Before Spain, the longest unbeaten runs for national teams

29.09.26 FT UEFA Nations League A

Spain

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Croatia

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Having beaten Croatia (4-1) in the Nations League, Spain has further etched its name into football history by becoming the first nation to reach 40 consecutive matches without a single defeat. An unbeaten Roja side that overshadows all the other long unbeaten runs recorded previously.

40 matches... La Roja are the team to beat

With an outstanding Lamine Yamal, who scored twice and provided an assist, the Spanish national team showed no mercy against Croatia. It was their ninth straight victory since the draw against Cape Verde (0-0) at the 2026 World Cup. Their last defeat dates back to March 2024, in a friendly against Colombia, more than two and a half years ago.

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Rodri's teammates won Euro 2024 and the 2026 World Cup during this period. That gives even greater significance to this historic achievement. Spain will try to extend their run when they host the Czech Republic this Saturday, October 3, as part of matchday 3 of the Nations League.

Here is an overview of Spain's 40 unbeaten matches:

2024

Brazil (3-3)

Andorra (5-0)

Northern Ireland (5-1)

Croatia (3-0)

Italy (1-0)

Albania (0-1)

Georgia (4-1)

Germany (2-1)

France (2-1)

England (2-1)

Serbia (0-0)

Switzerland (1-4)

Denmark (1-0)

Serbia (3-0)

Denmark (1-2)

Switzerland (3-2

2025:

Netherlands (2-2)

Netherlands (3-3)

France (5-4)

Portugal (2-2)

Bulgaria (0-3)

Türkiye (0-6)

Georgia (2-0)

Bulgaria (4-0)

Georgia (0-4)

Türkiye (2-2)

2026

Serbia (3-0)

Egypt (0-0)

Iraq (1-1)

Peru (1-3)

Cape Verde

Saudi Arabia (4-0)

Uruguay (0-1)

Austria (3-0)

Portugal (0-1)

Belgium (2-1)

France (0-2)

Argentina (1-0)

England (2-3)

Croatia (4-1)

Italy and Argentina's unbeaten runs

Before Spain, the record for matches without defeat was held by the Azzurri, who put together 37 unbeaten matches between 2018 and 2021 under Roberto Mancini. The run consisted of 30 wins and 7 draws before ending with a 2-1 defeat to Spain in the Nations League semi-final on October 6, 2021.

Meanwhile, Lionel Scaloni's Argentina went 36 matches without defeat between 2019 and 2022 (25 wins, 11 draws), winning the 2021 Copa América and the 2022 Finalissima along the way. The run ended in November 2022 against Saudi Arabia (1-2) in the group stage of the 2022 World Cup.

Senegal, Algeria and Morocco in the spotlight

Algeria put together a run of 35 matches between October 2018 and January 2022 under Djamel Belmadi before losing to Equatorial Guinea (0-1) at AFCON 2022. Senegal, meanwhile, went 33 matches without defeat between 2023 and 2025 before losing to Brazil, while Morocco also reached 33 matches without defeat between 2025 and 2026, with 25 wins and 8 draws, a run that ended with a defeat to France.

Spain (35 matches without defeat between 2007 and 2009) and Argentina (31 matches without defeat between 1991 and 1993) also had a second run each, while La Roja even had three if the 31 unbeaten matches between 1994 and 1998 are included. Brazil remained unbeaten between 1993 and 1996 (35 matches).

The longest unbeaten runs

1) Spain – 40 matches (run ongoing since 2024)

2) Italy – 37 matches (2018-21)

3) Argentina – 36 matches (2019-22)

4) Brazil – 35 matches (1993-96)

4) Spain – 35 matches (2007-09)

4) Algeria – 35 matches (2018-22)

7) Senegal – 33 matches (2023-25)

7) Morocco – 33 matches (2025-26)

9) Argentina – 31 Matches (1991-93)

9) Spain – 31 matches (1994-98)

9) Morocco – 31 matches (2019-22)

Imed Ben Amara |

Editorar, fr

Imed Ben Amara - bilingual sports writer and web editor with experience in football content creation. Since 2021, he has contributed to Foot Africa, providing news coverage and analysis.

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