Three Brazilians are part of the group of athletes with the most triumphs in the history of the World Cup: right-back Cafu, center forward Ronaldo and defender Lúcio. None of them, however, leads the statistics. German Miroslav Klose, the greatest scorer in the history of the tournament, occupies the isolated top spot on the list with 17 positive results in 24 matches.
Even injured, Lionel Messi had his presence confirmed among coach Lionel Scaloni’s 26 squad for the 2026 World Cup. The Argentine star shares second place with the retired Cafu, with 16 successes. In the initial phase of the championship in North America, the current world champion will face Algeria (June 16), Austria (June 22) and Jordan (June 27).
Currently, the former Brazilian full-back surpasses the Albiceleste number 10 in efficiency. In addition to winning his second championship, the defender entered the field 20 times, recording an average of 0.8 wins per game. The performance of the Argentine star, owner of a world title, is 0.62 per appearance (26 matches played).
Five athletes share the next place, with 15 triumphs each: four Germans and one Brazilian. Wolfgang Overath, defending West Germany, played on 19 occasions. In the three editions played by the midfielder, the team reached at least the semifinals (title in 1974, runner-up in 1966 and third place in 1970).
Philipp Lahm and Bastian Schweinsteiger also participated in three editions of the tournament (winning one cup) and accumulated 20 performances each.
Lothar Matthäus, captain of the fourth German championship in 1990, reached the mark of 15 victories over five World Cups (between 1982 and 1998).
Ronaldo Fenômeno has the best performance among those tied for third place, equaling Overath’s numbers. Although he was part of four squads, he actually played in three editions, totaling 19 appearances (in 1994, he remained in reserve).
17 wins
- Miroslav Klose (Germany, average 0.71 wins per game)
16 wins
- Cafu (Brazil, 0.8)
- Lionel Messi (Argentina, 0.62)
15 wins
- Wolfgang Overath (Germany, 0.79)
- Ronaldo (Brazil, 0.79)
- Philipp Lahm (Germany, 0.75)
- Bastian Schweinsteiger (Germany, 0.75)
- Lothar Matthäus (Germany, 0.6)
14 wins
- Lúcio (Brazil, 0.82)
- Franz Beckenbauer (Germany, 0.78)
- Olivier Giroud (France, 0.78)
- Antoine Griezmann (France, 0.74)
- Per Mertesacker (Germany, 0.74)
- Hugo Lloris (France, 0.7)
- Paolo Maldini (Italy, 0.61) (only person who never won the World Cup)
