Rounding up Argentina’s run to the 2026 World Cup finals

If Argentina’s run to the final can be summed up in one fact, it is this – La Albiceleste have not led in the 90th minute in any of their knockout matches.

With two comeback wins and two extra-time wins, Argentina’s run to the World Cup final has been unlike anything before. Four of the last seven World Cup knockout matches have gone to extra time, with two coming in this tournament.

Lionel Messi & Co. meets Spain on Sunday at 3 p.m. EST at New York New Jersey Stadium on FOX.

This matchup will be the first time that the No. 1 and No. 2 teams in the FIFA rankings meet in the finals (since the rankings were introduced in 1992).

It will also be the first ever World Cup between the reigning European champions and the reigning Copa América champions.

So how did Argentina get here? How unlikely has its World Cup run been? Let’s dive in.

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Behind Lionel Messi’s first career World Cup hat-trick, Argentina cruised to a 3-0 victory over Algeria in its opener.

• Messi scored his first hat-trick at a World Cup, and the fifth ever hat-trick for Argentina at a World Cup.
• Messi became the oldest player ever to score a hat-trick in a World Cup match at 38 years, 357 days; he passed Cristiano Ronaldo, who held the record, who scored a hat-trick against Spain in 2018 at the age of 33.

• Messi became the second man to score in five different World Cups, joining Cristiano Ronaldo.
• Messi now holds the record as Argentina’s youngest and oldest goalscorer at a World Cup (he scored as an 18-year-old in 2006 and scored as a 38-year-old vs. Algeria).

After missing a penalty early in the match, Messi redeemed himself with two more goals in Argentina’s 2-0 win against Austria to win Group J.

• Lionel Messi scored two goals to become the first man or woman to reach 18 career goals at the World Cup.
• After this match, Messi became the second player ever to score four or more goals in three different Men’s World Cups (Miroslav Klose).

Having already won Group J, Argentina shuffled the lineup with several new starters in the group final against Jordan. Giovani Lo Celso scored the first non-Messi goal for Argentina this summer, while Lautaro Martínez added another. Then, after coming on as a substitute, Messi’s brilliance was once again on full display as he scored a beautiful free-kick for his sixth goal of the group stage.

• Argentina scored two free kicks in this game, taking their total to five since the track in 1966; which is tied for second most with South Korea at five, trailing only Brazil (12).
• Messi scored his lone free-kick goal, giving him two direct free-kick goals in his World Cup career, the sixth player to reach that mark since 1966 (Pelé, Rivellino, Téofilo Cubillas, Bernard Genghini, David Beckham).
• Lionel Messi extended his record for most World Cup goals by a man or woman ever (19).
• Messi set the record for most consecutive World Cup matches with a goal of seven.

Argentina pulled off one of the biggest comebacks in World Cup history against Egypt in the round of 16 (Photo: Elsa/Getty Images).

In the Round of 16, Argentina narrowly survived what would have been one of the biggest upsets in World Cup history. Cape Verde, a country with a population of approximately 529,000 people, took the defending World Cup champions to extra time.

After Messi’s goal in the 29th minute put Argentina in front, Cape Verde responded in the 59th minute to force extra time. Then, after Argentina retook the lead in the 92nd minute, Sidny Lopes Cabral scored the goal of the tournament to equalize for the Blue Sharks again. With penalties looming, a Cape Verde own goal provided the match-winning goal that sent Argentina through.

If Cape Verde had advanced, it would have been the biggest upset of a FIFA ranking knockout match in World Cup history; Cape Verde was ranked 67th, while Argentina was ranked first (difference of 66 places).

• Argentina scored two or more goals in 10 consecutive World Cup matches, the longest such streak since West Germany scored in nine straight from 1966-1970.
• Lionel Messi became the first man or woman to score 20 career goals at the World Cup
• Vozinha finished the World Cup with two clean sheets, becoming the third goalkeeper in World Cup history to record two clean sheets at the age of 40 or older (Peter Shilton, Dino Zoff).

For almost 80 minutes, it looked like the defending champions were heading home.

Argentina trailed 2-0 to Egypt going into the 79th minute of their round of 16 tie before scoring three goals in a stunning 13-minute spell to complete one of the greatest comebacks in World Cup history.

Egypt took the lead in the 15th minute, marking the first time Argentina had trailed in a World Cup game since the opening game of the 2022 tournament against Saudi Arabia. The Pharaohs then doubled their lead in the 67th minute, leaving Argentina on the brink of elimination.

Then everything changed. Cristian Romero sparked the comeback in the 79th minute, converting a Messi assist to reduce the deficit to 2-1. Just four minutes later, Messi found the equalizer himself. Then in stoppage time, Enzo Fernández completed the miracle, scoring in the 92nd minute to secure an unlikely 3-2 win.

• According to Opta’s wind probability model, Argentina’s chances of winning the game in regulation were 0.6% going into the 78th minute– moments before Romero made it 2-1.
• It was the first time ever that Argentina came back from a two-goal deficit to win a game at the World Cup.
• Argentina became the first team to win a World Cup match in regular time after still trailing by two goals in the 78th minute, and just the second overall after Belgium against Senegal earlier in this tournament.

• Messi scored and assisted in this match, the fifth time he has done so in a World Cup match; no other player has more than three such games since assists were first tracked in 1966.
• Messi became the first player in World Cup history to score in six consecutive knockout games.
• Messi became the first and only player to register an assist in six different World Cups.

In the quarter-finals, after an early goal from Alexis Mac Allister in the 10th minute, La Albiceleste looked set for an easy victory. Then Swiss Dan Ndoye equalized in the 67th minute. But just as all the momentum shifted to Switzerland, Breel Embolo was sent off moments later after receiving his second yellow card.

The match was tied 1-1 through 111 minutesuntil Julián Alvarez scored one of the best goals of the tournament to give Argentina the lead. Lautaro Martínez scored a third in the 120th (+1) and put the nail in the coffin.

• Argentina reached consecutive World Cup semi-finals for the second time ever, last in 1986 and 1990.
• Four of Julián Alvarez’s five career World Cup goals have been scored in the knockout rounds, tied with Diego Maradona for the second most by an Argentine player behind only Lionel Messi (seven).
• Embolo became the fourth player since 1966 to receive a yellow card for simulation (Francesco Totti in 2002, Luis Pérez in 2006, Asamoah Gyan in 2006).

After giving up a goal in the 55th minute, Argentina found themselves behind again. But with five minutes left in regulation, Messi saved the day once again – finding Enzo Fernández for the equalizer. Seven minutes later, he found Martínez for the game winner.

• According to Opta’s wind probability model, Argentina had only a 1.3% chance of winning the match within 90 minutes in the 84th minute, immediately before Fernández scored.
• With goals in the 85th and 90th (+2) minutes of this match, Argentina have now scored eight goals after the 85th minute (including extra time) at this World Cup – a record for a single-edition national team in the tournament’s history.

• Argentina reached its seventh World Cup final, which ties Brazil for second most ever (Germany has achieved eight).
• Argentina became the first team since Brazil in 1998 to enter the World Cup as No. 1 in the FIFA rankings and then reach the final.
• Argentina have won a team record 14 games in a row, are unbeaten in a team record 13 consecutive World Cup games (11 wins) and have won seven consecutive World Cup games for the first time.
• Argentina have now scored more goals in 13 straight World Cup matches, extending their own record; La Albiceleste also became the only team to score at least two goals in all seven matches at this World Cup.
• Lionel Messi had two assists in this match; he has now scored or assisted in 11 straight World Cup games, the longest streak ever (since 1966).