Football

Spain vs Argentina Preview & Tips - Spain to deny Messi's back-to-back World Cup dream

By Ben Darvill

4 hours ago

Ben Darvill 4 hours ago

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Spain are yet to lose at the 2026 World Cup (W6, D1)
Spain have won three of their last four against Argentina (L1)
Preview, stats & head to head

Lionel Messi of Argentina (Getty Images)

Spain vs Argentina Preview & Tips
Head To Head
Spain Form
Argentina Form

Spain vs Argentina Preview & Tips

Spain put in arguably the performance of the World Cup so far as they completely nullified France in a stunning 2-0 win in their semi-final clash.

Argentina needed more late magic as they came from a goal down against England to secure a stunning 2-1 win.

Spain have won their last six World Cup matches
Spain have seen under 3.5 goals scored in their last five at the competition

Head To Head

The pair have met seven times before, with Spain winning four meetings and Argentina winning three times.

Spain Form

Spain have been outstanding at the 2026 World Cup without ever really being seen as the genuine favourite at the tournament.

While they have always been around the head of the betting, most sides have gone under the radar, with France and reigning champions Argentina fancied over all others. However, the Spanish have been quietly building on from their shock 0-0 draw with Cape Verde, with six consecutive wins following.

Their best performance came against France in the semi-finals as the reigning European champions played their opponents off the pitch in a 2-0 win. Their control and composure when on the ball and aggressive pressing without it saw France falter as they failed to ever really threaten.

Spain's run has been built on defensive solidity, with six clean sheets in seven matches coming alongside less than 3.5 goals in six of those seven. If Spain can hit the same level of performance they managed against France, then Argentina will not win this one.

I am backing the Spanish to add the World Cup trophy to their European Championship title as they put on a lesson in football.

Argentina Form

Argentina were on the cusp of elimination at the hands of their arch-rivals in the semi-finals only to somehow find a way to come back from 1-0 down against the English.

Goals in the 85th and 92nd minutes saw England floored, with Argentina taking advantage of England throwing on defenders and getting progressively deeper. While it was not vintage Argentina by any means, they got the job done in yet another comeback.

The major worry for Argentina will be that they have gone behind in two of their last three games. While they have found a way to bounce back, Spain are not the side you want to fall behind against. The Spanish will control the ball and pass the opposition out of the game, with this exactly what they did against a far more mobile French outfit.

While Argentina will be aggressive and competitive without the ball, I predict that Spain's superior ability on the ball will tell as Lionel Messi is denied consecutive World Cup titles.

Verdict

Spain v Argentina

I am backing Spain to secure the 2026 World Cup trophy in a match that sees the European side showcase their typically miserly defence with less than 3.5 goals scored.

Spain Win & Under 3.5

Match Winner & Total Goals

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