“With the World Cup now on his CV, Rodri holds all the major titles: the World Cup, European Championship, Champions League and Ballon d’Or,” notes Owen Bagnall. “Has anyone else ever ticked every major box in the sport in this way?”
A select group have, but it remains an exclusive club.
Franz Beckenbauer and Gerd Müller were the first to achieve this clean sweep, both doing so on 7 July 1974 as West Germany defeated the Netherlands to lift the World Cup, with Müller netting the decisive goal. The pair had entered that competition fresh from Bayern Munich’s 1974 European Cup triumph and had already won the European Championship with Die Mannschaft two years prior. Der Kaiser wore the armband for all three sides, while Der Bomber found the net in each of those three finals. Müller had claimed the Ballon d’Or in 1970 and Beckenbauer followed suit in 1972.
Almost three decades passed before anyone else matched them, with Zinedine Zidane doing so by winning the Champions League with Real Madrid in 2002 – and scoring that unforgettable volley. That trophy joined his 1998 World Cup, 1998 Ballon d’Or and 2000 European Championship.
Rivaldo added his name to the list the following year. After tasting Copa América glory with Brazil in 1999 and receiving the Ballon d’Or in the same season, he completed his collection with the 2002 World Cup and the 2003 Champions League. The only small footnote is that he was an unused substitute in that Milan final against Juventus, though he had played throughout the competition.
Similarly, Ronaldinho’s case carries a tiny asterisk. The forward was part of the Brazil squad at the 1999 Copa América but sat on the bench during the final. He still collected a winner’s medal, later adding the 2002 World Cup, the 2005 Ballon d’Or and the 2006 Champions League with Barcelona.
Hardly a surprise, Lionel Messi also possesses the complete set. He first lifted the Champions League in 2006 as a Barcelona squad member, although he was a central figure in their 2009 triumph regardless. The Ballon d’Or followed in 2009, and then came the long wait for international honours, which finally arrived with the 2021 Copa América and the 2022 World Cup.
And now Rodri has joined this exclusive circle, securing the World Cup on Sunday to add to his 2023 Champions League, 2024 Euros and 2024 Ballon d’Or. Only Beckenbauer gathered all four honours in a shorter timeframe, needing just two years to complete the set.
No woman has yet completed the full quartet, largely because the Ballon d’Or Féminin has only existed for seven editions. Alexia Putellas and Aitana Bonmatí have won five of those between them and both have a Champions League and a World Cup to their names – but the next chance to round off the set will not come until the 2029 European Championship. Megan Rapinoe, winner of the Ballon d’Or Féminin in 2019, also holds a World Cup and a Concacaf W Championship title, but a continental club trophy eluded her (hardly surprising, given Concacaf only launched such a competition in 2024).
Can we assist you?
“Who has the most World Cup assists?” asks Michael Ross.
This is one of those questions that appears simple but turns out to be anything but. Detailed statistics from the tournament’s formative years barely exist, and the lack of television footage means much of that information is lost to history. So we can only speak with reasonable confidence from 1966 onwards – and the 2026 tournament (perhaps unsurprisingly, given the number of matches played by the final four) produced a new record for assists in a single edition, while a new name (yes, the one you suspect) climbed to the top of the all-time leaderboard.
Most assists at one tournament (from 1966)
7 Michael Olise (France, 2026)
6 Pelé (Brazil, 1970)
5 Robert Gadocha (Poland, 1974), Pierre Littbarski (West Germany, 1982), Diego Maradona (Argentina, 1986), Thomas Hässler (West Germany, 1994)
4 Siggi Held (West Germany, 1966), Tostão (Brazil, 1970), Zico (Brazil, 1982), Igor Belanov (USSR, 1986), Michael Ballack (Germany, 2002), Francesco Totti (Italy, 2006), Juan Román Riquelme (Argentina, 2006), Juan Cuadrado (Colombia, 2014), Bruno Guimarães (Brazil, 2026), Brahim Díaz (Morocco, 2026), Lionel Messi (Argentina, 2026), Martin Ødegaard (Norway, 2026), Kylian Mbappé (France, 2026).
Most assists overall (from 1966)
12 Lionel Messi (Argentina, 2006-26)
8 Diego Maradona (Argentina, 1982-94)
7 Grzegorz Lato (Poland, 1974-82), Pierre Littbarski (West Germany, 1982-90), Michael Olise (France, 2026)
6 Pelé (Brazil, 1966-70), Uwe Seeler (West Germany, 1966-70) Thomas Hässler (Germany, 1990-98), David Beckham (England, 1998-2006), Francesco Totti (Italy, 2002-06), Bastian Schweinsteiger (Germany, 2006-14), Thomas Müller (Germany, 2010-22), Ivan Perisic (Croatia, 2014-26), Kylian Mbappé (France, 2018-26).
Most England assists
6 David Beckham
4 Harry Kane
3 Bukayo Saka, Anthony Gordon
2 Tommy Taylor, Bobby Moore, Keith Newton, Steve Hodge, Paul Gascoigne, Harry Maguire, Raheem Sterling, Phil Foden, Jude Bellingham, Declan Rice.
Ballon d’Or winners with fewest caps
“When reading about King Kev after the sad news of his passing this week, I was surprised to learn he earned only 63 caps,” writes Steve Richards. “That feels remarkably low, particularly for a two-time Ballon d’Or winner. Does he hold the record for the fewest caps among Ballon d’Or winners, especially those who won it multiple times?”
International fixtures were far less frequent in earlier decades, so several of the early Ballon d’Or recipients collected fewer than 50 caps, including Luis Suárez (Spain, 32 caps), Igor Belanov (USSR, 33) and George Best (Northern Ireland, 37).
But the Ballon d’Or winner with the lowest cap tally is the 1961 victor Omar Sívori. He earned 19 caps for Argentina in the mid-1950s before moving to Italy and being sidelined by La Albiceleste. Later, he made nine appearances for Italy in the 1960s – including at the 1962 World Cup – giving him a grand total of 28 international outings. Brian Glanville’s 2005 obituary of Sívori contains a wealth of absorbing detail about his career.
Among the multiple winners, Alfredo Di Stéfano collected the fewest caps, turning out 41 times across three nations – Spain, Colombia and Argentina – to accompany his 1957 and 1959 Ballons d’Or. Johan Cruyff and Marco van Basten, both three-time winners, won 48 and 58 caps respectively for the Netherlands.
Knowledge archive
“What happens to all the World Cup match balls used throughout a tournament?” wondered Jonathan Wilson (not the famous writer of that name) back in 2014.
A total of 3,240 balls were used across the 2014 World Cup, with 20 per match – each one printed with details of the fixture, including the teams, date and venue. Every side also received 20 training balls on arrival at their camp in Brazil. So where did they all end up? A FIFA representative told us: “The balls are used afterwards as souvenirs for the teams and referees, host cities, FIFA partners and the FIFA museum.” Adidas, the ball manufacturer, elaborated: “For this World Cup, we opted for all the used match balls to be handed to the marketing teams in the countries involved in each game. However, some markets chose not to take up the option. Each local team was then encouraged to run a social media giveaway so fans could have the chance to win them.”
Can you help?
“In the aftermath of England’s semi-final exit we may have overlooked the real winner on the night,” begins James Mackenzie. “Step forward Barcelona’s Anthony Gordon. Not only did he join the club of players who have scored for England in a World Cup semi-final, he also bagged arguably the bigger prize of lifetime access to Leeds Bradford airport’s VIP lounge! Is there a better example of a more absurd consolation prize in football?”
“I noticed that Irish Premier Division side Shelbourne recently appointed John Russell as the men’s team manager,” writes Alan Kinsella. “Their women’s team manager is Sean (the Irish equivalent of John) Russell. The two are not related. Has there ever before been a club whose men’s and women’s managers share the same name?”
“In August 1968, Plymouth Argyle hosted Exeter City in the first round of the League Cup. The match ended 0-0,” begins John Eales. “A week later, the two sides met for a replay at St James Park. After another goalless 90 minutes, extra time was played, yet the scoreboard remained blank. A few days on, a second replay took place, this time on neutral territory at Torquay United’s Plainmoor ground. After 90 minutes the score was, you guessed it, 0-0. With just a minute of extra time remaining, John Kirkham struck to give Exeter a 1-0 win. I wonder if this stands as some sort of record? Three hundred and twenty-nine minutes of a cup tie without a single goal …”
What do you feel about this post?
Like
Love
Happy
Haha
Sad
