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Spain and Argentina’s remarkable numbers ahead of the World Cup final
19th July, 2026 11:36 AM
Spain and Argentina head into the FIFA World Cup 2026 final with impressive records and individual milestones that underline their outstanding campaigns.
Rodri’s new passing benchmark
Spain midfielder Rodri has completed 648 passes during the tournament, establishing a new World Cup record. The 30-year-old surpassed his own previous mark of 638 passes, achieved at Qatar 2022.
Spain players dominate the passing charts, with Pau Cubarsi (547) and Aymeric Laporte (533) ranking second and third respectively. England defender Marc Guehi sits fourth with 514 completed passes, while Argentina’s Leandro Paredes rounds out the top five on 496.
Spain equal historic unbeaten run
Spain arrive at the final unbeaten in 37 consecutive international matches, matching the longest streak in men’s international football.
Since suffering a 1-0 defeat to Colombia in March 2024, La Roja have collected 27 victories and 10 draws. The achievement equals the runs previously recorded by Italy between 2018 and 2021 and Argentina from 2019 to 2022.
Yamal leads the dribbling rankings
Teenage sensation Lamine Yamal has completed 30 successful dribbles during the tournament, more than any other player.
France captain Kylian Mbappe follows with 24, ahead of Brazil’s Vinicius Junior (23), Argentina star Lionel Messi (22) and Belgium winger Jeremy Doku (21).
The all-time record for successful dribbles in a single World Cup remains Diego Maradona’s 53 at Mexico 1986, while Messi’s 46 in Brazil 2014 is the highest total this century.
Argentina’s prolific attack
Argentina have found the net 19 times in seven matches, averaging 2.71 goals per game.
It is the highest goal tally by any nation at a World Cup since Brazil also scored 19 in 1970. Only four teams in tournament history have produced more goals in a single edition: Brazil (22 in 1950), France (23 in 1958), West Germany (25 in 1954) and Hungary (27 in 1954).
Spain have scored 13 goals, surpassing their previous World Cup best of 11 in 1986 and exceeding the eight they managed during their victorious 2010 campaign.
Scoring run for Argentina
The reigning champions have now scored at least twice in 13 consecutive World Cup matches, setting a new competition record.
Their last game without two goals came in the 2-1 defeat to Saudi Arabia in their opening match of Qatar 2022.
Argentina have also scored in 16 straight World Cup matches, a streak exceeded only by Hungary’s 17-game run and Germany and Brazil, who each enjoyed sequences of 18.
Messi closing in on World Cup scoring greats
Lionel Messi has scored eight goals at the 2026 tournament.
Only Just Fontaine (13), Sandor Kocsis (11), Gerd Muller (10), and Eusebio and Ademir de Menezes (both nine) have managed more goals in a single World Cup.
Messi currently leads the Golden Boot race ahead of Kylian Mbappe thanks to his four assists compared to the Frenchman’s three. His combined total of 12 goal contributions is the highest recorded at a World Cup since Gerd Muller produced 13 in 1970.
Argentina chasing a perfect title run
Lionel Scaloni’s side have won all seven of their matches so far, equalling Brazil’s record of seven victories at a single World Cup, set in 2002.
A victory in the final would make Argentina only the fifth nation to lift the trophy after winning every game, following Uruguay (1930), Italy (1938), Brazil (1970) and Brazil again (2002).
Simon breaks clean-sheet records
Spain goalkeeper Unai Simon has kept six clean sheets in seven matches, the highest total ever achieved in one World Cup.
He also established a new tournament record by going 650 minutes without conceding, eclipsing Walter Zenga’s previous mark of 517 minutes.
Simon currently owns the best save percentage of any goalkeeper at the competition with 93 percent.
Spain have conceded just one goal and could become the first World Cup champions to win the title after allowing fewer than the previous record of two goals, set by France in 1998, Italy in 2006 and Spain in 2010.
Argentina, meanwhile, have conceded seven goals. The last finalist to allow more than six goals before reaching the final was Brazil in 1998.
Oyarzabal equals Spain’s scoring record
Mikel Oyarzabal has netted five times during the tournament, matching the Spanish record for most goals in a single World Cup.
Emilio Butragueno first achieved the feat in 1986 before David Villa repeated it in 2010.
Oyarzabal also shares Spain’s single-tournament record for goal contributions with Villa, with both players directly involved in six goals.
