The 6 Players Who Have Played in the Most World Cup Matches

The Fédération Internationale de Football Association (FIFA) World Cup is the most prestigious international football tournament in the world. The quadrennial tournament has been played just 21 times since the first-ever World Cup in 1930. Only eight countries have won the World Cup, and of these, Brazil holds the record for most wins with five.

Interestingly, only six players have played in more than 20 World Cup matches. Read on to find out who they are.

1. Lothar Matthäus

A defensive midfielder from Germany, Lothar Matthäus holds the record for most FIFA World Cup matches played with 25. He played in five World Cups from 1982 to 1998 and was captain of the German side when the country won the 1990 World Cup in Italy. Germany finished first in Group D that year and scored a 1–0 victory over Argentina in the final after defeating the Netherlands, Czechoslovakia, and England in the knockout stage. He scored 23 goals in 150 career matches with the German senior men’s national team.

Matthäus, who also played for the German side that won the 1980 European Championship, made his debut at the club level with Borussia Mönchengladbach in 1979. He later played for Bayern Munich and won five German league championships and one UEFA Cup with the team. With Inter Milan, he won an Italian league title and UEFA Cup in 1989 and 1991, respectively.

On an individual level, he was named World Footballer of the Year in 1990 and 1991. He retired from play in 2001.

2. Miroslav Klose

Germany’s Miroslav Klose ranks second all-time in World Cup matches played with 24 and is also the tournament’s all-time leading goalscorer. In those matches, the 41-year-old forward made 16 goals. He tied Brazilian striker Ronaldo with his 15th goal in a 2014 World Cup group stage match against Ghana and, coincidentally, scored the record-breaking goal in a 7–1 semi-final victory over Brazil. Germany won the 2014 World Cup via a 1–0 win in the final over Argentina.

Including other international competitions, Klose has 71 goals in 137 matches for the German senior men’s national team. In club competition, he scored 259 goals, 121 of which were in the Bundesliga football league. Klose retired in 2016 after playing five seasons with Lazio in Serie A and is now coaching the Bayern Munich U17 side.

3. Paolo Maldini

Considered one of the best Italian defenders of all-time, Paolo Maldini ranks third in World Cup matches with 23. He played in four World Cups from 1990 to 2002. Although Italy never won a World Cup during that time, Maldini helped the team reach the final in 1994 and served as captain of the side in 1998 and 2002. Including other competitions, the defender scored seven goals in 126 matches and retired as the most capped player in Italian football history.

At the club level, Maldini spent all of his 25 seasons with AC Milan in Serie A and won 25 trophies, including seven Serie A league titles, five UEFA Champions League titles, and five European Super Cups. He retired in 2009 and presently serves as AC Milan’s technical director, while his son, Daniel, made his debut with the side in the 2020 season.

4. Uwe Seeler

The first-ever football player to receive the Great Order of Merit of the Federal Republic of Germany, Uwe Seeler was a prolific striker who scored 43 goals in 72 matches for the German senior men’s national team from 1954 to 1970. He scored nine goals in 21 matches across four World Cups and led his country to a third- and second-place finish in 1958 and 1966, respectively. He played the majority of his career at the club level with Hamburger SV in the Bundesliga league, where he accumulated 137 goals in 239 matches.

5. Diego Maradona

One of the best football players Argentina has ever produced and considered the world’s preeminent player in the 1980s, Diego Maradona represented the South American nation at the World Cup in 1982, 1986, 1990, and 1994. He led the team to a World Cup victory in 1986 and scored two of the tournament’s most memorable goals of all-time during a 2–1 quarterfinal win against England. He scored 34 goals in 91 club matches with Argentina and 259 goals in 490 matches in his senior career. He also won league championships in Italy, Spain, and Argentina.

6. Władysław Żmuda

Władysław Żmuda is a 65-year-old native of Lublin, Poland, who played in 91 matches with the country’s senior men’s national team from 1973 to 1986. He played 21 of those matches in the FIFA World Cups in 1974, 1987, 1982, and 1986. Żmuda was named Best Young Player at the 1974 World Cup. He also helped Poland win the silver medal in football at the 1976 Summer Olympics. The defender spent the majority of his club career in Poland, but he also played for Italy’s Hellas Verona and Cremonese and the United States’ New York Cosmos.