The 2022 World Cup in Qatar is just around the corner. Of the 32 teams, 29 have already qualified and there are only three remaining participants, which will be defined from the playoffs. This Friday the draw for the eight groups of the World Cup will be made and, from there, the countdown will begin for the start of the championship.
This year, the World Cup will have a special color. Qatar could be the end of the successful cycle of several legends, who would play the last World Cup of their careers in the Middle Eastern country.
In particular, the eyes will be focused on Lionel Messi and Cristiano Ronaldo, the two great world soccer stars of the last two decades, who will go after their illusion of achieving their first world championship.
The Argentine, who will arrive in Qatar at 34, and the Portuguese, who will be at the World Cup at 37, are facing the last years of their careers and it will be very difficult for them to reach 2026 at the highest level of their abilities. In fact, for Mexico, the United States and Canada 26, Messi will have 38 and CR7, 41.
It will be the end of an era. So far, the two stars have played four World Cup finals each, Germany 2006 the first of them. However, once they play in Qatar, both will have competed in five tournaments. A record number that only footballers like Antonio Carbajal (Mexico), Lothar Matthaus (Germany), Rafael Márquez (Mexico) and Gianluigi Buffon (Italy) have.
Santiago de la Peña