Portugal, Argentina to co-host 2030 World Cup, but it's four years too late for Ronaldo, Messi

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Cristiano Ronaldo's Portugal and Lionel Messi's Argentina will co-host the 2030 FIFA World Cup. While Portugal, along with Spain and Morocco, are the main host nations, Argentina and their South American neighbours Paraguay and Uruguay will host one-off matches to mark the World Cup's centenary. Uruguay hosted the first World Cup in 1930.
'A dream come true,' posted Cristiano Ronaldo. To the Portugal superstar, the 2030 edition will be 'the most special World Cup ever', considering his home country has never hosted one before. His nemesis, Messi, has yet to comment on his country playing co-host for the special edition.
As the draws are yet to be made, it is unclear if Portugal and Argentina will play at home. But football fans would love to fantasise about the opportunity of watching Ronaldo and Messi play World Cup matches in their home countries.
Both Messi and Ronaldo have made five successive World Cup appearances since 2006. Ronaldo leads the table of international goalscorers with 135 goals, followed by Messi on 112.
Messi, who announced retirement in 2016, returned to help his country qualify for the 2018 World Cup and guided Argentina to glory in the 2022 edition in Qatar. Even though Messi hinted that he might not play in another World Cup, the brilliant playmaker has been going strong in qualifiers. He hit a hat-trick in Argentina's 6-0 win over Bolivia in a South American World Cup Qualifier on October 16 and assisted Lautaro Martinez's goal in a 1-0 home win over Peru as recent as November 20.
Ronaldo, two years his senior, has shown no signs of retiring. On November 16, he scored a brace for Portugal in a 5-1 UEFA Nations League win against Poland. Despite moving away from Europe, Ronaldo's club form is just as good. He has hit ten goals for Al Nassr in the Saudi Pro League this season.
But Ronaldo and Messi will be 45 and 43 respectively, when the 2030 World Cup comes around. For all their longevity in the beautiful game, it seems 2030 might be four years too late for the two giants.