With Algeria’s comeback victory over Jordan on Monday night (22), Argentina secured its qualification to the next phase of the World Cup in first place in group J, giving fans reason to believe that Albiceleste can still go far in the FIFA (International Football Federation) tournament.
This is because, whenever they have been at the top of their group in the history of the World Cup, the South American team has managed to advance — at least — to the quarter-final stage of the competition, reaching the big decision four times.
With two victories over Algeria and Austria in the first two games in the campaign to defend the title won in Qatar, in 2022, Lionel Messi and company’s team reached six points and can no longer be surpassed.
With one victory each, Algeria and Austria duel in the last round of the group, on Saturday (27). Even if one of them reaches the same six points as Argentina, they are behind at the top of the table based on the first tiebreaker criterion, which is direct confrontation.
The Argentines’ first knockout game is scheduled for July 3, in Miami, against an opponent yet to be defined from group H, which includes Spain, Uruguay, Cape Verde and Saudi Arabia.
At least based on the historical record throughout the World Cups, everything indicates that the team led by Lionel Scaloni will be able to get through the first knockout duel of the tournament.
Since the first edition of the World Cup in 1930, Argentina has qualified first in its group seven times. He won the World Cup twice, came second twice and fell in the quarter-finals three other times.
In the inaugural edition, almost a century ago, in Uruguay, the 13 invited teams were divided into four groups, three of them with three, and one with four, with the best placed teams from each advancing directly to the semi-finals.
Argentina fell into the group with four teams and finished top, with three victories over France, Mexico and Chile. In the semifinals, they defeated the United States team 6-1, but ended up being defeated by Uruguay, at the Centenário de Montevideo, 4-2.
The Albiceleste would finish the group stage in first place again just over half a century later, in 1986, in Mexico.
In the first phase, they beat South Korea and Bulgaria and drew with Italy. In the round of 16, they avenged the 1930 defeat by eliminating Uruguay, then passing England — in the game that celebrated its 40th anniversary on Monday (22) and went down in history thanks to Diego Armando Maradona’s hand goal — and Belgium.
In the final, at the Azteca Stadium, in Mexico City, they beat West Germany 3-2 to become two-time champions — their first title came in 1978, when they finished the group stage in second place.
In 1998, in France, Daniel Passarella’s Argentina entered as one of the favorites, with names in the squad such as Gabriel Batistuta, Ariel Ortega and Diego Simeone. They topped their group with three wins against Japan, Jamaica and Croatia.
In the round of 16, they beat England in a penalty shootout, but then fell to the Netherlands, who would later be eliminated by the Brazilian team.
In 2006 and 2010, the team was also first in its group — it beat Ivory Coast and Serbia and Montenegro and drew with the Netherlands, in Germany, and recorded three victories over Nigeria, South Korea and Greece, in South Africa.
In both, they beat Mexico in the round of 16, and fell to Germany in the quarters.
They finished first again for the third time in a row at the 2014 World Cup in Brazil, after triumphs against Bosnia and Herzegovina, Iran and Nigeria.
In the knockout matches, they left Switzerland, Belgium and the Netherlands on their way. In the final, at Maracanã, they were once again beaten by Germany, thanks to a goal from Mario Götze.
The last time was in 2022, in Qatar. Even with a surprising defeat to Saudi Arabia in their debut, the team already managed by Lionel Scaloni managed to recover with victories over Mexico and Poland.
They beat Australia in the round of 16, the Netherlands in the quarterfinals, and Croatia in the semifinals. In the final, in Lusail, they beat France in a penalty shootout, after a 3-3 draw in regular time — with two goals from Messi and three from Mbappé, a duo now fighting in North America for the top spot in the competition’s historic artillery.
Remember Argentina’s history at the World Cups
1930
First in your group
Runner-up (Uruguay champion)
1934
Eliminated in the round of 16 by Sweden
1938
Did not participate
1950
Did not participate
1954
Did not participate
1958
Eliminated in the group stage
1962
Eliminated in the group stage
1966
Eliminated in the quarter-finals by England
1970
Did not qualify
1974
Eliminated in the second group stage
1978
Champion
1982
Eliminated in the second group stage
1986
First in your group
Champion
1990
Runner-up (West Germany champion)
1994
Eliminated in the round of 16 by Romania
1998
First in your group
Eliminated in the quarter-finals by the Netherlands
2002
Eliminated in the group stage
2006
First in your group
Eliminated in the quarter-finals by Germany
2010
First in your group
Eliminated in the quarter-finals by Germany
2014
First in your group
Runner-up (Germany champion)
2018
Eliminated in the round of 16 by France
2022
First in your group
Champion
