Portuguese star football player Cristiano Ronaldo announced yesterday that he is ending his national team career, becoming the third star player, after Messi and Neymar, to bid farewell to the national team after the 2026 FIFA World Cup.
Ronaldo, Messi, 39, and Neymar, one of the legends of world football, ended their national team careers at the age of 34.
These three football players, who said goodbye to their national teams, continue their careers in their club teams. While Messi plays for Inter Miami, one of the US teams, Ronaldo continues to play for the Saudi Arabian club Al Nassr, and Neymar continues to play for the Brazilian club Santos.
Cristiano Ronaldo holds the record for male player scoring the most goals
The 41-year-old Portuguese player holds the records for the male player who wore the national team jersey the most and scored the most goals in the national team, with 234 matches he played and 146 goals he scored for Portugal.
Ronaldo's last match with the national team was in September, when Portugal beat Wales 1-0 in the UEFA Nations League.
The experienced player left the national team camp after he could not play in Portugal's 2-1 win over Norway in the UEFA Nations League. Ronaldo, who was fined 255 euros and banned for 30 days by the disciplinary board, said in his 1740-word statement that he would not leave the national team, in which he apologized to his teammates.
Considered one of the greatest players in football history, Ronaldo played for the Portuguese National Team for the first time in 2003.
Ronaldo won the 2016 European Championship and the UEFA Nations League twice with Portugal.
The star football player scored 11 goals in a total of 27 matches in 6 different World Cups he participated in throughout his career.
Ronaldo managed to score in every tournament played from 2006 to 2026, becoming the first football player to score in 6 different World Cups.
The star football player, who could not experience the joy of championship with Portugal in the World Cup, could not reach a happy ending in 2026 either.
While Ronaldo continues his football career at the Saudi team Al Nassr, he aims to score his 1000th goal in all competitions in his career.
Ronaldo, who continues to break records, stands out as the top scorer in football history. The experienced player is at the top of the list with 985 goals scored in 1343 matches in his club and national team career.
Ronaldo, who is the first football player to score 10 hat-tricks in national teams, is the only player to score in 6 World Cups, as well as becoming the top scorer (14) in the history of the European Football Championship.
Ronaldo won the Ballon d'Or award 5 times. The Portuguese football player, who was awarded this award for the first time in 2008 with Manchester United, developed his collection in Real Madrid and won the Golden Ball (Ballon d'Or) award in 2013, 2014, 2016 and 2017 with this team's jersey.
Ronaldo, who received the FIFA Best Men's Footballer of the Year award three times, in 2008 (Manchester United), 2016 and 2017 (Real Madrid), also won the Golden Shoe award, given to the top scorer of the year in Europe, 4 times (2007-2008, 2010-2011, 2013-2014, 2014-2015).
Lionel Messi said goodbye to the national team with a goal
39-year-old star football player Lionel Messi ended his national team career by scoring his last goal in his country's jersey in the friendly match in which Argentina beat Benin 3-0 on October 7.
The Argentinian football player scored 126 goals and won 6 cups with the national team jersey on his back in 208 matches he played on the field for 21 years.
Messi is the player with the most appearances in the Argentine National Team, with 208 matches.
The Argentinian football player, who scored 126 goals in the competitions in question, ended his national team career as the player who scored the most goals with the national team jersey in South America.
Messi won a total of 6 trophies with his national team: 1 FIFA World Cup, 2 Cup America, 1 Finalissima, 1 Olympic and 1 FIFA Under-20 World Cup championship.
Lionel Messi, who won the World Cup title with Argentina, succeeded in reaching the final in 2026 after this victory in 2022.
While Messi once again took his country to the final of the 2026 FIFA World Cup, the last tournament of his national team career, Argentina, which lost 1-0 to Spain in extra time, completed the organization with a silver medal.
The experienced football player scored 8 goals in the 2026 FIFA World Cup.
Messi is the player who has played the most matches in the history of the World Cup with 34 matches.
The Argentinian football player also holds the record of the player who won the most matches in the history of the FIFA World Cup, with 23 wins, 5 draws and 6 losses in 34 matches.
The Argentinian star, who appeared in six different World Cups (2006, 2010, 2014, 2018, 2022, 2026), scored 7 times in the tournament where they won the championship in 2022 and scored 8 goals in 2026.
Messi is the 2nd player to score the most goals in World Cup history with 21 goals.
At the top is French football player Kylian Mbappe with 22 goals.
Neymar left after the World Cup
Brazil's star football player Neymar, who lost 2-1 to Norway in the last 16 rounds of the 2026 FIFA World Cup on July 6 and bid farewell to the tournament, announced his retirement from the national team after the match.
Speaking about his national team career after the match played at the MetLife Stadium in New Jersey, Neymar said, "I tried, but it ended. I put an end to it here." he said.
The 34-year-old striker ended his national team career as the top scorer of the "Sambacılar" with 80 goals in 130 matches.
The "Sambaci", who won their last World Cup championship in 2002, have not been able to reach the top of world football again in the last 24 years.
While the "Sambacılar" had the joy of championship 5 times before, Neymar said goodbye to the national team before adding a World Cup to his career.
Neymar has a contract with Santos, one of the Brazilian Serie A teams, until the end of December 2026.
The Brazilian star football player returned to Santos, where he started playing football, in January 2025.
After playing for Spain's Barcelona and France's Paris Saint-Germain teams, the star football player was transferred to the Saudi Arabian team Al Hilal in August 2023.
Neymar, who was transferred from the Spanish team Barcelona to the French representative PSG with a record transfer fee of 222 million euros in the 2017-2018 season, has been at the top of the list of the most expensive transfers of all time since then.
