{"id":288,"date":"2025-09-07T09:33:15","date_gmt":"2025-09-07T09:33:15","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/givemesoccer.com\/?p=288"},"modified":"2025-09-07T09:36:31","modified_gmt":"2025-09-07T09:36:31","slug":"football-legends-retiring-after-2026-world-cup","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/givemesoccer.com\/?p=288","title":{"rendered":"10 Football Legends Who Could Retire After the 2026 World Cup"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image size-large\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"1024\" height=\"724\" src=\"https:\/\/givemesoccer.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/09\/IMG_20250907_101851_731-1024x724.jpg\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-290\" srcset=\"https:\/\/givemesoccer.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/09\/IMG_20250907_101851_731-1024x724.jpg 1024w, https:\/\/givemesoccer.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/09\/IMG_20250907_101851_731-300x212.jpg 300w, https:\/\/givemesoccer.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/09\/IMG_20250907_101851_731-768x543.jpg 768w, https:\/\/givemesoccer.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/09\/IMG_20250907_101851_731.jpg 1280w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 1024px) 100vw, 1024px\" \/><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<p>The 2026 FIFA World Cup, to be hosted across the United States, Canada, and Mexico, may serve as the final curtain for some of the greatest footballers of the modern era.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>At the top of the list are Lionel Messi (39) and Cristiano Ronaldo (41), two icons whose rivalry has defined football for over a decade. Both are expected to make their final appearances on the world stage.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Other legendary names who could retire after the tournament include Luka Modri\u0107 (40), Robert Lewandowski (37), and Manuel Neuer (40), all of whom have enjoyed illustrious careers at both club and international level.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Meanwhile, seasoned stars such as Thiago Silva, \u00c1ngel Di Mar\u00eda, Olivier Giroud, Sergio Ramos, and Luis Su\u00e1rez may also hang up their boots following the competition.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>For many fans, the 2026 World Cup will not only be about crowning a champion but also about bidding farewell to a golden generation of footballers who have inspired millions across the globe.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>The 2026 FIFA World Cup, to be hosted across the United States, Canada, and Mexico, may serve as<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":true,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"enabled":false},"version":2}},"categories":[208,270],"tags":[268,260,264,259,210,265,261,263,267,262,266,269],"class_list":["post-288","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-international-basketball","category-world-cup","tag-angel-di-maria","tag-cristiano-ronaldo","tag-fifa-world-cup-2026","tag-football-legends-retiring-after-2026-world-cup","tag-lionel-messi","tag-luis-suarez","tag-luka-modric","tag-manuel-neuer","tag-olivier-giroud","tag-robert-lewandowski","tag-sergio-ramos","tag-thiago-silva"],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v26.0 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/wordpress\/plugins\/seo\/ -->\n<title>10 Football Legends Who Could Retire After the 2026 World Cup - GiveMeSoccer<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/givemesoccer.com\/?p=288\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"10 Football Legends Who Could Retire After the 2026 World Cup - GiveMeSoccer\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"The 2026 FIFA World Cup, to be hosted across the United States, Canada, and Mexico, may serve as\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/givemesoccer.com\/?p=288\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"GiveMeSoccer\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2025-09-07T09:33:15+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2025-09-07T09:36:31+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/givemesoccer.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/09\/IMG_20250907_101851_731-1024x724.jpg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"David\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"David\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"1 minute\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"Article\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/givemesoccer.com\/?p=288#article\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/givemesoccer.com\/?p=288\"},\"author\":{\"name\":\"David\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/givemesoccer.com\/#\/schema\/person\/3f901e2c578ac225d0041d1165488b9c\"},\"headline\":\"10 Football Legends Who Could Retire After the 2026 World Cup\",\"datePublished\":\"2025-09-07T09:33:15+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2025-09-07T09:36:31+00:00\",\"mainEntityOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/givemesoccer.com\/?p=288\"},\"wordCount\":164,\"commentCount\":0,\"publisher\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/givemesoccer.com\/#organization\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/givemesoccer.com\/?p=288#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\/\/givemesoccer.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/09\/IMG_20250907_101851_731-1024x724.jpg\",\"keywords\":[\"#\u00c1ngel Di Mar\u00eda\",\"#Cristiano Ronaldo\",\"#FIFA World Cup 2026\",\"#Football legends retiring after 2026 World Cup\",\"#Lionel Messi\",\"#Luis Su\u00e1rez\",\"#Luka Modri\u0107\",\"#Manuel Neuer\",\"#Olivier Giroud\",\"#Robert Lewandowski\",\"#Sergio Ramos\",\"#Thiago Silva\"],\"articleSection\":[\"International Basketball\",\"World Cup,\"],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"CommentAction\",\"name\":\"Comment\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/givemesoccer.com\/?p=288#respond\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/givemesoccer.com\/?p=288\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/givemesoccer.com\/?p=288\",\"name\":\"10 Football Legends Who Could Retire After the 2026 World Cup - GiveMeSoccer\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/givemesoccer.com\/#website\"},\"primaryImageOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/givemesoccer.com\/?p=288#primaryimage\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/givemesoccer.com\/?p=288#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\/\/givemesoccer.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/09\/IMG_20250907_101851_731-1024x724.jpg\",\"datePublished\":\"2025-09-07T09:33:15+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2025-09-07T09:36:31+00:00\",\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/givemesoccer.com\/?p=288#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/givemesoccer.com\/?p=288\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/givemesoccer.com\/?p=288#primaryimage\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/givemesoccer.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/09\/IMG_20250907_101851_731.jpg\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/givemesoccer.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/09\/IMG_20250907_101851_731.jpg\",\"width\":1280,\"height\":905},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/givemesoccer.com\/?p=288#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"Home\",\"item\":\"https:\/\/givemesoccer.com\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"10 Football Legends Who Could Retire After the 2026 World Cup\"}]},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/givemesoccer.com\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/givemesoccer.com\/\",\"name\":\"GiveMeSoccer\",\"description\":\"\",\"publisher\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/givemesoccer.com\/#organization\"},\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\/\/givemesoccer.com\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":{\"@type\":\"PropertyValueSpecification\",\"valueRequired\":true,\"valueName\":\"search_term_string\"}}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"Organization\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/givemesoccer.com\/#organization\",\"name\":\"GiveMeSoccer\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/givemesoccer.com\/\",\"logo\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/givemesoccer.com\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/givemesoccer.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/08\/cropped-Screenshot_20250706-123139_1-3.jpg\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/givemesoccer.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/08\/cropped-Screenshot_20250706-123139_1-3.jpg\",\"width\":501,\"height\":360,\"caption\":\"GiveMeSoccer\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/givemesoccer.com\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/\"}},{\"@type\":\"Person\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/givemesoccer.com\/#\/schema\/person\/3f901e2c578ac225d0041d1165488b9c\",\"name\":\"David\",\"image\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/givemesoccer.com\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/a347b5d5cb2f10f723679c8e4d5454b03b6ff219c18a42480428a0bc7b4d9cac?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/a347b5d5cb2f10f723679c8e4d5454b03b6ff219c18a42480428a0bc7b4d9cac?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"caption\":\"David\"},\"sameAs\":[\"https:\/\/givemesoccer.com\"],\"url\":\"https:\/\/givemesoccer.com\/?author=1\"}]}<\/script>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"10 Football Legends Who Could Retire After the 2026 World Cup - GiveMeSoccer","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/givemesoccer.com\/?p=288","og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"10 Football Legends Who Could Retire After the 2026 World Cup - GiveMeSoccer","og_description":"The 2026 FIFA World Cup, to be hosted across the United States, Canada, and Mexico, may serve as","og_url":"https:\/\/givemesoccer.com\/?p=288","og_site_name":"GiveMeSoccer","article_published_time":"2025-09-07T09:33:15+00:00","article_modified_time":"2025-09-07T09:36:31+00:00","og_image":[{"url":"https:\/\/givemesoccer.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/09\/IMG_20250907_101851_731-1024x724.jpg","type":"","width":"","height":""}],"author":"David","twitter_card":"summary_large_image","twitter_misc":{"Written by":"David","Est. reading time":"1 minute"},"schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"Article","@id":"https:\/\/givemesoccer.com\/?p=288#article","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/givemesoccer.com\/?p=288"},"author":{"name":"David","@id":"https:\/\/givemesoccer.com\/#\/schema\/person\/3f901e2c578ac225d0041d1165488b9c"},"headline":"10 Football Legends Who Could Retire After the 2026 World Cup","datePublished":"2025-09-07T09:33:15+00:00","dateModified":"2025-09-07T09:36:31+00:00","mainEntityOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/givemesoccer.com\/?p=288"},"wordCount":164,"commentCount":0,"publisher":{"@id":"https:\/\/givemesoccer.com\/#organization"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/givemesoccer.com\/?p=288#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/givemesoccer.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/09\/IMG_20250907_101851_731-1024x724.jpg","keywords":["#\u00c1ngel Di Mar\u00eda","#Cristiano Ronaldo","#FIFA World Cup 2026","#Football legends retiring after 2026 World Cup","#Lionel Messi","#Luis Su\u00e1rez","#Luka Modri\u0107","#Manuel Neuer","#Olivier Giroud","#Robert Lewandowski","#Sergio Ramos","#Thiago Silva"],"articleSection":["International Basketball","World Cup,"],"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"CommentAction","name":"Comment","target":["https:\/\/givemesoccer.com\/?p=288#respond"]}]},{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/givemesoccer.com\/?p=288","url":"https:\/\/givemesoccer.com\/?p=288","name":"10 Football Legends Who Could Retire After the 2026 World Cup - GiveMeSoccer","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/givemesoccer.com\/#website"},"primaryImageOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/givemesoccer.com\/?p=288#primaryimage"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/givemesoccer.com\/?p=288#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/givemesoccer.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/09\/IMG_20250907_101851_731-1024x724.jpg","datePublished":"2025-09-07T09:33:15+00:00","dateModified":"2025-09-07T09:36:31+00:00","breadcrumb":{"@id":"https:\/\/givemesoccer.com\/?p=288#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/givemesoccer.com\/?p=288"]}]},{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/givemesoccer.com\/?p=288#primaryimage","url":"https:\/\/givemesoccer.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/09\/IMG_20250907_101851_731.jpg","contentUrl":"https:\/\/givemesoccer.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/09\/IMG_20250907_101851_731.jpg","width":1280,"height":905},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/givemesoccer.com\/?p=288#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Home","item":"https:\/\/givemesoccer.com\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"10 Football Legends Who Could Retire After the 2026 World Cup"}]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/givemesoccer.com\/#website","url":"https:\/\/givemesoccer.com\/","name":"GiveMeSoccer","description":"","publisher":{"@id":"https:\/\/givemesoccer.com\/#organization"},"potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/givemesoccer.com\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":{"@type":"PropertyValueSpecification","valueRequired":true,"valueName":"search_term_string"}}],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"Organization","@id":"https:\/\/givemesoccer.com\/#organization","name":"GiveMeSoccer","url":"https:\/\/givemesoccer.com\/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/givemesoccer.com\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/","url":"https:\/\/givemesoccer.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/08\/cropped-Screenshot_20250706-123139_1-3.jpg","contentUrl":"https:\/\/givemesoccer.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/08\/cropped-Screenshot_20250706-123139_1-3.jpg","width":501,"height":360,"caption":"GiveMeSoccer"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/givemesoccer.com\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/"}},{"@type":"Person","@id":"https:\/\/givemesoccer.com\/#\/schema\/person\/3f901e2c578ac225d0041d1165488b9c","name":"David","image":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/givemesoccer.com\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/","url":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/a347b5d5cb2f10f723679c8e4d5454b03b6ff219c18a42480428a0bc7b4d9cac?s=96&d=mm&r=g","contentUrl":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/a347b5d5cb2f10f723679c8e4d5454b03b6ff219c18a42480428a0bc7b4d9cac?s=96&d=mm&r=g","caption":"David"},"sameAs":["https:\/\/givemesoccer.com"],"url":"https:\/\/givemesoccer.com\/?author=1"}]}},"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_likes_enabled":true,"jetpack-related-posts":[],"jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/pdWrFU-4E","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/givemesoccer.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/288","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/givemesoccer.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/givemesoccer.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/givemesoccer.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/givemesoccer.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=288"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/givemesoccer.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/288\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":291,"href":"https:\/\/givemesoccer.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/288\/revisions\/291"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/givemesoccer.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=288"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/givemesoccer.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=288"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/givemesoccer.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=288"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}