Argentina appeared in the final scene of the 2026 World Cup, but it was a very timid presence, as Lionel Messi's teammates settled for defending against the Spanish Matador, who finished off the defending champions to win the second star in their history.

The Argentine national team did not deliver the expected performance against Spain, who were crowned with the title deservedly on a day that saw negative numbers for the 'Tango' and their captain Messi.

Argentina is the first team ever to fail to take a single shot in 90 minutes in a World Cup final.

For the fourth time, Argentina finishes runner-up in the World Cup, the most times a team has been runner-up after Germany.

Lionel Messi recorded only one touch in the first 15 minutes of the World Cup final.

Messi received a rating of '7', his lowest in a World Cup match since Argentina's match against Croatia in the 2018 World Cup when Croatia won 3-0.

Messi failed to reclaim the top spot in the all-time World Cup scorers list, remaining with 21 goals, behind Kylian Mbappé who snatched the lead with 22 goals.

Messi, at '39 years old', became the oldest outfield player to play and lose in a World Cup final in history.

Argentina failed to join the historic duo (Italy and Brazil) as teams that successfully defended their title and won the cup in two consecutive editions.