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Four years ago, Argentina wasn't even sure Lionel Messi would be playing in this World Cup. Now, Messi is leading the World Cup in goals and has the nation dreaming of back-to-back World Cup titles.
Messi is the headliner for Argentina, but the talent across the entire roster makes a second consecutive win a legitimate possibility. A favorable path through the knockout stage does as well.
Argentina's path through the bracket appears to be easier than that of other contenders, starting with the Round of 32.
Here's a breakdown of Argentina's potential path back to the World Cup Final.
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Argentina 2026 World Cup knockout round path
Here's what each round could look like for Argentina at the World Cup.
Round of 32: Cape Verde
Argentina is the biggest favorite of the Round of 32 in terms of betting odds. That is partly the result of being a dominant team, but it also helps that Argentina is facing a nation of 530,000 making its World Cup debut.
Cape Verde's run has been thoroughly impressive to this point, as the squad notched three draws in Group H. While Spain outplayed Cape Verde in their matchup, Cape Verde was mostly evenly matched with Uruguay and outplayed Saudi Arabia by just about every metric.
With that being said, the talent gap between these two teams is fairly massive. Cape Verde held on for the draw against Spain, but surviving 90 or 120 minutes against a team as offensively gifted as Argentina is going to be a monumental task. Argentina could have gotten a poor draw by facing a second-place finisher rather than a third-place finisher, but Cape Verde is the second-place finisher Argentina absolutely wants to face.
MORE: Ranking every team in World Cup knockout stage
Round of 16: Egypt or Australia
Argentina is guaranteed to avoid a group winner in the Round of 16, as the winner of the matchup between Egypt and Australia will be on tap.
Australia only managed a win over Turkey in the group stage, taking a draw against Paraguay that didn't prove much about either team and losing 2-0 to the United States. Egypt is a slight favorite over Australia after avoiding a loss in the group stage, but letting up a goal in each match.
Egypt, in its first-ever knockout stage, might be the tougher opponent for Argentina but would be a significant underdog against the reigning champions.
Quarterfinals: Colombia or Switzerland
Should Argentina reach the quarterfinals, this could be the easiest draw of any team at that stage.
Both Colombia and Switzerland came out of fairly weak groups, with Colombia stacking wins over Uzbekistan and DR Congo before a scoreless draw against Portugal and Switzerland taking advantage by beating Bosnia and Canada after a confusing draw against Qatar.
Switzerland would have to be much better than it was in the group stage to hold its own against Argentina, while Colombia looked pretty impressive against Portugal but will have to overcome a talent gap.
Algeria and Ghana are also quarterfinal possibilities for Argentina, but that would require a major upset along the way.
MORE: Ranking the toughest World Cup knockout draws
Semifinals: Brazil or England
There are a wide range of semifinal possibilities for Argentina, but the most likely opponents are Brazil or England. Argentina can absolutely beat either team, but this is where the good fortune starts to level out. England, while imperfect in the group stage, is still one of the better teams in the World Cup, while Brazil has legitimate hopes of winning the entire tournament.
Argentina would, however, avoid France and Spain until the World Cup Final. That means a potential rematch with France is on the table in the World Cup Final, but it cannot happen any sooner.
Final: France, Spain or Netherlands
France is the odds-on favorite to advance to the World Cup Final from its side of the bracket, but the Netherlands, Spain and Germany are all contenders as well.
There is no avoiding a difficult matchup in the World Cup Final if Argentina gets that far, but that's no surprise. Argentina won a thriller over France in the final four years ago and believes it would be positioned to do so again.
Last country to win back-to-back World Cups
No country has won back-to-back World Cups since Brazil in 1958 and 1962.
France came painfully close to pulling off the feat in the last World Cup, becoming the first reigning champion in 20 years to make it back to the final, but Argentina looks like it has a real chance to make some history at this World Cup.
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