Argentina overtake Brazil to reach the second-most World Cup final appearances

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16 July 2026

Led by

Lionel Messi

Argentina

mounted a memorable comeback against

England

, winning 2-1 and securing a place in the

World Cup

final for the third time in the last four editions.

And that was not all. The win over the English took the

Albiceleste

to their seventh

final, moving the Argentinians past

Brazil

in the all-time ranking of national teams with the most finals played, and leaving them behind only

Germany

Against Spain,

will have the chance to improve their record in finals and tip it into positive territory, as they have played six finals so far with a 50/50 record: three titles (1978, 1986 and 2022) and three runners-up finishes (1930, 1990 and 2014).

With the Spanish reaching their second ever final after defeating France in the other semi-final, it means that England are now just one of three teams to only reach one

final alongside Sweden (1958) and most recently, Croatia (2018).

Most finals:

1: Germany -

8 finals (1954, 1966, 1974, 1982, 1986, 1990, 2002 and 2014)

7 finals (1930, 1978, 1986, 1990, 2014, 2022 and 2026)

3: Brazil -

6 finals (1958, 1962, 1970, 1994, 1998 and 2002) and

Italy

(1934, 1938, 1970, 1982, 1994 and 2006)

France

- 4 finals (1998, 2006, 2018 and 2022)

Netherlands

- 3 finals (1974, 1978 and 2010)

You can pinpoint the moment Messi decided he was going to send Argentina to the World Cup final

Planet Football

Lionel Messi responds to 'VARgentina' accusations of referee favouritism

Evening Standard

England v Argentina, a semi-final steeped in history for Buenos Aires

OffsAIde

Messi and Argentina react after finding Pickford’s World Cup penalty cheat sheet

The Independent

Jude Bellingham clarifies Lionel Messi confrontation in England’s World Cup semi-final loss to Argentina

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