Spain didn't just win the 2026 FIFA World Cup; it did it in historic fashion. With its 1-0 win over Argentina on Sunday at New York New Jersey Stadium, Spain broke the all-time streak for matches unbeaten (38), which was previously held by Italy (37) for matches played between 2018 and 2021. During the streak, Spain has recorded 29 wins and nine draws.
Spain's unbeaten streak joins a list of incredible team streaks of the 21st century. Here are some other unbelievable milestones that have been accomplished by professional sports teams in the last 25 years: During the 2003-2004 NFL season, Tom Brady and the New England Patriots were a force of nature. Their dominance set the overall record for the most consecutive wins,including regular season and playoffs.
Tom Brady played a huge role in the Patriots' success in his third season as the team’s starting quarterback. Though they started the season off 2-2, he helped lead the Patriots to a Week 5 win against the Tennessee Titans, kickstarting a streak that would see them win every game for the remainder of the season, through the playoffs, where they beat the Carolina Panthers 32-29 for their second title in three seasons. The streak came to an end seven games into the following season, against the Pittsburgh Steelers.
The only team to come close since then is the Green Bay Packers, who won 19 games from 2010-2011. For three weeks, not a single MLB team could stop the Cleveland Guardians (then the Cleveland Indians). During the 2017 MLB season, the Guardians delivered 22 games of absolute mastery to every baseball fan watching.
Not a single team came close to topping the Guardians, except for the Yankees, who the Guardians still came out on top against, 2-1. Though Cleveland’s streak may have ended with a heartbreaking 4-3 loss to the Kansas City Royals in a 10th-inning walk-off, they still finished the season with 102 wins;only the Los Angeles Dodgers recorded more wins that season. They also managed to beat the Houston Astros five out of the six times they matched up, a team that later on went to win that season's World Series.
The last team to hold a streak this impressive was the New York Giants in 1916, with a streak of 26 games. But, in the 21st century, the only team that comes close to sniffing the Guardians' record is the Athletics, with 20. Though they didn't earn themselves a ring that year, they still managed to etch their names into baseball history.
The Miami Heat showed no mercy throughout the 2012-2013 NBA season, taking home the NBA championship and a record to go with it. The Heat began their historic 27-game winning streak on February 3, 2013, in a 100-85 win over the Toronto Raptors. They went on to face solid teams such as the Rockets, Clippers, Lakers, Thunder, and the Knicks, beating them all.
The King, LeBron James, spearheaded this streak, with an impressive 39-point performance in a close game against Kevin Durant and the Oklahoma City Thunder. The rest of the season was no different. Besides two losses, one against the Bulls and Knicks, the Heat wiped out any team that stood in front of them and cleared their path to the NBA Playoffs.
The Heat went on to win the NBA Finals, beating the San Antonio Spurs in seven games. Thirty-eight matches unbeaten; that’s Spain's record since March 2024, and a loss doesn’t appear to be anywhere in its near future. Spain’s dominance is now known worldwide following its 2026 FIFA World Cup triumph, but most fans are unaware of just how long La Roja has been dominating for.
Navigating through friendlies, UEFA Nations League games, the European Championship, and a short while ago, the World Cup, Spain has not suffered one loss. During the 2026 FIFA World Cup, Spain not only beat each team it went up against, but it only allowed a singular goal — against Belgium — across the entire tournament. Besides that, it kept a clean sheet against every country it matched up against.
Spain’s win against Argentina not only earned it a World Cup trophy, but it also dethroned Italy's all-time men's international unbeaten record of 37 matches. Now, this streak lives on. Can Spain extend this record, or will another country enter the conversation?
From November 23, 2014, to March 31, 2017, the UConn Huskies women's basketball team could not be stopped, going 111 straight games without being beaten. During this streak, they won two national titles, with the latter completing a run of four consecutive championships from 2013 to 2016. They also managed to reach the Final Four for the tenth consecutive time.
This 859-day stretch was not out-of-the-ordinary for the Huskies. In fact, UConn owns four out of the five longest winning streaks in D1 women’s basketball history. The constant variable every year?
Legendary head coach, Geno Auriemma. He began his reign in 1985, and over the course of his 41-year tenure, he has set the records for the most NCAA Division I women’s basketball championships (12) and the most wins by an NCAA Division I women’s basketball coach. The UConn Huskies women's basketball team and their dominance was no accident;just pure unadulterated talent.
