Unprecedented: Argentina go to World Cup without facing Europeans | OneFootball

The Albiceleste will finally not face Spain following the cancellation of the Finalissima. The national team will go to the tournament without having played against any teams from the Old Continent throughout the entire World Cup cycle, for the first time in its history.

The cancellation of the Finalissima against Spain has caused headaches for the AFA and the coaching staff of the Argentine National Team just before the 2026 World Cup. It will also set a rather striking precedent: the Albiceleste will arrive at the World Cup without having faced Europeans for the first time in its history.

Unless there is an unexpected turn of events, everything indicates that Lionel Scaloni's team will not face any team from the Old Continent in a friendly match before the World Cup in the United States, Mexico, and Canada.

Thus, for the first time in history, the Argentine National Team will arrive at a World Cup without having faced a European country in the four-year World Cup cycle.

Before the Qatar 2022 World Cup, the Albiceleste had faced Germany (a 2-2 draw in a friendly in 2019), Italy (a 3-0 victory in the Finalissima 2022), and Estonia (a 5-0 thrashing in 2022).

The cycle with the most matches against Europeans was before the 1982 World Cup in Spain. The team led by César Luis Menotti played 22 matches against teams from the Old Continent.

Argentina and Spain were going to face each other on March 27 at the Lusail in Doha. However, the war in the Middle East forced the entities to look for a new venue. Various options were considered: from the United States to England, Portugal, Italy, or the Santiago Bernabéu in Madrid (where Spain would have been the host). The AFA and Conmebol did not reach an agreement with the Royal Spanish Football Federation and UEFA, amid tense negotiations.

Chiqui Tapia's post after the cancellation of the Finalissima between Argentina and Spain.

The situation leaves Lionel Scaloni in an unexpected scenario in the planning of the national team. The coach had already presented a preliminary list of players who could be called up for the Finalissima, with the aim of having their clubs aware of a potential call-up. However, with the cancellation of the match, that scenario is put on hold.

Additionally, the friendly that Argentina had planned to play against Qatar to complete the FIFA date had already been forgotten after the conflict in the Middle East. Thus, the coaching staff is left without matches before the World Cup, a more than complex context for Scaloni, who loses a key opportunity to test players and evaluate options for defending the title.

Given this situation, the AFA has two options: find an opponent to take advantage of the FIFA window or have the coaching staff call up all the players to train for ten days in Ezeiza and try to find an opponent to face in the country.

One by one: the European opponents of the Argentine National Team in World Cup cycles

This article was translated into English by Artificial Intelligence. You can read the original version in 🇪🇸 here.