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It will surely be their final World Cup.
Although Lionel Messi – who celebrates his 39th birthday today – and Cristiano Ronaldo – aged 41 – show no sign of letting up on the biggest stage.
Two goals from Messi against Austria on Monday took him to 18 goals at the top of the all-time World Cup goalscoring charts. Meanwhile, Ronaldo became the first player to score at six different World Cups with a double against Uzbekistan on Tuesday.
After Messi’s hat-trick against Algeria in Argentina’s opening match, then a double on Monday night, the pressure was on Ronaldo.
Following a sub-par performance in Portugal’s opening 1-1 draw with DR Congo, Ronaldo was faced with post-match criticism and rumours about a breakdown in relationships with some of his international team-mates. But he responded with his record-breaking moment.
Six minutes into Portugal’s match with Uzbekistan, he scored in a sixth consecutive World Cup; 2006, 2010, 2014, 2018, 2022, 2026.
The other player to feature in each of those tournaments is Messi – but he failed to score in 2010.
Ronaldo’s goals against Uzbekistan ended a run of 11 World Cup matches without a goal, since the opening match of the 2022 World Cup against Ghana.
Did Ronaldo himself even have concerns about his own performance? His post-match actions – saying “I’m back” directly down the camera lens at full-time – were indicative of a player who has struggled to make the same seismic impacts he once did.
“He is a human being,” his manager Roberto Martinez said of that interaction. “He is allowed to have feelings.”
“This is what he does,” Ronaldo’s former Manchester United team-mate Wayne Rooney told BBC Sport. “He takes some criticism and this is how he responds.”
Over the past two decades, there have not been many moments when Ronaldo has had to climb “back” to the summit of the sport.
He is now the second-oldest goalscorer in World Cup history at the age of 41 years and 138 days, trailing only Cameroon legend Roger Milla (42 years and 39 days).
With his two goals on Monday, he is also the third player to hold the honour of being his country’s youngest and oldest World Cup goalscorer.
One other is Denmark’s Michael Laudrup. The other? Messi. Both Ronaldo and Messi have scored their first and last World Cup goals for their country 20 years and 11 days apart, at the time of writing.
