Argentina vs France head-to-head record, and the 2022 final in full

Argentina and France have met 13 times. Argentina have won seven, France three, and three have been drawn. They have not played each other since the 2022 World Cup final, so the record is exactly where Lusail left it.

Thirteen meetings in 96 years is not much of a rivalry by volume. It is the quality of the four that were World Cup ties — and one in particular — that gives this fixture its weight.

Argentina vs France head-to-head in all competitions

Argentina	Result	France
7	Wins	3
3	Draws	3
3	Defeats	7

The 2022 final counts as a draw in this table, as all matches settled on penalties do. Argentina won the shootout and the trophy; the 90 and 120 minutes are recorded as 3-3.

Argentina vs France head-to-head in World Cups

World Cup	Stage	Winner	Scoreline
1930	Group	Argentina	1-0
1978	Group	Argentina	2-1
2018	Round of 16	France	4-3
2022	Final	Argentina	3-3, won 4-2 on penalties

A pattern worth noticing: whoever wins this tie tends to go a long way. Argentina beat France in 1978 and 2022 and won the tournament both times; in 1930 they beat France and then lost the final to Uruguay. France won the World Cup the one time they have beaten Argentina, in 2018. Four meetings, four runs to at least the final.

Argentina 3-3 France, 2022 World Cup final

The reason anybody looks up this head-to-head at all. Lusail Stadium, 18 December 2022, 88,966 in the ground, Szymon Marciniak refereeing, and a television audience reported at around 1.5 billion — among the most watched sporting events ever staged.

Minute	Scorer	Score
23′	Messi (penalty)	Argentina 1-0
36′	Di Maria	Argentina 2-0
80′	Mbappe (penalty)	2-1
81′	Mbappe	2-2
108′	Messi	Argentina 3-2
118′	Mbappe (penalty)	3-3

Argentina were two up and cruising at half-time, and France had barely threatened. Then Mbappe scored twice inside two minutes to force extra time, Messi put Argentina ahead again on 108, and Mbappe completed his hat-trick from the spot with two minutes left.

He is the only man other than Geoff Hurst, in 1966, to score a hat-trick in a World Cup final — and the only one to do it and lose.

Argentina won the shootout 4-2. Messi, Dybala, Paredes and Montiel all scored; for France, Coman was saved and Tchouameni missed, leaving only Mbappe and Kolo Muani on target. Montiel took the kick that won it.

Messi took the Golden Ball, becoming the first player to win it twice. Mbappe took the Golden Boot with eight goals, one ahead of Messi’s seven — a detail that matters again below.

France 4-3 Argentina, 2018 round of 16

The other great match in the fixture, and the one that made Mbappe. Ak Bars Arena in Kazan, 30 June 2018, and seven goals in a knockout tie.

Minute	Scorer	Score
13′	Griezmann (penalty)	France 1-0
41′	Di Maria	1-1
48′	Mercado	Argentina 2-1
57′	Pavard	2-2
64′	Mbappe	France 3-2
68′	Mbappe	4-2
90+3′	Aguero	4-3

Mbappe was 19, and became the youngest player since Pele in 1958 to score twice in a World Cup match. Benjamin Pavard’s equaliser won the tournament’s Goal of the Tournament award. France went on to beat Uruguay, Belgium and Croatia and lift the trophy.

It was also France’s first competitive win over Argentina: their other two wins in the fixture had both come outside World Cup football.

The two early meetings: 1930 and 1978

Argentina 1-0 France, 1930 group stage. The first match the two nations ever played, at the inaugural World Cup. Goalless until Luis Monti scored in the 81st minute. Argentina won their group, beat the United States 6-1 in the semi-final and lost the final 4-2 to hosts Uruguay.

Argentina 2-1 France, 1978 group stage. Daniel Passarella put the hosts ahead in the first half, Michel Platini equalised, and Leopoldo Luque settled it on 74 minutes. It was France’s second defeat in a row and it sent them out at the group stage. Cesar Luis Menotti’s Argentina went on to beat the Netherlands 3-1 in the final for their first World Cup.

Why they did not meet at the 2026 World Cup

Both went deep and neither won it, and the same team accounts for both exits: Spain knocked France out in the semi-finals and then beat Argentina in the final.

Argentina reached the final and lost 1-0 to Spain in extra time, Ferran Torres scoring on 106 minutes against ten men. France fell in the semi-final, ending a run that had taken them to the previous two World Cup finals, and then lost the third-place play-off to England in a 6-4 match. It was Didier Deschamps’s last tournament in charge.

The individual echo of 2022 was hard to miss. Mbappe took the Golden Boot again, this time with ten goals, and Messi again finished behind him, on eight. Same two players, same order, four years on, and neither of them ended the tournament with the trophy.

Argentina vs France: quick answers

Who has won more, Argentina or France? Argentina, seven wins to three from 13 meetings, with three draws.

When did Argentina and France last play? The 2022 World Cup final, on 18 December 2022. They have not met since.

What was the score in the 2022 World Cup final? 3-3 after extra time, and Argentina won the shootout 4-2.

How many times have they met at the World Cup? Four: 1930, 1978, 2018 and 2022. Argentina have won three of them.

Has France ever beaten Argentina at a World Cup? Once, 4-3 in the 2018 round of 16 — their only competitive win over Argentina in the fixture’s history.

More head-to-head records

If it is South American rivalries you are after, our Brazil vs Argentina head-to-head covers 115 meetings and explains why nobody agrees on the total. For what Argentina’s captain has actually won across all of it, see all trophies won by Lionel Messi.

Backing Argentina or France the next time they meet? Compare welcome offers and international football markets at the best football betting sites in India.

Photo credit: Alamy