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Lionel Messi and Cristiano Ronaldo have both enjoyed legendary careers that will no doubt see them enshrined as icons of soccer by the time they decide to hang up their boots.
Yet the two are inextricably linked, as they built a high-profile rivalry simply by having existed in the same era of football history.
Largely, the narrative behind this rivalry was artificially engineered by fans and media instead of cultivated naturally on the pitch, since the two players did not match up against one another often during their careers. The majority of the matches between Messi and Ronaldo came during the latter's time at Real Madrid, seeing them contest the famous El Clasico rivalry multiple times a year.
Outside of that, however, it was exceedingly rare that the two ever met. As such, one look at the 2026 FIFA World Cup bracket has generated considerable excitement between the fervent fans on both sides of the coin, with the understanding that the two could potentially face off in the first-ever competitive meeting between the two on the international stage.
Yet it's far from guaranteed that this will come to pass, as the football gods must give their consent for the matchup to play out. The Sporting News explains what must happen for Messi's Argentina and Ronaldo's Portugal to meet at the World Cup this summer, an event which would generate unfathomable levels of buzz and interest throughout the world.
MORE: Comparing the career milestones of Messi and Ronaldo, from goals to trophies and more
Have Lionel Messi and Cristiano Ronaldo played at the World Cup?
Amidst the twists and turns of their storied rivalry, modern soccer legends Lionel Messi and Cristiano Ronaldo have never faced off at the FIFA World Cup.
They have only met twice on the international stage, both coming in international friendlies.
The first meeting between the two happened in February of 2011, when a goal and assist from Messi saw Argentina beat Portugal 2-1 in Geneva, Switzerland. Ronaldo scored a consolation for Portugal, leveling the game 21 minutes in after a 14th-minute opener from Angel Di Maria, but Messi struck in the 90th minute with a dramatic winner.
A rematch was arranged three years later in November of 2014, when they clashed at Old Trafford, the home of English club Manchester United.
This time, Ronaldo got revenge, as a goal from Raphael Guerreiro in stoppage time saw Portugal snatch a 1-0 victory.
How Messi and Ronaldo can meet at the 2026 World Cup
As Portugal and Argentina could not be drawn together in the group stage, with both teams ranked high enough to be drawn from Pot 1, they can only square off in the knockout round.
Obviously, there are numerous possibilities for any team in the 48-team field to meet any other team, so until the group stage concludes and the knockout bracket is formulated, we will focus on potential matchups earlier in the elimination round where predicting the potential scenarios is less dependent on an uncomfortable number of variables and what-ifs.
There are a few ways that Lionel Messi and Cristiano Ronaldo can meet at the 2026 FIFA World Cup, but there is one pathway to an iconic Argentina vs. Portugal matchup that stands out amongst the rest.
Option 1 — Group winners
With both teams expected to win their respective groups — Group K for Portugal and Group J for Argentina — it's highly possible for these two teams to clash in the quarterfinals.
Should both Argentina and Portugal win their group, they would be slotted into the same pod in the knockout bracket. Both would get third-place finishers in the Round of 32.
From there, should they advance, their Round of 16 tests would be slightly different; Portugal would likely have to face the winner of Group B (Switzerland, Canada, Qatar, Bosnia & Herzegovina) in the Round of 32, unless they were upset by a third-place finisher, while Argentina would meet the winner of a runner-up game between Group D (USA, Australia, Turkey, Paraguay) and Group G (Belgium, Egypt, Iran, New Zealand).
If both teams survive those two games, they would square off in the quarterfinals on July 11 at Arrowhead Stadium in Kansas City. Interestingly, Argentina will have played two group games at this venue already, giving them a bit of familiarity with the location.
Option 2 — Runners-up
If one of Portugal and Argentina finishes first in their group, while the other finishes second, they would be drawn on opposite sides of the bracket and could not meet until the final.
However, if both teams finish second in their group, they could potentially square off even earlier than anticipated.
In the Round of 32, the runner-up from Group K (in this scenario, Portugal) would meet the runner-up from Group L (England, Croatia, Panama, Ghana), while the runner-up from Group J (in this scenario, Argentina) would meet the runner-up from Group H (Spain, Uruguay, Saudi Arabia, Cape Verde).
Should they both advance through to the Round of 16, they would meet on July 6 at AT&T Stadium in Arlington, Texas.
Option 3 — Argentina finish third
The unlikeliest scenario for an early knockout matchup between Argentina and Portugal results from a scenario where Argentina disappoint in the group stage and qualify for the knockout round as one of the top eight third-place finishers.
If this happens, there are a whopping five possible places a Group J third-place qualifier could end up in the bracket. One of those happens to be facing the winner of Group K, where Portugal reside. Therefore, if Portugal win their group, and Argentina qualify as a third-place finisher, it's possible they could meet in the Round of 32.
Still, there is more that has to happen for this scenario to play out. FIFA has listed a nauseating 495 possible combinations of the eight third-place qualifiers, based on which group they came from. 330 include a qualifier from Argentina's Group J, and of those 330 outcomes, only seven see them placed against the winner of Portugal's Group K on July 3 in Kansas City.
Far more likely is the scenario where Argentina would be drawn against the Group B winner, which is the result in 190 of the 330 possible outcomes. If they win that game, and Portugal (as Group K winners) survive their Round of 32 game, they would meet in the Round of 32 in Vancouver on July 7.
There is no option to meet Argentina until the later stages if Portugal finish third in their group, as there is oddly only one possible option for placing the Group K third-place finisher in the bracket, and it is not close to anywhere Argentina could be drawn.
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