FANATIK National Survey – INSCOP: Romanians have chosen between Messi, Ronaldo, Neymar, and Modric. Who is expected to impress at the 2026 World Cup?

Who is expected to impress at the 2026 World Cup in the FANATIK – INSCOP survey about the veterans who might play their last World Cup.

The 2026 World Cup will most likely go down in history as the last World Cup for Lionel Messi and Cristiano Ronaldo, two of the greatest players in history. Neymar Jr, Luka Modric, and Mohamed Salah are also expected to impress in what could be their last major competition with their national teams. Romanians chose the star from Argentina, but the competition was quite close. CR7 also came in very close.

A total of 73.2% of respondents chose to vote for one of the two players, whose rivalry over the last two decades has changed the world of football forever. 

The complete ranking of Romanian preferences

Lionel Messi – Argentina – 37.2%

Cristiano Ronaldo – Portugal – 36%

Neymar Jr. – Brazil – 10.7%

Luka Modric – Croatia – 4.1%

Mohamed Salah – Egypt – 2.8%

I don't know / I don't answer – 9.2%

The data for the FANATIK – INSCOP survey / 2026 World Cup was collected between June 2-8. The data was obtained shortly before the start of the competition to maintain its relevance and help minimize the margin of error.

Methodology: The data for this sample was obtained using the CATI method (telephone interviews). The maximum allowable error of the data is +/- 3%, with a confidence level of 95%. Research method: interview via questionnaire. The volume of the simple random sample is 1100 people. The sample is representative of significant socio-demographic categories (gender, age, occupation) for the non-institutionalized population of Romania, aged 18 and over.