Argentina's Three Stars — From Kempes to Maradona to Messi
Three World Cup titles, three generations of genius. How the Albiceleste built a dynasty around totemic number 10s.
Argentina is one of only eight nations to have lifted the FIFA World Cup, and one of even fewer to have done it more than twice. Three titles — 1978, 1986, 2022 — stitched together across five decades, each one centred on a genius wearing the number 10 shirt.
1978 — The home trophy
The first came on home soil. Coach César Luis Menotti built a team around Mario Kempes, the long-haired Valencia striker who would finish the tournament as its top scorer and score twice in the 3–1 final against the Netherlands at the Monumental in Buenos Aires. It was a tournament played under the shadow of political turmoil, but on the pitch it established Argentina as a force capable of beating anyone in the world.
1986 — Maradona’s tournament
Eight years later came what many still call the greatest individual performance in World Cup history. Diego Armando Maradona, 25 years old, dragged Argentina through Mexico ‘86 almost single-handedly. The two goals against England in the quarter-final — the “Hand of God” and then a 60-metre slalom past five defenders — have entered football mythology. Maradona also set up Jorge Burruchaga for the winner in a 3–2 final against West Germany in the Azteca. Menotti had left; Carlos Bilardo was now the coach, but the tournament belonged to one player.
2022 — Messi completes the story
Argentina waited 36 years for a third. Lionel Messi had already won seven Ballons d’Or by the time he lifted the trophy in Qatar, but the national team had been the one line on his CV that still felt incomplete. Coach Lionel Scaloni — young, unproven at the top level when he took over in 2018 — built a squad that combined Messi’s late-career freedom with the running of Rodrigo De Paul and the goals of Julián Álvarez. The final against France, a 3–3 draw settled on penalties, is widely considered one of the greatest matches ever played. Messi scored twice, assisted more, and finally completed the set.
What to watch in 2026
Messi, now 38, has said 2026 will likely be his last. The core of the 2022 squad — De Paul, Enzo Fernández, Alexis Mac Allister, Álvarez — is intact and mostly in its peak years. If Argentina successfully defend, they will become the first South American side since Brazil in 1962 to do so. The weight of that history, and the shirt, will be carried by the same man it was in Qatar.
