will no longer allow him to aspire to another World Cup. This will be the final chapter for the national team’s all-time leading scorer in the world’s most important tournament, marking the definitive end of one of the greatest rivalries in sporting history.
Mbappe and Haaland: the start of a new hegemony
On the other side of this generational equation are Kylian Mbappe and Erling Haaland, the two players who are expected to dominate the next decade of world soccer. Mbappe already knows what it is like to shine at a World Cup: champion in 2018 and an absolute figure in 2022, he is already established as one of the leaders of modern soccer.
Haalandscored 12 goals against Honduras in an U-20 World Cup
Norway had not qualified since 1998, a year before he was born in 1999
. His presence symbolizes the Scandinavian country’s return to the tournament after more than two decades of absence.
A lineup of eras that will not be repeated
makes this World Cup an unrepeatable event
. It is a clash of generations, styles and legacies that cross paths only at this point in history.
We will experience something that football will not be able to offer us again: the first and last World Cup shared between Messi, Cristiano, Mbappe and Haaland.
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