Winning a World Cup is often remembered as a story of stars, but the deeper truth is simpler and harsher: even the best sides usually have to survive at least one spell where the trophy looks far away. Previous World Cup Winners make that point over and over, and Argentina’s 2022 run was a perfect example.
Argentina are the defending champions from Qatar, and the path they took was far less comfortable than a highlight reel would suggest. They lost their opener to Saudi Arabia, then beat Australia 2-1 in the round of 16 before reaching a quarter-final that had to be decided on penalties. The final was the same story. By the end, Argentina had the title, but they had also shown how little margin there is between glory and elimination.
Why the 2022 route mattered
That is what makes Argentina such a useful case when talking about how hard the tournament is to win. Some champions ride control and efficiency. Others need resilience, experience and one player who can steady the whole operation when the match tightens. In 2022, Lionel Messi was the genius Argentina relied on, and the team’s march through the knockout rounds showed how decisive that kind of presence can be even when the football is not fluent for long stretches.
The comparison with older champions is telling. In 1986, Argentina founded a path to glory with Diego Maradona surrounded by eager helpers. In 2018, France had only one win by more than a single goal on the way to the final. Those examples matter because they show that the clean, dominant champion is not the norm. More often, the winner is the team that can keep moving when the margins disappear.
That is also why Thomas Tuchel’s England are into the final four with the pressure only rising. The closer a team gets to the title, the more the competition becomes a test of nerve, structure and problem-solving. Tuchel put it plainly: winning the trophy is tough — that’s the point.
Argentina’s 2022 triumph was not a contradiction of that idea. It was proof of it. They did not need to be perfect at every stage; they needed to survive the moments that could have ended the tournament. In that sense, they are exactly what Previous World Cup Winners so often turn out to be: talented, yes, but also lucky enough, practical enough and strong enough to last through the hardest rounds.
