World Cup Countdown: 51 players have played at four World Cups | OneFootball

There are 51 days to go until Russia 2018 kicks off and there are 51 players who have represented their country at four different World Cups.

The list includes such luminaries as Pelé, Diego Maradona, Ronaldo and Paolo Maldini, but it might surprise you to learn that in the history of the tournament, only three players have featured at five World Cups – Antonio Carbajal, Lothar Matthäus and Gianluigi Buffon.

Antonio Carbajal

A Mexican international, Carbajal held the record for most World Cup appearances for 32 years until it was eventually equalled by Matthäus in 1998. The goalkeeper played at the 1954 tournament in Switzerland, Sweden ’58, Chile ’62 and England ’66, although sadly, he never made it past the first round.

Lothar Matthäus

The German legend holds the record for most matches played at a World Cup with 25. Of the five World Cups in which he participated between 1982 and 1998, the Terminator reached the quarter-finals twice (’94 and ’98) and the final three times (’82, ’86 and ’90) with his sole winners’ medal coming following a final victory over Argentina at Italia ’90.

Gianluigi Buffon

The much celebrated Italian goalkeeper could have surpassed both Carbajal and Matthäus in the World Cup appearance stakes, if only the Azzurri had qualified for Russia 2018. As it is, Buffon played at five World Cups between 1998 and 2014 and became a world champion when Italy beat France on penalties in the final at Germany 2006.