World Cup final best stats: Fascinating facts and figures ahead of Spain vs. Argentina

Spain are looking to win the World Cup for only the second time in their history, while Argentina are looking to defend the crown they won in 2022 when the two nations clash in the final at the MetLife Stadium.

Spain reached the final with wins over Austria, Portugal, Belgium and France in the knockouts, while Argentina progressed to the showpiece with knockout wins over Cape Verde, Egypt, Switzerland and England.

This will be the first time the reigning European and South American champions have met in a World Cup final and Sports Mole provides the key stats and facts ahead of this huge clash.

Spain vs. Argentina (Sunday, 8:00pm)

Head-to-head record:

Previous meetings: 14

Spain wins: 6

Draws: 2

Argentina wins: 6

Spain World Cup final stats

Spain have won five of their six major tournament finals, including four of their five European Championship finals.

Spain can set a new world record of 38 matches unbeaten if they avoid defeat against Argentina in normal or extra time.

Spain are unbeaten in their last 15 matches at major tournaments and have lost only one of their last 28 such matches (W17 D10), excluding penalty shoot-outs.

Spain manager Luis de la Fuente could extend his unbeaten record at major tournaments to 15 matches.

Spain are aiming to win the European Championship and World Cup back-to-back for the second time in their history.

Spain could become only the fourth nation to win the World Cup without trailing for a single minute during the tournament, after Italy (1938 and 1982) and Germany (1990).

Spain have conceded just 0.31 expected goals (xG) per game at the 2026 World Cup, the lowest figure of any nation at the tournament and the joint-lowest on record since 1966 with Uruguay (1990).

Spain have kept six clean sheets at the 2026 World Cup, the most ever recorded by a nation in a single edition of the tournament.

Spain have five players in their squad who are yet to lose a match at a major tournament: Aymeric Laporte (22 matches), Mikel Oyarzabal (20), Fabian Ruiz (16), Lamine Yamal (14) and Mikel Merino (14).

Fabian Ruiz is unbeaten in all of his 49 appearances for Spain across all competitions and could extend that run to 50 in the World Cup final.

Fabian Ruiz could become only the 10th player to win both the Champions League and the World Cup in the same season.

Mikel Oyarzabal has scored five goals at the 2026 World Cup, the joint-most by a Spanish player at a single tournament alongside Emilio Butragueno (1986) and David Villa (2010).

Lamine Yamal has completed 22 dribbles at the 2026 World Cup, the joint-most by a teenager at a single tournament alongside Kylian Mbappe in 2018.

At 19 years and six days old, Lamine Yamal will become the third-youngest player to appear in a World Cup final, behind Pelé for Brazil in 1958 (17 years, 249 days) and Giuseppe Bergomi for Italy in 1982 (18 years, 201 days).

Rodri has completed 655 passes at the 2026 World Cup, the highest total on record at a single tournament.

Spain have won three of their four meetings with Argentina this century, with their only defeat a 4-1 friendly loss in 2010.

The most recent meeting ended as a 6-1 friendly victory for Spain in March 2018, one of only five occasions where Argentina have conceded six goals in a match.

Argentina World Cup final stats

Argentina can become only the third nation to win consecutive World Cups after Italy (1934 and 1938) and Brazil (1958 and 1962).

Argentina are looking to end a run that has seen each of the last three reigning world champions to reach the following World Cup final lose, including Argentina themselves in 1990.

Argentina could become the first nation to win four successive major international tournaments after lifting the 2021 Copa America, the 2022 World Cup and the 2024 Copa America.

Lionel Scaloni has become the seventh manager to reach two World Cup finals after Didier Deschamps (2018 and 2022), Franz Beckenbauer (1986 and 1990), Carlos Bilardo (1986 and 1990), Mario Zagallo (1970 and 1998), Helmut Schon (1966 and 1974) and Vittorio Pozzo (1934 and 1938).

Lionel Scaloni could become the second manager to win the World Cup twice after Vittorio Pozzo, who guided Italy to consecutive titles in 1934 and 1938.

Argentina could set a new South American record of 15 consecutive victories in all competitions with a win over Spain.

Argentina could become the first nation to win every match at a single World Cup since Brazil in 2002.

Argentina are appearing in their seventh World Cup final, with only Germany having reached more (eight).

Lionel Messi is the only player to have won the World Cup Golden Ball twice (2014 and 2022) and he could become the first to claim the award three times.

Lionel Messi could win his first World Cup Golden Boot after narrowly missing out to Kylian Mbappe in 2022.

Lionel Messi will become the second player to appear in three World Cup finals (2014, 2022 and 2026) after Brazil's Cafu (1994, 1998 and 2002).

Lionel Messi scored twice in the 2022 World Cup final and could become only the third player to score in successive World Cup finals.

Lionel Messi could equal or surpass Kylian Mbappe's record of four goals in World Cup finals.

Lionel Messi has registered a record 33 goal contributions in 33 World Cup appearances, including 12 at the 2026 tournament.

One more goal or assist would see Lionel Messi equal Gerd Muller's record of 13 goal contributions in a single World Cup, set in 1970.

At 39 years and 25 days old, Lionel Messi could become the second-oldest player to win the World Cup after goalkeeper Dino Zoff, who was 40 years and 133 days old when Italy triumphed in 1982.

If the final is Lionel Messi's last World Cup appearance, he could finish his career with the records for the most World Cup matches played, most World Cup goals, most World Cup assists, most Golden Ball awards and the joint-second most World Cup winners' medals after Pele.

> Click here to read our full preview for Spain vs. Argentina, including team news and predicted lineups

World Cup final best stats: Fascinating facts and figures ahead of Spain vs. Argentina

Spain vs. Argentina (Sunday, 8:00pm)

Head-to-head record:

People mentioned in this article :

Luis De la Fuente Castillo

Lionel Scaloni

Teams mentioned in this article :

Spain

Argentina