Terming a meeting between greats of international football a “Last Dance” has become a fool’s errand, given their extraordinary capacity to defy the ageing process.When Lionel Messi and Cristiano Ronaldo sprinkled their stardust on the Qatar World Cup three and a half years ago, that was supposed to be the end of that.Messi was 35, and could happily head off into the desert sunset after securing the world title which some felt he needed to confirm him as football’s ultimate GOAT.Ronaldo, for his part, was about to pen the most gilded retirement plan imaginable, next door in Saudi Arabia.After carrying Croatia to third place, Luka Modric, too, was going to see if he could eke out one more tournament, the lower-key Nations League, before taking his curtain call.How wrong we all were. The next World Cup cycle is reaching its climax, and all of them are still central to the narrative.They are the football versions of the billionaire tech entrepreneurs who are trying to live forever. After three years of acclimatisation in the MLS with Inter Miami, Messi has lit up this North American World Cup.The six goals he scored in two-and-a-bit group matches suggested he is just as sharp as he has ever been.He turned 39 last week, and many observers have speculated that he might yet have another World Cup in him. Who is to doubt it, given the returns he is providing?But what of the other two? While Messi was lighting the touchpaper on the tournament with his hat-trick against Algeria, the opening throes of the World Cup were not so kind to them.Modric’s first contribution in the US was to give away a penalty in Croatia’s 4-2 loss to England.The clumsiness of his foul was totally unbecoming of one of European football’s most graceful players. It spoke more of a 40-year-old – which is what he is – trying to keep up with the 'in' crowd.▶Ronaldo’s start was even more alarming. The fact he was still in Portugal’s starting XI, the critics shouted after the abysmal opener against DR Congo, was because celebrity outweighed substance, and coach Roberto Martinez lacked a backbone.But Modric found his feet with the assurance than has characterised his 20 years at the top of international football, and then Ronaldo proclaimed himself as being back, after a two-goal salvo against an admittedly weak Uzbekistan.Now, here they are again. Each is facing off against one very familiar face, for the chance to guarantee the continuation of their World Cup careers for at least one more match.The Portugal v Croatia fixture in Canada in the last 32 is unique. Never before have the two players with over 200 international caps played against each other.Some of the stats underlying the duo, who played alongside each other 222 times for Real Madrid, are astounding. Modric debuted in March 2006, when YouTube was just a few months old, and James Blunt’s You’re Beautiful was dominating the charts.His first appearance was in a friendly against an Argentina side whose fulcrum was Juan Roman Riquelme.Play01:21Goldfish oracle ‘Swimbappe’ is beating the odds at the World CupLionel Scaloni, Argentina’s current coach, and his assistant, Pablo Aimar, were on the bench. Messi was in the side, winning his seventh cap.Ronaldo was already two and a half years into his international career by that point, having first appeared as a half-time substitute in a game against Kazakhstan in August of 2003.Luis Figo was the captain of Ronaldo’s first Portugal side. The forward line was packed with stars who have gone on to become major players in football administration in the time since.Hugo Viana is the director of football at Manchester City, Deco has a similar role at Barcelona, and Rui Costa is the president of Benfica. While they have all been wearing suits for years, Ronaldo is still in his playing kit.It goes without saying, they have been among football’s central figures in the two decades since.Modric won the Ballon d’Or in 2018; it was the only intermission in the 14-year duopoly of five-time winner Ronaldo and Messi, who has won it eight times.Given all the trophies and all the accomplishments, it seems surreal that one at least might have no more than 90 minutes of international football left in them.The benchmark of 1,000 career goals, plus the chance to play in the same side as his son, is tantalisingly close for Ronaldo. Close enough for it to seem certain he will play on, at least at club level, after the World Cup.Modric, without such obvious motivations, seems certain to call it a day whenever Croatia’s competition ends.If the light does go out on one great international career at around 5am UAE time on Friday, the sport will be poorer for it.App users: Click here to download the World Cup wall chart