Spain vs. Argentina head-to-head record: Who has the edge before the World Cup Final?

Sunday's World Cup Final is set, and for the first time ever, the champions of Europe will face the champions of South America in the final, with the biggest prize of them all on the line at MetLife Stadium in New Jersey. Argentina hopes to defend its World Cup win from 2022, while Spain is seeking to regain the trophy they've only ever hoisted aloft once before (2010).

But ahead of this clash, who has the upper hand in head-to-head encounters between la Albiceleste and la Roja?

Spain vs. Argentina: All-time head-to-head record

• Matches played: 14
• Spain wins: 6 
• Spain goals: 19
• Draws: 2 
• Argentina wins: 6
• Argentina goals: 18

Argentina won each of its first three meetings with Spain in the mid-to-late 1950s, but have lost three of their four encounters since the start of the new millennium. Overall, both have enjoyed six victories over the other, with la Roja scoring 19 goals to la Albiceleste's 18. It literally could not be closer!

Who won the last meeting between Spain and Argentina?

It has been eight years (March 2018) since these two heavyweights most recently met in a friendly in Madrid, ahead of that summer's World Cup in Russia. Well, that night at the Metropolitano, Spain demolished Argentina 6-1, with Isco scoring a hat-trick.

This remains Argentina's joint-heaviest defeat of all-time, also beaten by the same scoreline by Czechoslovakia in Helsingborg during the 1958 World Cup and in a qualifier against Bolivia in La Paz 17 years ago. Spain has won four of its last six encounters with Argentina, losing just two of the previous nine. But let's be honest, a repeat 6-1 scoreline on Sunday is not very likely.

Spain vs. Argentina results at World Cups

Amazingly, despite the fact these two juggernauts have played a combined 169 World Cup matches between them, they have only ever met once in a competitive fixture. This came 60 years ago at Villa Park in Birmingham, located in the English Midlands.

That day, Luis Artime's double earned Argentina a 2-1 group stage victory, helping them reach the knockout rounds, with Spain eliminated. Juan Carlos Lorenzo's side was ultimately beaten by England 1-0 in the quarterfinals at Wembley, with that year's hosts going on to win the competition.

How has Lionel Messi fared against Spain?

Of course, Lionel Messi has major ties to Spain. He moved from Rosario to Barcelona at the age of 13, making 778 appearances for FC Barcelona, scoring 672 goals, both of which are all-time club records. At international level, he has met Spain on three occasions, sitting out that aforementioned 6-1 shellacking in 2018.

Messi lost his first two meetings with Spain, both 2-1, albeit he did score in the latter, converting a penalty at the now demolished Estadio Vicente Calderón. The following year however, recently crowned world champions Spain traveled to Buenos Aires, where Vicente del Bosque's side was smashed 4-1. Messi broke the deadlock at the Monumental, before Gonzalo Higuaín, Carlos Tevez and Sergio Agüero were all on target; not a bad array of attackers, is it?

At the World Cup, Messi has scored 21 goals against 15 different national teams. Can he add another against Spain to this list?

Can Spain and Argentina end the other's unbeaten streak?

This final in East Rutherford really is the unstoppable force against the immovable object. Victory for Argentina would see them become the first team in history to win four successive major men's international tournaments. Not so long ago, la Albiceleste were international soccer's nearly men, enduring a 28-year trophy draught, during which they lost seven successive major finals.

However, under Lionel Scaloni, they have won Copa América, World Cup and Copa América again, one game away from retaining this trophy too. Thus, Argentina has won 14 straight knockout matches — the last time they were defeated was in the 2019 Copa América semifinals against Brazil, defeated 2-0 at the Mineirão in Belo Horizonte.

Meanwhile, Spain has equaled the world record for the longest undefeated streak in men's international soccer. By beating France 2-0 on Tuesday, Luis de la Fuente's team is now unbeaten in 37 matches, not including penalty shootouts. This matches Italy's sequence set in 2021, a streak Spain themselves shattered in the UEFA Nations League at San Siro.

Spain has not lost since being beaten by Colombia in a friendly in East London in March 2024, while their most-recent competitive defeat came against Scotland in Glasgow 12 months earlier, not losing any of their 38 competitive fixtures since — they have gone out of the last two World Cups on penalties. Spain's most recent knockout stage loss, excluding shootouts, came against France 20 years ago; Zinédine Zidane, now 54 years old, wasone of the scorers.

Thus, it is basically impossible to seperate the two strongest national teams in the world. Do not be surprised if Sunday's World Cup Final goes to extra time or possibly even penalties.

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