The Argentine national team reached the final of the 2026 World Cup, where it faced Spain, and has the opportunity to write a new chapter in the history of football, and break two “curses” in the World Cup.

The first curse concerns first place in the FIFA classification, a position that Argentina occupied at the beginning of the tournament, and regained after defeating England in the semi-finals.

Qualifying for the final match allowed the Argentine national team to regain the top spot in the FIFA rankings, overtaking France, and sending Spain to second place.

At first glance, this seems like good news, however, there is a strange fact that no other team has been able to overcome.

Since FIFA introduced the world rankings in 1993, no team has won the World Cup while at the top of the rankings.

This series began in the United States in 1994, where Germany topped the classification, but it was Brazil that won the title.

Since then, no top team has been able to convert that position into a World Cup win.

The other barrier is even older, as the Argentine national team seeks to become the first team to win the World Cup twice in a row in 64 years, an achievement that no country has been able to repeat since the historic Brazilian generation led by Pele.

Before that, only Italy had achieved this feat (in 1934 and 1938), then Brazil won the World Cup in Sweden in 1958 and in Chile in 1962, becoming the last team to successfully defend its title.

Since then, every champion who has tried to repeat the victory has failed, entrenching what has been known over the years as the “Curse of the Champion.” (Erm News)