If superstar Lionel Messi’s Argentina national team wins the 2026 World Cup, they will become the first team to successfully defend the world championship title in the 21st century.
Throughout the 100-year history of the FIFA World Cup (since the inaugural tournament in 1930), only 2 teams have successfully defended their title. They are the Italy national team with 2 consecutive championships at the 1934 and 1938 World Cups, along with the Brazil national team winning the 1958 and 1962 World Cups.
However, the teams that successfully defended their world championship titles all did so in the 20th century. Since the beginning of the 21st century, no team has been able to do the same.
The closest a team has come to defending their title in this century was the French national team. Superstar Kylian Mbappe and his teammates won the 2018 World Cup in Russia, then advanced to the 2022 World Cup final in Qatar. However, in the tournament final four years ago, the French national team lost to Argentina in a penalty shootout, after the two sides drew 3-3 following 120 minutes of regular and extra time.
Currently, Argentina has the opportunity to win the World Cup twice in a row if they are crowned champions in this year’s tournament. The team from the land of Tango still retains the core framework that helped them win the 2022 World Cup, such as goalkeeper Emiliano Martinez, defenders Romero, Otamendi, Molina, Tagliafico, midfielders De Paul, Mac Allister, Enzo Fernandez, forwards Lautaro Martinez, Julian Alvarez, and especially Messi.
The most significant change for the Argentina national team at the 2026 World Cup compared to the 2022 World Cup is that attacker Di Maria has retired. But in return, Argentina has striker Alvarez, who is currently even better than he was four years ago.
At the 2026 World Cup, Argentina is in Group J, along with Algeria, Austria, and Jordan. This is considered one of the easiest groups in this tournament.
