At press conferences during the FIFA World Cup 2026, Argentina manager Lionel Scaloni paused after his pre-match briefing to pose for a photograph with one particular journalist — a 91-year-old broadcaster who has been covering the tournament since before most of his players were born.

That journalist is Enrique Macaya Marquez, known simply as Macaya, and his story is unlike any other in sports media. Over a career of nearly seven decades, he has reported on 18 consecutive World Cups — a record that stands alone in football journalism.

A journey that began with Pelé

Macaya was 24 years old when he first travelled to Sweden for the 1958 World Cup. One of his opening assignments was to witness Pelé's Brazil face Austria — but his sharpest memory from that tournament is one of heartbreak for his homeland.

Argentina suffered a brutal 6-1 defeat to Czechoslovakia, a result that has never left him.