TOP 14 PLAYERS WHO MAY HAVE PLAYED THEIR LAST WORLD CUP IN 2022

Few months are passed after the 2022 World in Qatar and the excitement around the world still stands. The biggest stars in the world of football, namely Lionel Messi, Cristiano Ronaldo, Luka Modric and Robert Lewandowski, featured in the 2022 World Cup and in all probability is that this would have be their end game in World Cup.

Both Messi and Ronaldo made their World Cup debuts in 2006 and they appeared in their fifth World Cup in Qatar. Despite being one of the greatest players of all time, neither Messi nor Ronaldo had been able to lay their hands on the trophy until 2022 when Messi broke silenced the haters. Messi had also come close to lifting the trophy in 2014 but missed out by a whisker as Germany beat Argentina in the final.

Below are the top 15 players who may have played their last World Cup in Qatar 2022:

1. Lionel Messi

Country: Argentina

World Cup debut: 2006

Age: 34

Position: Forward

Messi made his World Cup debut at the age of 18 in Argentina's second group stage game against Serbia and Montenegro. He was subbed on in the 74th minute, quickly assisted the team's fourth goal and scored the sixth in the 6-0 victory. 2010 World Cup — South Africa Argentina's World Cup run ended in a 4-0 quarter-final defeat against Germany. 2014 World Cup — Brazil Despite not winning, Messi was still awarded the Golden Ball as best player of the tournament. Once again, his failure to bring home any hardware for his country drew plenty of criticism from local press. 2018 World Cup — Russia The first 180 minutes of Lionel Messi's return to international tournament soccer were a disaster. He missed a penalty that would have given Argentina the lead over Iceland, so his team had to settle for a 1-1 draw. Unfortunately for him, it wasn't enough as France won 4-3 on the back of Kylian Mbappe's double.

2. Cristiano Ronaldo

Country: Portugal

World Cup debut: 2006

Age: 37

Position: Forward

Ronaldo made his World Cup debut in 2006 - at the age of 21 - when the tournament was held in Germany. South Africa 2010 Four years after his World Cup breakthrough in Germany, a 25-year-old Ronaldo arrived in South Africa in 2010 as the world's most expensive player - having signed for Real Madrid for €94 million. Brazil 2014. Portugal's route to the 2014 World Cup involved a play-off against Sweden, in which Ronaldo scored four goals across the two legs, including a hat-trick in the second leg in Solna. But the game in Salvador turned out to be a total disaster as Pepe was sent off in the first-half and Joachim Low's men won 4-0 - the worst ever World Cup defeat experienced by Portugal. Russia 2018 Russia 2018 was Ronaldo's fourth time playing at a World Cup and he brought his number of appearances in the tournament to 17 in that edition. He also more than doubled his overall goal tally by scoring four times - including a hat-trick against Spain.

3. Robert Lewandowski

Country: Poland

World Cup debut: 2018

Age: 33

Position: Forward

In 2018, the Bundesliga's top scorer Robert Lewandowski suffered a disappointing World Cup debut as his Poland side were beaten 2-1 by Senegal.

The prolific Bayern Munich striker converted a penalty in the 50th minute to set Poland on its way to a 2-0 win over Sweden in one of the European playoff finals for a place in this year’s tournament in Qatar 2022.

4. Luis Suarez

Country: Uruguay

World Cup debut: 2010

Age: 35

Position: Forward

Suarez has 76 International appearances with 3 World Cup Appearances, 39 International goals and he had his International debut: 07/02/2007, Colombia-Uruguay (1-3). His last most recent international appearance was on 21/11/2013 with Uruguay playing against Jordan (Uruguay-Jordan (0-0)). Suarez reached the semi-finals of the World Cup with Uruguay 12 years ago in South Africa, before they were beaten by Holland. They were then eliminated in the last 16 of the 2014 tournament by Colombia. And four years ago in Russia they came unstuck in the quarter-finals against eventual winners France.

5. Edinson Cavani

Country: Uruguay

World Cup debut: 2010

Age: 35

Position: Forward

Born in Salto, Uruguay, Edinson Roberto Cavani Gómez had a passion for the game from a young age. He made his debut for Uruguay in February of 2008 against Columbia, scoring his first international goal in a 2-2 draw. He was also a part of the impressive 2010 World Cup Uruguay squad that made the semi-finals of the tournament against Germany, Cavani scored to tie the match, but Germany ultimately prevailed 3-2. As Cavani continued to be in devastating form for Uruguay in 2014 World Cup qualifiers, Uruguay qualified after a play-off for the 2014 FIFA World Cup.

6. Luka Modric

Country: Croatia

World Cup debut: 2006

Age: 36

Position: Midfielder

Modric helped lead Croatia to their first appearance in the World Cup final this year. He was on the 2006 and 2014 squads that were eliminated in the group stage. Croatia did not qualify for the World Cup in 2010. Luka Modric was awarded the Golden Ball as the World Cup's best player after France beat Croatia 4-2 in the World Cup final. Modric, 32, scored two goals and had one assist in Russia. Croatia's captain also led the tournament in minutes played and miles ran. At the club level, Modric has won four Champions League titles with Real Madrid.

7. Manuel Neuer

Country: Germany

World Cup debut: 2010

Age: 36

Position: Goalkeeper

Neuer began competing with the German national team on June 2, 2009, in a match against the United Arab Emirates. The following year, he appeared in his first World Cup, with Germany finishing in third place. At the 2014 World Cup, Neuer amassed a save rate of 86.2 percent and allowed only four goals in seven matches. In the final, Germany defeated Argentina 1–0. With a 2-0 loss to South Korea, Germany is out of the World Cup with just three points in group play. The Germans faced it rough early in the tournament, losing their opener to Mexico then facing a 1-1 draw with Sweden

8. Thomas Muller

Country: Germany

World Cup debut: 2010

Age: 32

Position: Forward

In the 2010 FIFA World Cup, he made his debut against Argentina as a 66th-minute substitute, against Bosnia and Herzegovina, in which Germany emerged victorious by the margin of 3-1. At the 2014 World Cup he played a major role in helping the team win the trophy, scoring five goals and receiving the Silver Boot as the tournament’s second top goal scorer, and was also named in the World Cup All Star XI.

9. Dani Alves

Country: Brazil

World Cup debut: 2010

Age: 38

Position: Right-back

His first World Cup was that played in South Africa in 2010, in which Brazil were knocked out at the quarter final stage by Holland, and he was also in the squad when Brazil was the venue for both the Confederations Cup, wihich his country was in 2013, and the World Cup itself in 2014, where Brazil went out to Germany in the semi-finals.

10. Thiago Silva

Country: Brazil

World Cup debut: 2010

Age: 37

Position: Central defender

He is setting sights on featuring at one more World Cup for his country, despite the fact that he'd almost certainly be one of the oldest players involved in Qatar in 2022. His achievements for Brazil include winning the 2013 Confederations Cup and the 2019 Copa America. He has also played in two Olympic Games (Bejing 2008 and London 2012) as well as playing in the 2010, 2014 and 2018 World Cups. He now joins an exclusive list of Brazilian players including Pele, Garrincha, Ronaldinho, Neymar, Zico, Romario

11. Eden Hazard

Country: Belgium

World Cup debut: 2010

Age: 31

Position: Winger

Hazard was also named in the international squad of Belgium to play 2014 FIFA World Cup. He remained key player throughout the tournament and led his team to the quarter finals. On 7 June 2015, he captained Belgium national team. Belgium arguably played the best football at the 2018 World Cup and captain Eden Hazard finished the tournament as the highest WhoScored rated player. Hazard had the fourth best success rate It comes as no surprise that Hazard and completed more dribbles than any other player at the 2018 World Cup. Hazard won the WhoScored Man of the Match award and claimed second place in FIFA’s Golden Ball award despite the fact Belgium finished third.

12. Hugo Lloris

Country: France

World Cup debut: 2010

Age: 35

Position: Goalkeeper

A long-serving French international, Hugo played at the 2010 FIFA World Cup in South Africa and captained his country for the first time in November, 2010, against England at Wembley. He now regularly wears the armband even at the 2014 FIFA World Cup, at Euro 2016, where they suffered defeat at the hands of Portugal in the final on home soil, and the 2018 FIFA World Cup in Russia. He began the 2018/19 season as a World Cup winner with France. With France qualified for this year’s World Cup Qatar, Lloris is set to captain the national team in a World Cup for the third consecutive time.

13. Sergio Busquets

Country: Spain

World Cup debut: 2010

Age: 33

Position: Midfielder

His international debut came on 1 April 2009 in a World Cup Qualifiers game against Turkey. He had come as a replacement for David Silva in that 2-1 win. Busquets was also part of the 2010 FIFA World Cup winning Spanish team. On 9 October 2017, he celebrated his 100th international match against Israel and helped the team to win this 2018 World Cup Qualifiers game by 1-0.

14. Angel Di Maria

Country: Argentina

World Cup debut: 2010

Age: 33

Position: Winger

Di Maria made his debut for the senior Argentinian squad on 6th September 2008 against Paraguay and lasted for 46 minutes in a 1-1 draw. Di Maria was a part of the 2014 FIFA World Cup squad of Argentina and helped his country to the final where they were beaten by Germany. He scored an incredible goal in France vs. Argentina 2018 in their Round of 16 knockout match which tied the match 1-1.