Brazil vs Argentina head-to-head: the full record, and why the counts disagree
The Brazil vs Argentina head-to-head record in full — 115 meetings, plus the World Cup and Copa America splits, and why published totals range from 110 to 115.
Nov 21, 2023 · Updated Aug 11, 2026
Brazil and Argentina have met 115 times at senior men’s level. Brazil have won 46, Argentina 43, and 26 have been drawn. Argentina have won the last two.
That is the widest of the counts in circulation, and it is worth saying up front that it is not the only one. The two countries have been playing each other since 1914 and they still do not agree on how many times, or on who is ahead. More on that below, because it is the most interesting thing about this fixture’s statistics.
Brazil vs Argentina: head-to-head record in all competitions
| Matches | Brazil wins | Argentina wins | Draws |
| 115 | 46 | 43 | 26 |
This page previously gave the record as 113 matches, with Brazil on 46 and Argentina on 41. Both of the matches since were won by Argentina, which is exactly how 113 becomes 115 and 41 becomes 43. Brazil’s 46 and the 26 draws have not moved since November 2023.
Why every source gives a different number
Search this fixture and you will find the all-time record given as 110 matches, 114, 115 and more, with the lead handed sometimes to Brazil and sometimes to Argentina. The published totals disagree by more than the two teams do.
There are two reasons, and neither is sloppiness.
The pre-1914 matches. The sides met before their first FIFA-recognised fixture in 1914, but Brazil’s teams in those games were not official national representatives. FIFA does not count them. Some historical lists do.
What counts as a competitive match. Everyone agrees on World Cups, World Cup qualifiers and the Copa America. Nobody agrees on the rest: the Roca Cup, the Copa Confraternidad, the regional championships and the long tail of friendlies staged wherever a host was willing to pay for the fixture. Include them and Brazil lead. Trim the list and Argentina do — FIFA’s own count is one of those that puts Argentina ahead.
The neat part is where that lands. Both countries’ record victories in this fixture came in the Roca Cup — one of the competitions whose status is disputed. Argentina’s 6-1 on 5 March 1940 and Brazil’s 6-2 on 20 December 1945 are the two biggest results either side has ever managed against the other, and whether they belong in the record at all depends on who is counting.
So treat any single all-time figure, including the one at the top of this page, as one reasonable answer rather than the answer. The competition-by-competition records below are far more solid, because everybody counts those the same way.
Brazil vs Argentina: head-to-head record in the FIFA World Cup
| Matches | Brazil wins | Argentina wins | Draws |
| 4 | 2 | 1 | 1 |
Four meetings in 96 years of World Cups, which is remarkably few for two sides who have won eight of them between them — Brazil five, Argentina three. They did not meet at the 2026 tournament either. Argentina reached the final; Brazil were knocked out in the last 16.
Brazil vs Argentina: head-to-head record in the Copa America
| Matches | Brazil wins | Argentina wins | Draws |
| 34 | 10 | 16 | 8 |
This is the competition where Argentina are clearly on top, and it is also where they are clearly on top historically: Argentina have won the Copa America 16 times, more than anyone, and Brazil nine. The 2024 edition added to Argentina’s total but not to this table — Brazil went out to Uruguay in the quarter-finals, so the two never met.
The last two meetings
Both went to Argentina, and both were bad nights for Brazil in ways that go beyond the scoreline.
November 2023, the Maracana: Brazil 0-1 Argentina. Nicolas Otamendi headed in a Giovani Lo Celso corner on 63 minutes, and it was Argentina’s only shot on target all night. It was Brazil’s first home defeat in a World Cup qualifier — they had gone 51 wins, 13 draws and no losses in 64 of them — and their first back-to-back qualifying defeats in their history. Joelinton was sent off on 82 minutes. Kick-off was delayed around half an hour after police charged Argentine supporters during the anthems; Messi walked his team off the pitch and they waited in the dressing room for more than ten minutes before returning.
25 March 2025, Buenos Aires: Argentina 4-1 Brazil. Brazil’s heaviest defeat in World Cup qualifying. The result also sealed Argentina’s place at the 2026 tournament, which they went on to reach the final of.
Where the rivalry stands after the 2026 World Cup
Neither of them won it, and the two campaigns could hardly have diverged further.
Argentina went to the final and lost 1-0 to Spain in extra time, Ferran Torres scoring in the 106th minute against ten men. Brazil went out in the last 16 to Norway, beaten 2-1 by an Erling Haaland brace — their earliest World Cup exit since 1990, and one that asked harder questions of Carlo Ancelotti than a new-cycle speech could answer.
It also closed a chapter on the fixture itself. Neymar’s international career ended with that defeat, and he sits joint-sixth on the appearance list below. On the other side, Messi is 39 and has not retired from Argentina either way.
Brazil vs Argentina: individual records
Most goals: Pele, with eight in ten appearances against Argentina. A rate like that is hard to threaten now for a structural reason as much as a footballing one: outside qualifying campaigns the two sides barely meet, so a modern player needs a decade of squad places to reach even ten appearances.
Most appearances: Javier Zanetti, with 16. The list behind him is a decent history of the fixture in itself.
| Player | Country | Appearances |
| Javier Zanetti | Argentina | 16 |
| Diego Simeone | Argentina | 13 |
| Cafu | Brazil | 13 |
| Lionel Messi | Argentina | 13 |
| Javier Mascherano | Argentina | 12 |
| Djalma Santos | Brazil | 11 |
| Gilmar | Brazil | 11 |
| Roberto Carlos | Brazil | 11 |
| Neymar | Brazil | 11 |
| Pele | Brazil | 10 |
| Roberto Ayala | Argentina | 10 |
Biggest wins: Argentina 6-1 (Roca Cup, 5 March 1940) and Brazil 6-2 (Roca Cup, 20 December 1945).
Brazil vs Argentina: major titles compared
| Senior titles | Brazil | Argentina |
| FIFA World Cup | 5 | 3 |
| Copa America | 9 | 16 |
| FIFA Confederations Cup | 4 | 1 |
| Panamerican Championship | 2 | 1 |
| CONMEBOL-UEFA Cup of Champions | 0 | 2 |
Brazil own the World Cup column, Argentina own the Copa America column, and the Confederations Cup has not been played since 2017. The Cup of Champions — the Finalissima — is the one Argentina have made their own, in 1993 and again in 2022.
Brazil vs Argentina: quick answers
Who has won more matches, Brazil or Argentina? On the broad count, Brazil, 46 to 43 from 115 meetings. On tighter counts that exclude disputed fixtures — including FIFA’s own — Argentina lead. There is no single agreed answer.
When did Brazil and Argentina last play? 25 March 2025, a World Cup qualifier in Buenos Aires that Argentina won 4-1.
How many times have they met at the World Cup? Four. Brazil have won two, Argentina one, and one was drawn.
Who has scored the most goals in the fixture? Pele, with eight in ten games.
What is the rivalry called? The Superclasico de las Americas, or the Battle of the Americas.
More head-to-head records
Argentina’s other great World Cup rivalry is a much shorter list but a heavier one: Argentina vs France runs to just 13 meetings, four of them at World Cups, including the 2022 final.
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Photo credit: Alamy