In the early 1960s, in the World Cup—and in football in general—there were no yellow or red cards. Substitutions were also not allowed. The winning team earned two points. World Cup matches were played entirely during daylight hours, without artificial lighting. In the event of a tie in a playoff match, there was no penalty shootout: a replay was played 48 hours later.
The jerseys also did not display the logo of the clothing brand that manufactured the kits. That bygone era of football belongs to the last two-time world champion, the Brazil of Pelé and Garrincha, who first won in Sweden in 1958 and then repeated the feat in Chile in 1962, a double triumph that no other team has since matched and that Argentina and Lionel Messi will attempt to achieve starting this Tuesday, in their debut against Algeria in Kansas for Group J of the 2026 World Cup.
Adding to the string of injuries that Lionel Scaloni’s team has suffered in recent weeks, including a hamstring strain in his left leg that prevented Messi from starting in Argentina’s last two friendlies—he only played 21 minutes in the 3-0 win against Iceland—World Cup history offers more warning signs than hope to the Qatar 2022 champions. Already in this century, four of the last six world champions stumbled too early in their attempt to achieve a second consecutive title: as if cursed, they were eliminated in the first round. Round.
More than Pelé, Brazil’s back-to-back World Cup titles in Chile in 1962 belonged to the genius of Garrincha and the goals of Vavá. It’s true that Pelé put on a one-man show against Mexico in the opening match, but his ivory-like physique gave way against Czechoslovakia: he injured himself shooting at goal in the first half and remained on the field until the end only to avoid leaving his teammates a man down. He drifted to the sidelines and contributed only a few inconsequential touches: the reaction of his opponents was touching; upon noticing his injury, they stopped marking him, as if respecting the wounded elephant who had gone to die far from the herd.
Then, one by one, the champions faltered in their attempt to climb Everest again in the following World Cup. None of them repeated their success. They were followed by England in 1966, Brazil in 1970—the most successful run of any national team, with three titles in four editions—West Germany in 1974, Argentina in 1978, Italy in 1982, Argentina in 1986, West Germany in 1990—Diego Maradona came close, losing in the final—Brazil in 1994, France in 1998, Brazil in 2002, Italy in 2006, Spain in 2010, Germany in 2014, France in 2018, and Argentina in 2022.
In this century, the defending champions seemed to be under a kind of divine punishment. France failed to advance past the first round in 2002 (losing to Senegal and Denmark), as did Italy in 2010 (drawing with New Zealand and losing to Slovakia), Spain in 2014 (losing to Chile and suffering a heavy defeat against the Netherlands), and Germany in 2018 (losing to Mexico and South Korea). Brazil reached the quarterfinals in 2006, and only France came close to repeating Brazil’s 1958-1962 feat in 2022, but lost on penalties to Messi’s Argentina.
If we look at the last half-century of World Cups, Argentina would top the list: during this period, since 1978, they are the only country to have won three titles and reached two other finals, meaning they have made it to the final in five out of 12 editions. But World Cup debuts have always been a headache for Argentina. In their only two opening matches as defending champions, they suffered two unexpected defeats: against Belgium in 1982 and against Cameroon in 1990. Lionel Scaloni’s team even entered Qatar 2022 with a loss against Saudi Arabia.
Before Brazil in 1958 and 1962, Italy had also won back-to-back titles in 1934 and 1938. It was, then, before World War II, a time when football didn’t use numbers on jerseys. Argentina and Messi are playing against Algeria, their injuries, and history.
