How rare are back-to-back World Cup titles? Lionel Messi’s Argentina aim to make history

Winning the World Cup title is never an easy task with the best players in the world competing for the trophy. Repeating as champions is even harder, with Lionel Messi now trying to win back-to-back titles with Argentina.

Only two teams have successfully defended the World Cup, both doing so many decades ago. The first was Italy, who won the title in 1934 on home soil before repeating as champions in France in 1938.

The other team to achieve the feat was Brazil, led by Pelé among other greats. They won the title in Sweden in 1958 before successfully defending it in Chile in 1962.

Failed repeats

While only those two teams managed to win consecutive World Cup titles, several defending champions came close. Uruguay entered 1954 as champions but were eliminated by Hungary in the semifinals. West Germany also fell in the semifinals in 1958 after losing to Sweden.

Brazil couldn’t defend their 1970 title in the following edition. They were eliminated in the second group stage under the tournament’s format at the time, which meant they played in the third-place match instead of a semifinal.

The next team to come close was Argentina in 1990, when they reached the final but lost to West Germany. Brazil did the same in 1998, falling to France in the final. France then became the latest defending champions to narrowly miss out after losing the 2022 final to Argentina.

Failed three-peats

Winning three consecutive World Cup titles has proved even more difficult. Italy had to wait 12 years to defend their second title because World War II prevented the tournament from being played. When the World Cup returned in 1950, they were eliminated in the first round after finishing behind Sweden. Brazil also failed in their attempt after winning in 1958 and 1962, as they were eliminated in the first round of the 1966 World Cup.