Lionel Messi’s Final World Cup—and the Death of Early Retirement

利昂内尔·梅西的最后一届世界杯——以及“早退”时代的终结

Mere moments after Argentina lost to France in a Round of 16 match during the 2018 World Cup in Russia, commentators were already predicting it would be his final time on a World Cup pitch. “This was Lionel Messi’s final World Cup match, surely,” one stated, “and maybe his final game for his country.” Messi was 31 at the time, and many assumed they had just watched his last appearance on soccer’s biggest stage. 在2018年俄罗斯世界杯阿根廷队输给法国队的八分之一决赛后，评论员们立刻断言这将是梅西最后一次出现在世界杯赛场上。“这肯定是利昂内尔·梅西的最后一场世界杯比赛了，”其中一人说道，“或许也是他为国效力的最后一场比赛。”当时的梅西31岁，许多人都以为自己刚刚见证了他在这项足球最高舞台上的谢幕演出。

They were wrong. 他们错了。

Instead, Messi came back four years later to lift the trophy in Qatar. Then he came back again this year at 39. However, Messi is not the exception any more. 相反，梅西四年后重返赛场，并在卡塔尔捧起了大力神杯。今年，39岁的他再次回归。然而，梅西已不再是特例。

Cristiano Ronaldo, 41, has said that this World Cup will be his last after Portugal’s Round of 16 exit following the team’s loss to Spain. Brazil’s Neymar, 34, too, announced his retirement from international football, as did Germany’s Manuel Neuer, 40. Meanwhile, Guillermo Ochoa, who turned 41 this month, is stepping away from professional football after becoming the first goalkeeper to make six World Cup squads. 41岁的克里斯蒂亚诺·罗纳尔多在葡萄牙队输给西班牙队止步八分之一决赛后表示，这将是他的最后一届世界杯。34岁的巴西球星内马尔也宣布退出国家队，40岁的德国门将曼努埃尔·诺伊尔亦是如此。与此同时，本月刚满41岁的吉列尔莫·奥乔亚在成为史上首位入选六届世界杯大名单的门将后，也正式告别了职业足坛。

Even as this World Cup has felt like one long farewell tour, for many of these players, the goodbye came years later than anyone expected. 尽管本届世界杯让人感觉像是一场漫长的告别巡演，但对于许多球员来说，这一告别时刻比所有人预期的都要晚得多。

While there isn’t a definitive global dataset comparing retirement ages across generations, the evidence points in one direction: football’s elite has been getting older for decades. A 2019 peer-reviewed study published in Frontiers of Psychology tracking nearly 30 seasons of UEFA Champions League football found the average age of players rose from 24.9 years in 1992-93 to 26.5 years by 2017-18. That trend is now on full display at the 2026 FIFA World Cup, which had eight players in their forties—more than every previous edition combined—including Cape Verde’s 40-year-old goalkeeper Vozinha, one of the tournament’s breakout stars. 虽然目前还没有一份权威的全球数据集来对比不同世代的退役年龄，但各项证据都指向同一个方向：几十年来，顶级足球运动员的年龄一直在增长。2019年发表在《心理学前沿》（Frontiers of Psychology）上的一项同行评审研究追踪了近30个赛季的欧冠联赛，发现球员平均年龄从1992-93赛季的24.9岁上升到了2017-18赛季的26.5岁。这一趋势在2026年世界杯上得到了充分体现：本届赛事共有8名40岁以上的球员参赛，超过了以往历届世界杯的总和，其中包括佛得角40岁的门将沃齐尼亚，他也是本届赛事表现最亮眼的球星之一。

What’s striking is that this celebration of more veteran players on the pitch is happening during an era of football that has produced teenage stars like Lamine Yamal, Endrick, and Bara Sapoko Ndiaye. Soccer isn’t necessarily getting older because young players have disappeared; it’s getting older because veterans are leaving later. 令人瞩目的是，这种对老将的推崇正发生在一个涌现出拉明·亚马尔、恩德里克和巴拉·萨波科·恩迪亚耶等少年天才的足球时代。足球运动变“老”并非因为年轻球员消失了，而是因为老将们退役得更晚了。

Research suggests professional footballers still reach their physical peak in their mid-to-late twenties, though the exact age depends on position. And while aging is gradual, players in their thirties begin to lose their explosive speed and the stamina to maintain the high-intensity running that modern soccer demands most. 研究表明，职业足球运动员的身体巅峰期仍在20多岁的中后期，尽管具体年龄取决于场上位置。虽然衰老是一个渐进的过程，但30多岁的球员开始失去爆发力，以及维持现代足球所要求的高强度奔跑所需的耐力。

A long-term study of Spain’s top players found these reported losses in endurance were most notable among external defenders, external midfielders, and forwards, whose roles rely on explosive acceleration to either score a goal or shield their keeper’s box. Central defenders and central midfielders, meanwhile, became more accurate passers with age, suggesting that positioning, anticipation, and decisionmaking increasingly compensate for fading speed. 一项针对西班牙顶级球员的长期研究发现，耐力下降在边后卫、边前卫和前锋身上最为明显，因为这些位置依赖爆发性加速来进球或防守禁区。与此同时，中后卫和中前卫随着年龄增长传球变得更加精准，这表明站位、预判和决策能力正日益弥补速度的下滑。

Messi may be the best example of how elite players adapt with age. Rather than constantly chasing the ball, he often spends long stretches walking, reading the game before deciding exactly when to get involved. According to The Athletic, FIFA tracking data shows Messi has spent 63 percent of his movement at this World Cup walking, conserving energy for the moments that matter most. 梅西或许是顶级球员如何随年龄调整的最佳范例。他不再频繁地追逐皮球，而是经常长时间地散步，通过阅读比赛来决定何时介入。据《The Athletic》报道，国际足联的追踪数据显示，梅西在本届世界杯上63%的移动时间都在步行，从而为最关键的时刻积蓄能量。

This just goes to prove that sports science hasn’t changed the biology of aging—it changed how soccer clubs respond to it. A 2024 review of athletes with extended careers found a correlation between professionals staying at the top of their game and increasingly individualized training. 这恰恰证明，运动科学并没有改变衰老的生物学规律，而是改变了足球俱乐部应对衰老的方式。2024年对职业生涯延长的运动员进行的一项综述研究发现，职业球员保持巅峰状态与日益个性化的训练之间存在相关性。

Instead of prescribing the same program to an entire squad, coaches now tailor workloads around a player’s injury history, recovery, training response, and physical capacity. 教练们不再为全队制定统一的训练计划，而是根据球员的伤病史、恢复情况、训练反应和身体机能来量身定制工作负荷。

However, as players get older, experience becomes a competitive advantage. Veteran footballers increasingly compensate for declining physicality with sharper decisionmaking, game intelligence, and a better understanding of their own limits. 然而，随着球员年龄增长，经验成为了一种竞争优势。老将们越来越多地通过更敏锐的决策、更高的球商以及对自己极限的更好把控，来弥补身体机能的下滑。

To understand what separates longer careers from shorter ones, researchers tracked the careers of 3,467 retired Portuguese footballers who played between 1960 and 2018, following each player from youth soccer through retirement. While the average retirement age was 32.7 years, the authors argued longevity is shaped by long-term athlete management and how players adapt over the course of their careers. In today’s game, there may be another factor at play: for global stars like Ronaldo and Messi, extending a career isn’t just a sporting decision. 为了了解职业生涯长短的差异，研究人员追踪了3467名在1960年至2018年间退役的葡萄牙足球运动员，记录了他们从青年队到退役的全过程。虽然平均退役年龄为32.7岁，但作者认为，职业生涯的长度取决于长期的运动员管理以及球员在职业生涯中的适应能力。在当今足坛，可能还有另一个因素在起作用：对于像C罗和梅西这样的全球巨星来说，延长职业生涯不仅仅是一个体育层面的决定。

Clubs, sponsors, and broadcasters all have a stake in keeping soccer’s biggest names on the pitch for as long as they can still compete. 俱乐部、赞助商和转播商都有共同的利益诉求，那就是只要这些足坛巨星还能竞争，就尽可能让他们留在赛场上。

Helping players do that has become a science in itself. GPS trackers measure sprint speed, accelerations, decelerations, distance covered, and training load, while heart-rate monitoring and recovery data help performance staff spot fatigue before it turns into injury. 帮助球员实现这一目标本身已经成为一门科学。GPS追踪器可以测量冲刺速度、加速、减速、跑动距离和训练负荷，而心率监测和恢复数据则能帮助体能团队在疲劳演变成伤病之前及时发现问题。

Clubs increasingly rely on evidence-based recovery built around what sports scientists call the “4Rs”: rehydrate, refuel, repair, and rest. Those fundamentals are paired with individualized nutrition plans, sleep monitoring, and carefully managed workloads, while cold-water immersion, compression garments, and massage are used to reduce muscle soreness and prepare players for the next match. 俱乐部越来越依赖基于证据的恢复手段，即运动科学家所说的“4R”原则：补水（Rehydrate）、补能（Refuel）、修复（Repair）和休息（Rest）。这些基础措施辅以个性化的营养计划、睡眠监测和精心管理的工作负荷，同时利用冷水浸泡、压缩衣和按摩来减轻肌肉酸痛，帮助球员为下一场比赛做好准备。

For driven players like Ronaldo, the work never stopped when he left the training ground. He has notably and publicly shared snippets of the recovery routine he maintains at home, which combines sleep tracking and expensive technologies like cryotherapy machines with his own team of physiotherapists, nutritionists, and performance coaches. 对于像C罗这样充满动力的球员来说，离开训练场并不意味着工作的结束。他曾公开分享过自己在家的恢复日常，其中包括睡眠追踪、冷冻疗法机器等昂贵技术，以及由理疗师、营养师和体能教练组成的私人团队。

However, even Ronaldo can’t escape the reality of losing pace and recovering more slowly with age. For many of today’s stars, retirement is becoming less about when the body gives out, and more about when they’re ready to step away. 然而，即便是C罗也无法逃避随着年龄增长而速度下降、恢复变慢的现实。对于当今许多球星而言，退役不再仅仅取决于身体何时崩溃，更多取决于他们何时准备好离开。

This article originally appeared on WIRED Middle East. 本文最初发表于《连线》中东版。