In the 2026 World Cup, if Argentina reaches the final and Messi can play for 40 minutes, it will break Cafu s unprecedented World Cup record.

Can Argentina still reach the finals of the 2026 World Cup? At the very least, Argentina's strength has not declined significantly in recent years, and they will win the America's Cup again in 2024. A slight disadvantage is that Messi will be 39 years old by then, and his physical fitness and condition will definitely decline to a certain extent. However, Argentina is overall excellent. Even if its competitiveness is not the first in the world, it is at least among the top five. So, they are still one of the favorites.

Of course, what we are discussing today is not the probability of Argentina reaching the finals. Instead, it focuses on data related to Messi's participation in the World Cup finals.

Before 2022, many fans viewed Messi's World Cup resume as a joke. He was so good at Barcelona, ​​but when it came to the national team, Messi couldn't do anything. Let’s not forget that Messi was still young in 2006. Messi’s performance in the World Cup in 2010 and 2018 was, let alone a disaster, at least mediocre. In 2014, Messi reached the final with the team, but Messi, who won the World Cup Golden Ball, was not in the best lineup. This has undoubtedly become another black material that can be ridiculed.

But after 2022, there will be far fewer such voices. Instead, there will be a steady stream of claims of 7 games and 5 points from FIFA. I have never been a fan of Messi, and even because of my identity as a Real Madrid fan, it is impossible to become his fan. But objectively speaking, there is no problem at all for Argentina to win the championship in 2022.

Messi's ability to reverse his reputation in the World Cup is partly due to his ability, and on the other hand, it is due to the consumption of time. Today's advanced medical conditions and training levels in football have greatly extended the career lifespan of players. In addition, self-discipline and aggressiveness are also the keys to his long-term maintenance of a high level. Therefore, the 35-year-old Messi can still appear in the World Cup final. In the blink of an eye, Messi has participated in 5 World Cups, aligned with Matthaus.

In addition, Messi has participated in two World Cup finals and also aligned with Matthaus. Of course, there are Pele, Mbappe, Zidane and so on.

Raise the standard to the clouds, and two World Cup finals seem to be nothing. Because there is a great man on this track that no one can surpass yet - Cafu, the only man who has participated in three World Cup finals.

So, if Messi appears in the final again in the 2026 World Cup, he will play against Cafu.

Wait a minute, if this topic only stays here, there will be nothing new. We might as well dig a little deeper.

As long as you play in a game, even if you can't even touch the ball at the last second, the game will end one second later, and you will be regarded as a witness on the field. Why was Henry so dissatisfied with Desailly's unnecessary red card in the 1998 World Cup final? It was because Desailly indirectly ruined his chance to play in his first World Cup final. Although, it was no longer relevant to the overall situation at that time and there was not much time.

By the way, the object of Desailly's foul was Cafu.

So, Cafu’s so-called three World Cup finals trips, further divided, are 280 minutes.

In the 2002 World Cup in 1998, Cafu was always the starter and was never substituted. Therefore, the two games combined are 180 minutes.

In the 1994 World Cup final, Cafu was still a substitute. Jurzinho's injury made Cafu's first trip to the World Cup finals possible. At that time, it was the 21st minute.

In that game, Brazil and Italy went to a penalty shootout. Therefore, Cafu's playing time is the last 70 minutes of regular time, plus 30 minutes of overtime. 100 minutes in total.

In this way, Cafu's playing time in the three finals is 280 minutes.

Some people will definitely raise objections, so let me emphasize first: there will be stoppage time in every game, but stoppage time cannot be included in the calculation of playing time because every game is different. Moreover, isn’t stoppage time just because there is game time that needs to be made up during regular time? Besides, there was stoppage time in Cafu's game, and of course Messi also had it. Unless football is changed to a pure game time like basketball, this issue will not be controversial.

In addition, the penalty shootout is a special part of the game, and it is impossible to calculate the time.

In the end, he came on the field at 21 minutes. Strictly speaking, he played 69 minutes in regular time. A fraction of 1 minute has been omitted here, which does not affect the conclusion.

Okay, let’s look at Messi again. Messi's data is simple. In both 2014 and 2022 World Cup finals, Messi started in both games, played the entire game, and both went through overtime. In 2022, there was even a penalty shootout. Therefore, the total length of Messi's World Cup final is 240 minutes.

In other words, if Argentina can still advance to the finals in the 2026 World Cup, Messi only needs to play for 40 minutes to break Cafu's unprecedented World Cup record. Roughly speaking, after the first half, the starter was broken. As long as the unfortunate incident that happened to Cristiano Ronaldo in the 2016 European Cup final does not happen, that will be fine.

It’s actually very difficult. In the 2026 World Cup, how many teams are eyeing the Hercules Cup? Moreover, no team has been able to defend the title since the 21st century. It will be very difficult for France to reach the finals consecutively in 2022. No, this is also blocked by this rule since 1962. Of course, starting from today's topic, Argentina only needs to advance to the finals. It just depends on whether they will become France in 2022.