What is longest unbeaten run in international football? Details as Argentina miss out on record at World Cup

Argentina's sensational opening defeat to Saudi Arabia at the 2022 FIFA World Cup ended a formidable unbeaten run that had put Lionel Messi and his Albiceleste teammates on the brink of a world record.

Their sequence had shown no signs of slowing in recent months. Including their 3-0 win over Italy in the Finalissima at Wembley in June, Argentina have scored 19 times without reply across five games, including 5-0 thrashings of Estonia and the United Arab Emirates.

The run began in 2019 and has included qualification for the finals and Messi's first major trophy with his country when the player of the tournament was part of a 1-0 win over Brazil in the final of the Copa America 2021.

Whose record did Argentina miss out on breaking? Which teams had previously gone the longest without defeat? The Sporting News takes a look at the best unbeaten runs in international football history.

MORE: Group C in 2022 World Cup, featuring Argentina & Mexico

Longest unbeaten streaks in international football

Italy missed their chance to preserve their own 37-game record when they were comprehensively beaten by a swaggering Argentina side.

Roberto Mancini's Azzurri had looked all-conquering to that point as they set the current benchmark and won Euro 2020. But after defeat against La Albiceleste they then lose against Spain in October 2021 and, almost six months later, suffer a shock defeat to North Macedonia that makes them the most high-profile team not to be at the World Cup.

Curiously, three nations in three different regions — Europe (Italy), South America (Argentina) and Africa (Algeria) — have all achieve unprecedentedly long stretches of success at virtually the same time.

The list of longest unbeaten streaks in global football includes some of the world's great footballing nations, featuring both European and South American powerhouses.

By its own estimation, defending AFCON 2019 champion Algeria was in this elite company – but world governing body FIFA didn't see it quite the same way.

Longest unbeaten streaks in international football

The issue of which matches count and which don't has come up in the case of other teams, too.

Italy's record streak in the 1930s, which was unmatched for over 50 years, officially did not include a match that the Italians were losing to Austria 2-0 before it was abandoned due to crowd trouble.

Brazil's run (1993-96) is somewhat controversial, because many argue that the streak-snapping loss to Mexico should not have counted, since it came in the 1996 CONCACAF Gold Cup final against what was practically a Brazil Under-23 team preparing to play in the Olympics.

Removing the three wins and one loss that Brazil suffered in that 1996 Gold Cup, Brazil would have reached 40 games unbeaten before losing at full strength.

FIFA officially counted those Gold Cup matches as senior contests, so the defeat to Mexico could not be discarded.

Brazil's case didn't hold water with FIFA, and Algeria's didn't either.

MORE: FIFA disputes Algeria unbeaten streak ended in early 2022

When could Argentina have set the unbeaten record?

Argentina needed to avoid defeat against Saudi Arabia in their opening World Cup Group C game to equal Italy's all-time record of 37 unbeaten, while two games without defeat in Qatar would have seen them standing alone in history.

Argentina's World Cup fixtures

* Potential World Cup knockout match if Argentina advance

Argentina longest unbeaten international run: the results

Argentina's impressive run of results had included three games against Brazil - the last team to beat them before Saudi Arabia - in which they won twice and drew once against the top-ranked nation in the world. Of five games against Chile, two were wins, while three were draws.

One game that is not included in the run is a game against Brazil that was scheduled to take place in September 2021.

That match had barely started when it was suspended, because Brazilian health authority officials entered the pitch to intervene over four Argentina players who broke COVID-19 quarantine regulations by taking part in the game.