Argentina qualified for the World Cup final for the sixth time in its history on Tuesday. Only one country was more often in the final battle of the global tournament.
The Argentines were 3-0 too strong for Croatia on Tuesday and Lionel Messi still gets the chance to win the world title with his country. Eight years ago, Messi also reached the final, but then lost to Germany after extra time. Mario Götze scored the winning goal at the time.
Argentina won the World Cup in 1978 (against the Netherlands) and in 1986 (against West Germany). The South Americans had to settle for silver three times. That was the case in 2014, but also in 1930 (lost the final against Uruguay) and in 1990 (against West Germany).
Germany remains the record holder when it comes to the number of World Cup finals played. The Germans were eight times in the last two and won the World Cup four times. Record champion Brazil (five world titles) has played six finals so far, plus a decisive ‘tournament game’ in 1950, which was lost to Uruguay. The Brazilians also lost in the 1998 final; they were crowned best in the world for the last time in 2002.
Most World Cup finals
| Country | Number of finals | Won | Lost |
| Germany | 8 | 4 | 4 |
| Argentina | 6 | 2 | 3 |
| Brazil | 6 | 5 | 1 |
| Italy | 6 | 4 | 2 |
| France | 4 | 2 | 1 |
| Netherlands | 3 | 0 | 3 |
In related news Argentina’s fans had taken to the streets to celebrate their World Cup semi-final victory over Croatia. The images of hundreds of thousands of supporters cheering Lionel Messi are overwhelming.
After the 3-0 victory over the Croatians, the attention is of course mainly focused on the man with number 10. After his leading role in the semi-final, the 35-year-old Messi is a big step closer to realizing his dream. Messi’s actions, especially those leading up to the 3-0, have thrilled the Argentines.
‘Messi, Messi, Messi!’, it sounds from the crowd in the center of Buenos Aires. National coach Lionel Scaloni was presented with the images from Argentina in Qatar. “Unbelievable,” said the national coach, laughing almost shyly.
