When Lionel Messi takes the field at MetLife Stadium in New Jersey for Argentina’s World Cup final against Spain, he will become only the second player in history to actually play in three World Cup finals, joining legendary Brazilian defender Cafu in an exclusive club that has been untouched for more than two decades.The distinction matters. Pelé, Matthäus and Ronaldo have all appeared in three World Cup finals, but each was an unused substitute in one of those three finals. Pelé was on the bench for Brazil’s 1966 defeat to England. Matthäus was an unused substitute in Germany’s 1986 final loss to Argentina. Ronaldo did not start the 1998 final against France, appearing only as a starter after a late and controversial reinstatement to the lineup following a reported seizure, though he was largely ineffective. None of them took the field in all three as active players and participants.Cafu said the Brazilian right played every minute of the 1994, 1998 and 2002 World Cup finals, lifting the trophy in 1994 and 2002, and finishing as runner-up in 1998. It remains the gold standard of World Cup final appearances.Messi’s three finals tell their own remarkable story. In 2014, he played every minute of Argentina’s extra-time defeat to Germany in Brazil, winning the Ballon d’Or as the tournament’s best player despite losing the final. In 2022, he produced one of the greatest individual performances in finals history, scoring twice, including a stunning volley, before converting the decisive penalty in the second leg against France.Now comes 2026. A third final. Against Spain. At 39 years old.Cafu was 32 when he played in his third final in 2002 and lifted the trophy. Messi is 39 years old and is chasing the same ending. Should Argentina win on Sunday, Messi will not have equaled Cafu’s record of playing in three finals. He will have topped it in the most significant way possible with two World Cup winners’ medals instead of one.