In the early 1960s, at the World Cup — and in soccer in general — yellow and red cards did not exist. Substitutions were not allowed either. The winning team earned two points. World Cup matches were played entirely during the day, without floodlights. If a playoff tie ended level, there were no penalty shootouts: a replay was held 48 hours later.

Shirts did not display sportswear brand logos back then either. That bygone era of soccer belongs to the last team to win back-to-back World Cups: Pelé and Garrincha’s Brazil, which first triumphed in Sweden in 1958 and then retained their title in Chile in 1962 — a feat no other national side has matched since — and one Argentina and Lionel Messi will try to achieve beginning this Tuesday in their opening match against Algeria in Kansas, in Group J of the 2026 World Cup.

To the succession of injuries Lionel Scaloni’s squad has suffered in recent weeks — including a left-leg hamstring overload that kept Messi from starting Argentina’s last two friendlies (he played only 21 minutes in the 3-0 win over Iceland) — World Cup history sends the reigning Qatar 2022 champion more warning signs than hope. In the 21st century, four of the last six world champions have crashed out early in their attempts to win consecutive titles: like a curse, they were eliminated in the first round.

More than to Pelé, Brazil’s 1962 back-to-back title in Chile owed itself to Garrincha’s genius and Vavá’s goals. It is true that O Rei laid on a one-man show against Mexico in the opener, but he picked up an injury while shooting in the first half against Czechoslovakia and stayed on the field until the end only so his teammates would not be a man down. He moved to one side and contributed only inconsequential touches: it was moving to see his opponents, noticing his condition, stop marking him — as if showing respect to a wounded elephant that had gone to die away from the herd.

Since then, one by one, the champions have faltered in their attempts to climb Everest again at the next World Cup. Brazil were followed by England in 1966, then Brazil themselves again in 1970 — the most fruitful cycle for any national side, with three World Cups in four editions — West Germany in 1974, Argentina in 1978, Italy in 1982, Argentina in 1986, West Germany in 1990 —Diego Maradona came close: Argentina lost 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, defending champions seemed subject to divine punishment. France in 2002 (defeats to Senegal and Denmark), Italy in 2010 (a draw with New Zealand and a stumble against Slovakia), Spain in 2014 (a loss to Chile and a heavy defeat to the Netherlands) and Germany in 2018 (losses to Mexico and South Korea) all failed to progress beyond the first round. Brazil reached the quarterfinals in 2006 and only France nearly repeated Brazil’s 1958–1962 feat in 2022, but they lost on penalties to Messi’s Argentina.

If one looks at the last half-century of World Cups, the Albiceleste would top the list: since 1978, it is the only country that has won three World Cups and also reached two other finals, meaning it reached the decisive match in five of 12 editions. But opening matches at the World Cup have always given Argentina headaches. In its only two previous appearances as defending champion it suffered two unexpected defeats: to Belgium in 1982 and to Cameroon in 1990. Scaloni’s side even arrived at Qatar 2022 after a stumble against Saudi Arabia.

Before Brazil in 1958 and 1962, Italy had also been crowned back-to-back winners in 1934 and 1938, before World War II, when players did not even have numbers on their shirts. Argentina and Messi face Algeria, their injury problems, and history.

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