Most impressive team ranks of the 21st century: Where do Spain rank 2024-26?

Spain didn’t just win the 2026 FIFA World Cup; it did so in historic fashion.

With its 1-0 victory over Argentina on Sunday at the New York New Jersey Stadium, Spain broke the all-time unbeaten streak (38), which was previously held by Italy (37) for matches played between 2018 and 2021. During the streak, Spain has recorded 29 wins and nine draws.

Spain’s unbeaten streak joins a list of incredible 21st century team streaks. Here are some other incredible milestones achieved by professional sports teams in the last 25 years:

(Photo by Andy Lyons/Getty Images)

During the 2003-2004 NFL season, Tom Brady and the New England Patriots were a force of nature. Their dominance set the overall record for most consecutive wins, including regular season and playoffs.

Tom Brady played a big role in the Patriots’ success in his third season as the team’s starting quarterback. Although they started the season 2–2, he helped lead the Patriots to a Week 5 victory against the Tennessee Titans, kick-starting a streak that would see them win every game for the rest of the season, through the playoffs where they beat the Carolina Panthers 32–29 for their second title in three seasons.

The streak ended seven games the following season against the Pittsburgh Steelers. The only team to come close since then is the Green Bay Packers, who won 19 games from 2010-2011.

(Photo by Alex Trautwig/MLB via Getty Images)

For three weeks, not a single MLB team could stop the Cleveland Guardians (then the Cleveland Indians). During the 2017 MLB season, the Guardians delivered 22 games of absolute mastery to every baseball fan watching. Not a single team came close to topping the Guardians, except for the Yankees, who the Guardians still outshot 2-1.

While Cleveland’s streak may have ended with a heartbreaking 4-3 loss to the Kansas City Royals in a 10th-inning walk-off, they still finished the season with 102 wins; only the Los Angeles Dodgers recorded more wins that season. They also managed to beat the Houston Astros five out of the six times they faced them, a team that later went on to win that season’s World Series.

The last team to hold such an impressive streak was the New York Giants in 1916, with a streak of 26 games. But in the 21st century, the only team that comes close to sniffing the Guardians’ record is the Athletics, with 20. Even though they didn’t earn themselves a ring that year, they still managed to etch their names into baseball history.

(Photo by Mike Ehrmann/Getty Images)

The Miami Heat showed no mercy throughout the 2012-2013 NBA season, taking home the NBA Championship and a record to boot.

The Heat began their historic 27-game winning streak on February 3, 2013 with a 100–85 win over the Toronto Raptors. They went on to face solid teams like the Rockets, Clippers, Lakers, Thunder and Knicks and beat them all. The king, LeBron James, spearheaded this streak with an impressive 39-point performance in a close game against Kevin Durant and the Oklahoma City Thunder.

The rest of the season was no different. Besides two losses, one against the Bulls and the Knicks, the Heat obliterated every team that stood in front of them and cleared their way to the NBA Playoffs. The Heat went on to win the NBA Finals, beating the San Antonio Spurs in seven games.

(Photo by Alex Pantling – FIFA/FIFA via Getty Images)

Thirty-eight matches unbeaten; that’s Spain’s record since March 2024, and a loss doesn’t appear to be anywhere in the near future.

Spain’s dominance is now known around the world following its 2026 FIFA World Cup triumph, but most fans are unaware of how long La Roja have dominated. Navigating through friendlies, UEFA Nations League matches, the European Championship and, most recently, the World Cup, Spain have not suffered a single loss.

During the 2026 FIFA World Cup, Spain not only beat every team it faced, but only allowed a single goal – against Belgium – throughout the tournament. Besides that, it kept a clean sheet against all the countries it matched up against. Spain’s victory against Argentina not only earned them a World Cup trophy, but also dethroned Italy’s men’s international record of 37 matches.

Now this streak lives on. Can Spain extend this registration or will another country join the conversation?

(Photo: Joe Robbins/Getty Images)

From November 23, 2014 to March 31, 2017, the UConn Huskies women’s basketball team was unstoppable, going 111 straight games without being beaten.

During this streak, they won two national titles, the latter completing a streak of four consecutive championships from 2013 to 2016. They also managed to reach the Final Four for the tenth consecutive time.

This 859-day stretch was not out of the ordinary for the Huskies. In fact, UConn owns four of the five longest winning streaks in D1 women’s basketball history. The constant variable each year? Legendary head coach, Geno Auriemma. He began his reign in 1985 and during his 41-year tenure has set records for most NCAA Division I women’s basketball championships (12) and most wins by an NCAA Division I women’s basketball coach.

The UConn Huskies women’s basketball team and their dominance was no accident; just pure unadulterated talent.