Rafael Márquez has joined one of football’s most exclusive clubs, becoming only the second Mexican to appear in five World Cups and standing alongside Antonio Carbajal in a register that has long seemed almost unreachable. Andrés Guardado later made it three for Seleccion Mexicana, giving Mexico a place no other country holds.

That is why Márquez’s name keeps coming up now. Five World Cups is not a routine milestone; it demands longevity, continuity, health and enough quality to survive four straight World Cup cycles and a fifth beyond that. Mexico’s place in the record is unusually heavy because it now has three players there: Carbajal, Márquez and Guardado.

Carbajal was the first man to get there, turning out for Mexico in Brazil 1950, Switzerland 1954, Sweden 1958, Chile 1962 and England 1966. Márquez followed decades later, appearing in Korea-Japan 2002, Germany 2006, South Africa 2010, Brazil 2014 and Russia 2018, and he wore the captain’s armband for Mexico in all five tournaments. Guardado then completed the trio with appearances in Germany 2006, South Africa 2010, Brazil 2014, Russia 2018 and Qatar 2022.

The comparison that makes the list even more striking is Messi. Lionel Messi has already played in five World Cups too — Germany 2006, South Africa 2010, Brazil 2014, Russia 2018 and Qatar 2022, where he won the title with Argentina — and if he does take part in 2026, he would become the first player in history to dispute six. That possibility is what keeps the five-World-Cup club relevant today: it may soon have a new benchmark, but for now Mexico still owns the rarest footprint in the record.

Whether Messi actually appears in 2026 is still unresolved. What is not in doubt is that Márquez and Guardado have already turned a once-nearly-impossible mark into part of Mexico’s World Cup identity, with Carbajal’s name still at the beginning of it all.