Check out Spain vs Argentina’s history before FIFA World Cup final

Spain are looking to achieve World Cup glory for the second time in their history, having previously lifted the trophy in 2010. On the other side, Argentina are just one win away from defending their crown, as they look to become the first team in 64 years – since Brazil in 1962 – to win successive World Cups.

All eyes will be on Catalonia’s past and future, as Argentina’s talisman Lionel Messi and Spain’s young prodigy Lamine Yamal are set to meet on the grandest stage of them all. It will be a moment when life comes full circle, nearly 19 years after a photo shoot for FC Barcelona and UNICEF in 2007, where Messi helped the five-month-old Yamal with a bath in a little blue plastic tub.

Before their much-anticipated final on Sunday, Spain and Argentina have only clashed once in the tournament’s history, way back in 1966.

Last time Spain and Argentina met at the World Cup

The two sides met at Villa Park in Birmingham on July 13, in the opening fixture of Group 2, a group which also included eventual finalists West Germany and Switzerland. This match set the tone for both teams’ campaigns.

The clash was between two generations of players. Argentina boasted stars such as Antonio Ubaldo Rattín, Luis Artime, Oscar Más, Ermindo Onega, Roberto Perfumo, and Jorge Solari, while Spain featured the likes of José Ángel Iribar, José Ufarte, Pirri, Luis del Sol, Gento, and Ballon d’Or winner Luis Suárez.

A brace from striker Luis Artime – described by the Guardian’s Cyril Chapman as an “irrepressible centre-forward” – cancelled out José Martínez Sánchez “Pirri”‘s strike in a frantic second half where all three goals came within 13 minutes. Argentina began their Group 2 campaign with a 2-1 win. The game was a physical and fierce battle between the two nations.

Argentina’s run in that World Cup lasted till the quarterfinals, where they were knocked out by eventual champions England, while Spain failed to make it out of the group stages.

Last time out between Spain and Argentina

The last time Argentina met Spain in international football, La Roja ran riot in a 6-1 win at the Metropolitano Stadium in Madrid in 2018 – a FIFA friendly. A hat-trick from Isco and goals from Diego Costa, Thiago Alcântara, and Iago Aspas helped Spain put six on the board. Nicolás Otamendi scored a consolation goal for Argentina as Spain showed no mercy to a Messi-less side.

Spain vs Argentina head-to-head record

In their last five meetings, all friendlies, Spain have had the upper hand, winning three compared to Argentina’s two.