Creaking Cristiano Ronaldo’s presence at World Cup is more a curse than a blessing | Jonathan Wilson

Source: The Guardian Link: https://www.theguardian.com/football/2026/may/30/cristiano-ronaldo-world-cup-lionel-messi-luka-modric Published: May 30, 2026 Keywords: Canada Veterans such as Messi and Modric are much in evidence at the finals, but an obsession with celebrity may undermine Portugal It turns out that 2022 wasn’t Lionel Messi’s last dance after all. He will turn 39 during the World Cup, but despite concerns over the “muscular overload” that led to him limping out of Inter Miami’s 6-4 win over Philadelphia Union on Sunday, he remains the figure on whom Argentinian hopes rely. Messi won’t be the only veteran in Canada, the US and Mexico: Cristiano Ronaldo, aged 41, will also be there – inevitably, given how his career and Messi’s seem inextricably bound. So will Luka Modric and Edin Dzeko, plus the goalkeepers Manuel Neuer, Craig Gordon, Guillermo Ochoa and Vozinha, all of whom are 40. And there is one 39-year-old other than Messi: the Japan defender Yuto Nagatomo. Continue reading... --- This article was automatically collected by the Observatory News Scraper.