Football: Could Russia 2018 be Messi and Ronaldo’s last World Cup?

Muscat: For over a decade, Lionel Messi and Cristiano Ronaldo have stood at the summit of the football world.
Nearly every record imaginable has tumbled in their wake, with trophy after trophy gobbled up by their teams. The Champions League, Primera Liga, and even the Ballon d'or have become routine accomplishments for the pair and are almost regarded as certainties by their legions of fans.
But one award, considered by many to be the most important of all, has continued to allude the Argentinian maestro and industrious Portuguese striker. Missing from their trophy cabinets, the World Cup remains their most elusive honour and, for purists of the game, the final litmus test before putting either of them in the pantheon of football's greatest.
Now 30 and 33 respectively, this summer's World Cup in Russia just might be their last chance to join the ranks of Pele, Diego Maradona, and Zinedine Zidane.
Both players made their World Cup debuts in 2006 and have since become regular features of their national teams, captains, and two of the most prolific players in the modern game.
Yet their inability to secure football's most coveted trophy has continued to count against them. To stand among the greatest, it seems, one must win it all, including the World Cup. Their failure to do so, while tragic, has not been for a lack of trying.
In 2006, Portugal topped a highly formidable Group D, making it to the semi-finals where they lost to France. They would finish in fourth place, falling to hosts Germany in their final match. In 2010, their dreams would come crashing down in the round of 16, where they were ruthlessly dispatched by Spain in Cape Town. Yet it would be in 2014 that they would register their worst performance in a World Cup since Cristiano's debut, failing to even make it out of the group stages.
Argentina, on the other hand, have experienced a completely different trajectory, placing 2nd in 2014, recovering from their bitter 4-0 hammering against Germany four years earlier.
As fans prepare for the 2018 World Cup in Russia, all eyes will no doubt be on Messi and Ronaldo. The world will be watching to see if one of them does eventually come up lucky in their 4th campaign, a final international tournament before their careers begin winding down.
With a new generation of footballers such as Antoine Griezmann, Neymar, and James Rodriguez not far behind, this could be Messi and Ronaldo's last chance to shine before they too, like the stars that came before them, begin to fade.