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Securing World Cup glory doesn’t always begin with a flawless start.
When Lionel Messi entered the 2022 World Cup carrying a fairytale narrative unlike any other, the Argentina national team was caught off guard by a 2-1 group-stage defeat to Saudi Arabia.
Soon after, social media was filled with 'cope'—a reminder that 2010 World Cup champions Spain also dropped their opening match, and that Messi's setback wasn’t necessarily fatal.
Those people were correct, whether their motives were strategic or emotional, and Messi ultimately lifted the World Cup trophy against France by the tournament's conclusion—but which other champions endured rocky beginnings?
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World Cup winners who started poorly: Argentina 2022, Spain 2010... and Italy 1982
Between Spain’s opening fixture loss—a 1-0 defeat to Switzerland in Group H—and Argentina’s World Cup triumph, Germany launched their 2014 campaign with a commanding 4-0 victory.
That match was against Portugal, where centre-back Pepe received a red card and Thomas Müller notched a hat-trick in the opening game.
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But before Spain’s group-stage defeat turned into World Cup glory, many years had passed since a champion side stumbled out of the gate.
In 2006, Italy prevailed in their opening match, as did Brazil in 2002 and France in 1998.
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Eventual winners Brazil defeated Russia 2-0 in 1994, and West Germany thrashed Yugoslavia 4-1 in 1990.
In 1986, when Diego Maradona delivered arguably the finest individual World Cup campaign ever, Argentina kicked off with a narrow 1-0 win over Uruguay.
But, prior to that, eventual champions Italy produced a lackluster group-stage performance in 1982—not just in one match, but across all three.
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With the tournament expanding from 16 to 24 teams—a similar scale-up to this edition—Italy drew all three of their Group 1 matches and still advanced to the later stages.
The results? A 0-0 draw against Poland to start, followed by 1-1 stalemates with Peru and Cameroon.
The Italians went on to defeat West Germany 3-1 in the final, having beaten reigning champions Argentina 2-1 in earlier rounds.
Two teams expected to be serious contenders in the 2026 edition have already recorded opening-match draws: Spain and the Netherlands.
German economist Joachim Klement has, in fact, predicted the latter to win the tournament outright, after correctly backing the eventual winners with the same calculations at the previous three editions.
If Spain and Argentina’s opening-game defeats suggested a quiet trend was forming at the World Cup, perhaps a draw could factor into the equation this year.
Coming full circle to 1982, where Italy strung together one of the most impressive late-stage runs in tournament history, a poor start might be just what teams need to find their rhythm.
For now, it’s reasonable to say that history has shown the opener is less critical than many assume, and the World Cup 2026—shaping up to be one of the tournament’s best—remains wide open.
Kedar Bayley is a trained journalist specializing in culture reporting. As a Liverpool FC fan, he writes about the Reds frequently. Knowledgeable about all things sports, cinema, and television, you can find his work in Screen International, FourFourTwo, Manchester Evening News, and more.
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