Argentina can join the elite company of Italy and Brazil; Lionel Messi can win another World Cup-based Ballon d’Or

Sunday night’s FIFA World Cup final between Argentina and Spain could see some extraordinary milestones reached at the MetLife Stadium in New Jersey.

Updated on: Jul 18, 2026, 19:57:46 IST

Written by Prateek Srivastava

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Defending champions Argentina and Spain are ready to take on each other for the 2026 FIFA World Cup trophy on Sunday night. A team winning the prestigious trophy back-to-back has happened only twice before, and Lionel Messi’s Argentina can’t be the third if they can overcome Lamine Yamal’s Spain.

Will Lionel Messi inspire Argentina to another trophy? (Getty Images via AFP)

Italy and Brazil are the only teams to date to have won back-to-back World Cups. The Italians did it in 1934 and 1938, while Brazil did it in 1958 and 1962. There is an interesting piece of trivia that will discourage Argentina fans a lot. In 1986, they reached the final and beat West Germany to claim the trophy. In 1990, they again reached the final; however, this time they were beaten 1-0 by the same team. A win in the first final and a loss in the second final is something Argentina have experienced before, and history has a weird way of repeating itself.

Brazil experienced the same; in 1994, they won, and in 1998, they lost. France is also among the teams that won the first final but lost the second in 2018 and 2022 respectively.

Teams have also lost back-to-back finals. The Netherlands (1974 and 1978) and West Germany (1982 and 1986) have done it in the past. However, West Germany won in 1990. West Germany and Brazil (1994, 1998 and 2002) are the only teams to have reached the final three times in a row.

Messi can make it two in two!

Twice in Ballon d’Or history, a player has won it based on their performance in the World Cup. Overwhelmingly, it’s been a player who has won a major continental or international silverware. In 2006, Fabio Cannavaro of Italy won the prestigious trophy after winning the World Cup in Germany. Messi, when last time he won the World Cup in 2022, was playing for Paris Saint Germain in France but it was his triumph in Qatar that fetched him the Ballon d'Or. Since 2023, he has been playing for Inter Miami and in the last season, they won the Major League Soccer (but it's a domestic title). So, his 2026 win – if he wins, that is – will push him to another Ballon d’Or trophy based on his performance in the World Cup. Mind you, he has already scored 8 goals and provided four assists.

ABOUT THE AUTHOR
Prateek Srivastava
Prateek Srivastava is a senior sports journalist having been in the profession for two decades now. He started his print career with the India Today Group and later also worked for the Asian Age. In 2009, sensing the wind of change, he switched to the digital media and joined Mobile ESPN. There, he covered the 2011 Cricket World Cup and 2010 Hockey World Cup as a venue reporter. He did plenty of voice-over work too, over there. After leaving Mobile ESPN, Prateek went on to work for Cricketnext, Gocricket and Cricbuzz. At Gocricket (Times Internet Limited), he covered the 2014 T20 World from Bangladesh. There he also received a team leadership award, given at the end of the month. Prateek has also covered the 2016 T20 World Cup in India, this time working for Sportz Interactive. He also worked for Chinese giants Alibaba over two years and led their ""Short News"" content team at UC Browser. While cricket is Prateek’s expertise, he has also done a lot of golf. In fact, he has covered India’s first two European Tour events back in the late noughties. He has also done extensive writing on football having been associated with the Indian Super League for three seasons. Finally, Prateek is a literature aficionado and swears by Philip Roth and Gabriel Garcia Marquez, and when he doesn’t joke, he is usually quiet and at work.Read More

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