If Spain dominated Europe sixty years ago, it was primarily thanks to its major clubs, and especially Real Madrid. In Franco's Spain, the national team struggled to gain traction despite winning the European Championship two years earlier against the Soviet Union at Euro 1964, which was hosted on home soil. In 1966, upon their arrival at the World Cup, La Roja was still coached by José Villalonga and retained several of the excellent players who had won the European Championship, including the 1960 Ballon d'Or winner, Luis Suárez, the legendary Basque goalkeeper Iribar, and several stars from Real Madrid (Pirri, Amancio, Gento, Sanchís, etc.) and Atlético Madrid (Adelardo, José Ufarte, etc.).

A surprise in their opening match, losing to Argentina (2-1, with a brace from Luis Artime and a goal from Pirri for La Roja), Spain failed to advance past the first round, despite their victory against Switzerland (2-1, goals from Sanchís and Amancio), as West Germany, the eventual finalists, narrowly defeated them in the third match (2-1, despite a goal from Fusté).

This duel on July 13, 1966, at Aston Villa Stadium was therefore the only World Cup match ever played between these two teams, and Argentina won it. Yet, it wasn't a great Argentine team. The South American country was still paying the price for two decades of World Cup boycotts (from 1934 to 1958) and struggled to compete with the major nations of the time. Eliminated in the first round in 1958 and 1962, the South Americans arrived in England seeking redemption.

It was a very unstable period. Two years earlier, the team had been entrusted to José María Minella, coach of River Plate, and boasted Boca Juniors midfielder Antonio Rattín as its playmaker, along with numerous other high-quality players: Ermindo Onega, Luis Artime, Jorge Solari, and Óscar "Pinino" Mas .

The possession-based style of play he advocated was appealing, and the results were promising. But the Argentine Football Association eventually fell out with Minella and, for lack of a better option, entrusted the team, just weeks before the World Cup, to Juan Carlos Lorenzo, known as "Toto," who had already held the position (unsuccessfully) in 1962. He prided himself on his experience in European football and claimed to be a disciple of Helenio Herrera. Despite a sloppy preparation, they managed to get through the first round and put up a good fight until the quarterfinals, where Argentina was eliminated (0-1) after a hard-fought match against England ).

The rest of the story for both teams would be rather bleak. Both failed to qualify for the 1970 World Cup in Mexico, and Spain also missed out on the 1974 World Cup in Germany. They would have to wait until 1978 to both reach the final stages again. Spain was eliminated in the first round, while Argentina won its first star on home soil…

A Missed Finalissima

There could have been a sequel. European champions in 2024, Spain was scheduled to face Argentina, winners of the Copa America that same year, in the "Finalissima." A match postponed numerous times due to congested schedules was finally set for March 2026 in Qatar. But the war in the Middle East, which began a few weeks earlier, made holding such a match in the region impossible.

Both teams did everything they could to avoid finding an alternative solution, while blaming each other. In reality, neither the Spanish nor the Argentinians were keen to play, just a few months before the World Cup, a match that could very well have been the final. L'Équipe explained this perfectly on March 16th…

Spain wins by knockout

With no Finalissima to play out, let's look back, before Sunday's final, at the last match these two teams played. A friendly, of course, since that's all there is anymore. We have to go back more than eight years. This was before another World Cup, the 2018 edition. Spain, then coached by Julen Lopetegui, appeared to be one of the favorites for the tournament in Russia. Argentina was struggling, burdened by its twenty-five-year drought without a major title. In 2016, two years after the World Cup final defeat to Germany in Rio, and following another Copa America disappointment, Lionel Messi, a regular critic of the national team, was called up for the World Cup final.

Back home, he had even put an end to his international career before changing his mind following numerous requests.

Appointed a few months earlier, his new coach, Jorge Sampaoli, struggled to assemble a balanced team. And this friendly against Spain turned into a nightmare…

Lionel Messi was certainly not present that evening at the Metropolitano Stadium in Madrid. And few players from that match remain in the two teams that will contest the final on Sunday. For Spain, only Rodri, the current captain, is left, and at the time he had remained on the bench. For Argentina, however, defenders Nicolas Otamendi and Nicolas Tagliafico, as well as midfielder Giovani Lo Celso, were starters in the team that suffered a defeat against the Spanish; striker Lautaro Martinez came on as a substitute, and midfielder Leandro Paredes remained on the bench.

In any case, the two teams would ultimately suffer a similar fate a few months later in Russia: both were eliminated in the round of 16, Argentina against France (3-4), the eventual champions, and Spain against the host nation, Russia, on penalties (1-1).

Two defeats from which they learned valuable lessons, as evidenced by their current success. Spain rebuilt itself under Luis Enrique and then Luis de la Fuente, and Argentina began a brilliant new era with Lionel Scaloni. The final testifies to their resurgence. And the almost blank page of their shared FIFA World Cup history will begin to be filled…