5 World Cup Players Who Married Their Childhood Sweethearts

A few of the World Cup Players who will be playing at the 2026 World Cup final are already married to their childhood love. Messi, Kane, and others have known their future spouses since they were kids. On the other hand, South Africa’s Ronwen Williams used to play football and cricket with his future wife, Roshni, on the same street as kids.

“I was very young when I first met [Roshni], so she knows me even if at that time I had nothing,” Williams said, talking to Sowetan in May 2019. “A professional footballer usually becomes famous and has many admirers, but I’m happy I have a person who knew me before all that and understands me.”

Have a look at five footballers who married their childhood loves.

Lionel ‍Messi

The union between Messi and his wife, Antonela Roccuzzo, was celebrated in June 2017 after they had been childhood sweethearts in Rosario, their ‍ ‌‍ ‍‌hometown. As they recall, Messi used to play football in the street, said Para Ti.

After the footballer went abroad for his career in Spain in 2000, he came back to his home city of Rosario in 2005 to be there for Roccuzzo, who was heartbroken after her best friend, Úrsula Notz, died in a tragic car accident.

Messi and Roccuzzo tied the knot, and the whole world took notice of their celebrity wedding, which eventually got the label of “the wedding of the ‍ ‌‍ ‍‌century”. The ‍couple has three sons: Thiago, Mateo, and Ciro.

Harry Kane

The prominent football player from England, has a long-standing relationship with his spouse Katie Goodland (now Kate Kane, formerly Goodland). Katie Goodland even posted their first date photos on Instagram and Harry said in this video that he used to dream of a day when he would be captain of England’s football ‍‌team.

Katie also agreed that her beloved’s foresight about this matter turned out to be completely accurate. Because, indeed, he became England Captain of its national football team in May of 2018.

During their years in high school, Harry and Katie were boyfriend and girlfriend and they were even photographed together at the prom. Then, after they had a short engagement, they got married in June 2019 and their children started to grow up in front of them:

Ivy, a pretty little girl who will soon turn four as she was born in January 2017, Vivienne, another lovely little girl and her sister who came into the world in August 2018, Louis, a cute and boyish little boy who first saw the light of his life in December 2020, and little Henry, their newest member, who is such a darling and was born as a baby in their August  ‍‌2023.

Jordan pickford

Goalkeeper Jordan Pickford and his wife, Megan Pickford, started dating when they were ‍ ‌‍ ‍‌teenagers. Before Jordan made a professional football move in 2009, the couple had already known each other very well. According to the newspaper, Jordan and Megan were friends first, then classmates in St Robert of Newminster school, which is in Washington, Washington.

They began their relationship around 16 for him and 14 for her, said the Metro newspaper. Jordan and Megan, during the 2018 World Cup, told the world they were engaged. Then, two years later, at the altar. The family has two children – Arlo, who was born in April 2023, and Ostara, who was born in September 2023. When the couple wed, Arlo was just one year old.

Gio Reyna

Gio ‍Reyna and his wife, Chloe, started dating when they were in college. Chloe played field hockey and he wanted to become a professional football player. In the USA, Chloe completed a women’s lacrosse athletic scholarship at Providence College, Division I, as the website states.

Gio and Chloe decided to start organizing their wedding when they became engaged in May 2024, and they tied the knot in July ‍ ‌‍ ‍‌2025. Presently, they are excited as it is almost time for their first child. One of his goals in the first game of the US against Paraguay was marked with an action of a soccer ball placed between his arms, thumb sucked in, right-handed goal celebration on the 12th of June, 2026, according to the World Cup in 2026.

“I’ve known for a couple of months now, so I was waiting for the perfect time [to break the news],” said Gio, quoted by USA Today. “And this sort of felt like it.”

Ronwen Williams

South Africa’s Ronwen Williams proposed to his future wife, Roshni, when he was 22 years old. Williams used to play football and cricket with Roshni when he was very young, he told Sowetan. According to IOL News, the couple grew up on the same street in Gqeberha, a city located in the Eastern Cape.

“We became best of friends,” said Roshni. “We always played soccer and cricket together in the street.” Eventually, Ronwen and Roshni got married and have two children together, son Mikyle and daughter Mila.