Can Argentina Repeat as World Cup Champions

Zak Drapeau
3 minutes ago
4 min read

by Zak Drapeau

Sportz Nation - 7/16/2026

Photo Credits to Martin Meissner via Associated Press

Argentina is the reigning World Cup Champions after winning the tournament in 2022 and now, flash forward to 2026 and they have punched their ticket to another World Cup Final after defeating England 2-1 for a chance to go back-to-back.

In the 96-year history of 23 World Cup tournaments, a nation has only won back-to-back World Cups twice; Italy in '34 and '38 and Brazil in '58 and '62. 64 years later, Argentina has the chance to become only the 3rd nation ever to accomplish this.

Comeback Kings

Argentina has not been the dominant team most would associate with a finalist but instead has been the team of never giving up. Twice in the Knockout Stage has Argentina come back at the end of the game to win late.

Their recent win against England saw Argentina down 1-0 with 85 minutes down only for Lionel Messi to deliver two perfect crosses for assists in the closing minutes. Their first comeback win of the Knockouts was even crazier when Egypt held a 2-0 lead into the 78th minute. Messi would again be the difference with another assist and a late goal as well to fuel their 3-0 comeback in the last 25 minutes of the game.

The Egypt-comeback was perhaps more cinematic but the game last night was more impactful on a bigger scale. In the semi-final game they were down and scoreless with 5+ minutes left in the game and somehow they scored twice. And by "somehow" I mean Lionel Messi woke up. The Argentinian Captain has been the best player in this World Cup and not only has led his team to another World Cup Final but has done so in dramatic fashion twice now in only 4 games.

Argentina vs Spain

*All odds courtesy of Caesar's Sportsbook as of 7/16

Moving forward after the incredible comeback versus England, Argentina will face off against Spain on Sunday, July 19th at 3:00 pm EST. Argentina will be chasing their 4th ever World Cup and Spain will be chasing their 3rd. The two powerhouse nations haven't competed against each other in over 8 years when Spain defeated Argentina 6-1 in an international friendly.

Coming into this World Cup, Spain and Argentina were ranked 1st and 3rd respectively in Betting odds to win the whole thing with Spain at +450 and Argentina at +950.

This matchup will see Spain as the betting favorite at -154. The Over/Under for the matchup is set at 2.5 goals with the Under as the favorite at -159.

A big factor of this matchup will be the defensive strength of Spain against the attacking prowess of Argentina. Spain has been the top defending team in this World Cup by a mile with only 1 goal conceded in all 7 of their games. Contrastingly, Argentina has scored the most goals of the World Cup with 19 in their 7 games.

The story of how these titans got here are very different. Spain's road to the Final include matches against Portugal, France, Belgium and Uruguay which is the toughest road of any team that made the Semi-Finals while Argentina faced Cape Verde, Egypt, Switzerland and England and had the easiest road for Semi-Finalists.

Spain is the stronger team not only defensively but cohesively. Argentina has been explosive and clutch but Spain has been decisive, intelligent and much more stable on both sides of the pitch. If it comes down to someone picking the team that makes very few mistakes and works as the better team... or the team that plays okay for 80 minutes but becomes elite in the final 10, I will tend to pick the former.

The story of the 23rd World Cup Final is actually a little deeper than just Argentina versus Spain. We know that Argentina is led by Lionel Messi who has a very good argument for the greatest soccer player ever but Spain has been much more of a team-oriented side. However, one of the biggest stars and best players is Lamine Yamal, a 19-year old Right Winger who plays for Barcelona... which should sound familiar.

Yes the 2026 World Cup Final has as much of a "Past Meets Future" storyline as you can find. Lionel Messi made his World Cup debut in 2006 as an 18-year old Right Winger from FC Barcelona and 20 years later, the new "wonder kid" Lamine Yamal" made his World Cup debut at 19-years old as a Right Winger from FC Barcelona.

The lead up to the Final match will no doubt be following these two world stars and for my American Football fans, this matchup is very similar to the 2021 Super Bowl where 43-year old Tom Brady faced 25-year old Patrick Mahomes.

In that matchup, the aging GOAT won that contest by a wide margin... Will history repeat itself?