\t\t\t\t\t \t\t\t\t\t \t\t\t\t\t The 2026 World Cup will undoubtedly be remembered in the coming years as Argentine football superstar Lionel Messi\u2019s last dance. The Albiceleste captain has toyed with international retirement for a while, but at 38, this is likely the last time he\u2019ll represent his country at world football\u2019s biggest stage. However, he\u2019s not alone.<\/p>\n
Alongside Messi, plenty of stars from Latin America are likely wrapping up their international careers, with the upcoming 2030 Saudi Arabia World Cup likely a bridge too far for them.<\/p>\n
Let\u2019s take a look at who they are and what they achieved over their careers.<\/p>\n
Guillermo Ochoa \u2013 Mexico The 2026 World Cup will already be an important milestone in Guillermo Ochoa\u2019s career, as he gets to represent his country at home. However, a surprising run to the deciding stages for the Tri will probably make Ochoa happier than most, with the legendary Mexican goalkeeper set to turn 41 just six days before the final.<\/p>\n
Having come through the Club Am\u00e9rica academy, Ochoa debuted as a professional in 2004 at 18. An acrobatic goalkeeper with a taste for flair, he played in France, Spain, and Belgium before returning to Mexican team Am\u00e9rica in 2019. Since departing his home club in 2022, he\u2019s played in Italy and Portugal and is currently with AEL Limassol in Cyprus.<\/p>\n
Having represented Mexico in 153 games and five World Cups, he\u2019ll become one of only three players \u2014 alongside Messi and Portugal\u2019s Cristiano Ronaldo \u2014 to be selected for six tournaments.<\/p>\n
Neymar Jr. \u2013 Brazil It sounds difficult to believe Brazilian superstar Neymar Jr. could be about to feature in the World Cup for the last time. However, at age 34 and having only narrowly made the squad for 2026, it\u2019s also hard to see him holding on until 2030.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Perhaps the last great Brazilian striker, and certainly the greatest of his generation, Neymar first impressed the world as a scrawny 17-year-old kid. Having come through at Santos, and with his devilish speed, dribbling skills, and flair, comparisons with Brazilian great Pel\u00e9 were never too far.<\/p>\n
Neymar moved to FC Barcelona in 2013, where he was part of the deadliest attacking trio of the era alongside Messi and Uruguay\u2019s Luis Su\u00e1rez. Four years later, however, he moved to Paris Saint-Germain, seeking greater exposure. It proved an unsuccessful move that eventually cost him, as injuries and pressure saw him lose some of his panache.<\/p>\n
Since 2025, he\u2019s been back at Santos, where he\u2019s struggled to have the same impact.<\/p>\n
James Rodr\u00edguez \u2013 Colombia A similar case to Neymar, James Rodriguez is still only 34, even if he\u2019ll be 35 before the World Cup ends. However, rumors of a potential post-World Cup retirement have recently surfaced, and while the Colombian star has rejected them, it seems unlikely he\u2019ll reach 2030.<\/p>\n
Having first broken through at Envigado, one of Colombia\u2019s most prestigious football academy clubs, Rodr\u00edguez had his first big moments at Argentina\u2019s Banfield, where he won the title in 2009. From there, he jumped to FC Porto in Portugal, AS Monaco in France, and then Real Madrid.\u00a0<\/p>\n
However, the move to the Spanish giant proved difficult, and even after a successful loan stint at Bayern Munich in Germany, the Colombian star slowed down. Since then, he\u2019s played for a myriad of clubs in England, Qatar, Greece, Brazil and Mexico and is currently part of Major League Soccer\u2019s Minnesota United.<\/p>\n
Enner Valencia \u2013 Ecuador The man who scored the first goal of Qatar 2022 and an Ecuadorian legend in his own right, Valencia was part of the generation that brought the South American country back to the World Cup after 8 years in 2014, alongside other greats like Antonio Valencia \u2014 not related \u2014 and Carlos Gruezo.<\/p>\n
Having come through one of Ecuador\u2019s biggest teams in Emelec, Valencia quickly showed his skill as a striker, earning moves to Mexico\u2019s Pachuca first and England\u2019s West Ham later.<\/p>\n
After a long and successful career in which he became Ecuador\u2019s all-time leading goalscorer, Valencia is back at Pachuca at 36. Having led his nation back to the World Cup twice in the last four years, and with strong prospects pushing behind him like Kendry Paez and Gonzalo Plata, it\u2019s very unlikely that he\u2019ll be back in four years\u2019 time.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
The 2026 World Cup will undoubtedly be remembered in the coming years as Argentine football superstar Lionel Messi\u2019s last dance. The Albiceleste captain has toyed with international retirement for a while, but at 38, this is likely the last time he\u2019ll represent his country at world football\u2019s biggest stage. However, he\u2019s not alone. Alongside Messi, […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":11,"featured_media":78880,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[5063,20245,66,20246,18863,16111,67,339],"tags":[5307,20241,1368,20242,20243,20244,1369,3576],"class_list":["post-78879","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-2026-world-cup","category-enner-valencia","category-football","category-guillermo-ochoa","category-james-rodriguez","category-neymar","category-sports","category-world-cup-2026","tag-2026-world-cup","tag-enner-valencia","tag-football","tag-guillermo-ochoa","tag-james-rodriguez","tag-neymar","tag-sports","tag-world-cup-2026"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/service.codeus.ca\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/78879","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/service.codeus.ca\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/service.codeus.ca\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/service.codeus.ca\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/11"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/service.codeus.ca\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=78879"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/service.codeus.ca\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/78879\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/service.codeus.ca\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/78880"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/service.codeus.ca\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=78879"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/service.codeus.ca\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=78879"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/service.codeus.ca\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=78879"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}