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#2 Most finishes in top 2
The record for the most finishes in the top two in the World Cup is shared between six players. Brazil’s Nilton Santos, Pele, Cafu and Ronaldo along with Pierre Littbarski and Lothar Matthaus of West Germany have finished in the top two thrice in their career.
Among them, only Pele has been on the winning side on all occasions, while Santos, Cafu, and Ronaldo have finished second once. Littbarski and Matthaus won the World Cup with West Germany in 1990, while they finished second in both the 1982 and 1986 edition.
Messi powered Argentina to the 2014 FIFA World Cup final but came up short against Germany. On the other hand, Ronaldo’s best finish in the FIFA World Cup has been in his inaugural tournament in 2006, when Portugal finished fourth.
Since then, the Juventus forward has departed the tournament twice in the Round of 16 and once in the group stages. Messi has managed to reach the quarter-final twice, in 2006 and 2010, while in 2018, Argentina were knocked out at the Round of 16 stages by eventual champions France.
While it is not unlikely for them to lead their respective teams to a top 2 finish in 2022, it is definitely impossible for them to break the current record.
