Messi, Ronaldo, Modrić defy their biological clocks as stars push middle age

It could be a World Cup scene from 2006 or 2026: Cristiano Ronaldo teeing up for a penalty kick to put Portugal through; Lionel Messi scoring for Argentina; Luka Modrić driving Croatia’s attack.

Players in their mid-30s and older used to be rare. In 2026, they made up about 6% of the 48 national team squads. And more of them than ever are on the cusp of middle age, widely considered to begin at 40. Eight of the 20 oldest ever to play in a World Cup match took the field in 2026, according to FIFA statistics.

Propelled by advancements in science and medicine — and incentivized by lucrative contracts and sponsorships — players are doing everything they can to stay in the game a little bit longer. Looking more broadly, the proportion of players who have entered their 30s has also increased with time.

It’s typically an elite group. Ronaldo, Messi and Modrić dominated the Ballon d’Or, the most prestigious individual award in the sport, in the two decades since their first appearances at the biggest sporting event in the world. But there were also older breakout stars that dazzled during the tournament.

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Most notable was the 40-year-old Cape Verdean goalkeeper who goes by Vozinha, or “Little Grandmother” in Portuguese. He went viral on social media after shutting out Spain in his country's World Cup debut, a David-versus-Goliath battle, then turned in another standout performance as Cape Verde pushed Argentina, also a tournament favorite, to extra time before falling in the first knockout round.

The players are aware of the years. Messi, who turned 39 during the tournament, said before it started that his physical condition would determine the role he plays for Argentina, the defending champion. He and teammate Nicolas Otamendi, 38, are the only “senior” players still in the competition.

It’s turned out to be a critical role. Messi — a leader in the race for what would be his first World Cup Golden Boot, awarded to the player who gets the most goals — got the assist that brought Argentina alive in the 79th minute when the team was trailing Egypt in its Game of 16 knockout round. He delivered the equalizer less than five minutes later.

Messi’s stellar performance has surprised even his staunchest supporters. He’s broken several records during his latest run, including becoming the first player to score in eight consecutive World Cup matches, and now holds the title for the most goals scored in the event’s history. The superlatives are leading some observers, including retired Swedish superstar Zlatan Ibrahimović, a broadcaster analyzing the tournament for Fox Sports, to speculate on a potential Messi return in 2030.

Peak Performance

The gains can be chalked up to several core changes in recent years. Training now is based on the individual player’s needs. Time spent in competition, and subsequent recovery, is tightly managed to help them hit the final stretch in peak form.

“You see Messi in the way he’s playing, sometimes he’s walking around the pitch,” said Pablo Zabaleta, a former Argentine professional footballer who played alongside Messi in the 2014 World Cup final. Messi isn’t walking because he’s 39, Zabeleta said at a FIFA Technical Study Group briefing. “He’s just walking to find the right space to get the ball in the best position possible and then, probably, make the difference from there.”

Rather than the “run until you drop” philosophy of the 1980s, strategies promote tissue repair and energy recovery after intense training, said Riley Williams, director of the FIFA Medical Centre of Excellence at the Hospital for Special Surgery.

“These high-functioning players are very valuable, so you want to watch them, you want to preserve them, you want to give them feedback on a day-to-day basis with regard to how can we best preserve their ability,” Williams said.

The right approach can add three to five years to a professional athlete’s career, said Andy Galpin, a sports scientist and coach who works with elite athletes. His team puts sensors on athletes’ shoes and clothes, their hearts and heads, in their toilets and bedrooms. They can monitor heart rates, sleep cycles, sweat, hormones and more to find ways to improve performance.

GPS tracking vests from companies like Catapult Sports monitor athletes’ speed and distance traveled. The technology allows coaches to fine-tune playing time and can help doctors catch potential infections earlier, said Claudius Müller, a sports scientist at Catapult, which works with more than half of the teams at the World Cup.

Surgical advances and physical therapy are also having an impact. Torn ligaments and Achilles injuries that used to be devastating can be surmounted with targeted rehabilitation to prevent muscle loss during recovery, Williams said.

“The list of career-ending injuries has significantly decreased over the past 20 years,” he said.

Disciplined Approach
Fewer elite athletes now subscribe to the work-hard, play-hard culture often depicted in popular media.

“The party scene is just way down,” said Michael Joyner, a researcher who specializes in the physiology of elite athletes. Players are conditioning year round, with coaches, cooks and masseuses to help manage their diet and training, he said.

A long career pays off. Ronaldo, who at 41 was the oldest player to take the pitch in a 2026 World Cup match, became the first football billionaire in October after a deal with the Saudi Arabian team Al-Nassr. Messi soon followed in the billionaire ranks, thanks to a stream of sponsorships and deals.

“Athletes are paying more attention to what they put in their bodies, how they eat, how they recover, how they sleep, and how they focus on their body as their investment,” said Alexander Weber, an orthopedic surgeon at the Keck School of Medicine of University of Southern California. “Now, the young players coming into the league, the vast majority of them either drink alcohol very seldomly, or not at all.”

And while the end comes for us all, there may be room to run for some elite athletes.

“If someone had said to you in 2006 that Ronaldo would be playing and starting for Portugal twenty years from now, and have three goals at the group stage, you’d be like, ‘What are you talking about?’” Williams said. Maybe there’s room for even older athletes on the pitch.

“Never say never,” he said.