Europeans Lothar Matthaus, Miroslav Klose and Paolo Maldini have 72 World Cup appearances between them – more than any three players from any other continent. The South American trio with the most appearances have 67 cumulatively.
Matthaus and Maldini held the respective highs for most appearances and most minutes played in World Cup history until surpassed by Lionel Messi at Qatar 2022. Klose holds several competition records. The German is its all-time top scorer (16 goals), has registered the most victories (17) and collected the most medals (4).
Most appearances
UEFA
Lothar Matthaus (25)
Miroslav Klose (24)
Paolo Maldini (23)
CONMEBOL
Lionel Messi (26)
Diego Maradona (21)
Cafu (20)
Javier Mascherano (20)
AFC
Hong Myungbo (16)
Yuto Nagatomo (15)
Park Jisung (14)
Concacaf
Rafa Marquez (19)
Andres Guardado (13)
Landon Donovan (12)
Javier Hernandez (12)
Hector Moreno (12)
CAF
Asamoah Gyan (11)
Francois Omam-Biyik (11)
Andre Ayew (10)
Achraf Hakimi (10)
Hakim Ziyech (10)
Roger Milla (10)
Joseph Yobo (10)
OFC
No player has made more than three appearances.
