Argentina national football team


The Argentina national football team represents Argentina in men's international football and is administered by the Argentine Football Association, the governing body for football in Argentina. Argentina's home stadium is Estadio Monumental Antonio Vespucio Liberti in Buenos Aires.
La Selección, also known as the La Albiceleste, has appeared in five World Cup finals, including the first final in 1930, which they lost 4–2 to Uruguay. Argentina won in their next final appearance in 1978, beating the Netherlands at extra time, 3–1. Argentina won again in 1986, through a 3–2 victory over West Germany, and a tournament campaign led by Diego Maradona. They made the World Cup finals once more in 1990, and lost 1–0 to West Germany following a controversial penalty call in the 87th minute. Argentina, led by Lionel Messi, made their fifth appearance in a World Cup final in 2014, again losing to Germany, 1–0 during extra-time. Argentina's World Cup winning managers are César Luis Menotti in 1978 and Carlos Bilardo in 1986.
Argentina has also been very successful in the Copa América, winning it 14 times, second only to Uruguay. The team also won the 1992 FIFA Confederations Cup and the 1993 Artemio Franchi Trophy. Argentina is known for having rivalries with Brazil, Uruguay, England, and Germany due to particular occurrences with one another throughout football history.

History

The first match ever recorded for Argentina was against Uruguay. The game was held in Montevideo on 16 May 1901 and Argentina won 3–2. During the first years of its existence, the Argentina national team only played friendly matches against other South American teams. The reasons for this varied, including long travel times between countries and the interruption of World War I.
La Selección, also known as the Albicelestes, has appeared in five World Cup finals, including the first final in 1930, which they lost, 4–2, to Uruguay. Argentina won in their next final in 1978, beating the Netherlands, 3–1. Argentina, led by Diego Maradona won again in 1986, a 3–2 victory over West Germany.
Argentina last reached the World Cup final in 2014, where it lost 1–0 to Germany national football team.
Previous to this their last World Cup final was in 1990, which it also lost, 1–0, to West Germany by a much disputed penalty. Argentina's World Cup winning managers are César Luis Menotti in 1978, and Carlos Bilardo in 1986.
Argentina has been very successful in the Copa América, winning it 14 times. The team also won the FIFA Confederations Cup and the Kirin Cup, both in 1992, and the 1993 Artemio Franchi Trophy. An Argentina team won the Olympics football tournaments in Athens 2004 and Beijing 2008.
Argentina also won seven of the 18 football competitions at the Pan American Games, winning in 1951, 1955, 1959, 1971, 1995, 2003 and 2019.
In March 2007, Argentina reached the top of the FIFA World Rankings for the first time.

Home stadium

The River Plate stadium, Monumental Antonio Vespucio Liberti, is a national stadium of Argentina national team that plays most qualifying and friendlies at that stadium.
They play their matches outside the stadium at Córdoba, Rosario, Mendoza, La Plata, San Juan and Salta.

Team image

Uniform

The kit first worn by Argentina was a white shirt, at the official debut of the national side against Uruguay in 1902. In August 1908, Argentina debuted the light blue vertical stripe on white jersey. That kit would become the official kit. The away kits usually have been in dark blue shades, varying the colors of shorts and socks.
Argentina has sported other kits until the blue strip on white kit was made official. On 3 June 1919 in Rio de Janeiro playing the "Roberto Chery Cup" against Brazil, Argentina wore a light blue kit, similar to Uruguay. The trophy was established by Brazilian Football Confederation for the benefit of Roberto Chery's relatives. Chery was Uruguay's substitute goalkeeper and died during the 1919 South American Championship after collapsing in a game against Chile.
At the 1958 World Cup, Argentina wore the yellow jersey of Swedish club IFK Malmö in the match against West Germany, as the team arrived in Sweden without an away kit.
A last moment jersey changed at the 1986 World Cup in Mexico is memorable. Then manager Carlos Bilardo asked the team kit supplier Le Coq Sportif for a lighter blue shirt for the quarter-final in three days against England, that could not be provided. A member of coaching staff scour the shops of Mexico City for 38 shirt plain shirts. They were transformed with an improvised version of the AFA emblem embroidered on to the shirts, and silvery American football numbers ironed to the backs. Argentina beat England with Diego Maradona's "goal of the century". The shirt style became an emblem of the occasion and a collector's item.
At the 2018 World Cup in Russia, Argentina debuted a black away kit, a first in their history.

Kit suppliers

Kit supplierPeriodNotes
Gath & Chaves1930–1934
Sportlandia1966
Adidas1973–1979
Le Coq Sportif1980–1989
Adidas1990–1998
Reebok1999–2001
Adidas2001–present

Crest

The Argentine Football Association logo has been always used as the team emblem. It debuted in the 1958 World Cup held in Sweden, when Argentina added the AFA logo to their jackets, but not to the shirts.
Nevertheless, the AFA emblem was not used on jerseys until 16 November 1976, when Argentina played the Soviet Union at Estadio Monumental. The first emblem was a simplified version of the crest.
In 2004, the two stars added above the crest symbolized the national team FIFA World championships of 1978 and 1986.

Competitive record

FIFA World Cup

Copa América

FIFA Confederations Cup

Olympic Games

Pan American Games

All-time head-to-head record

Below is a result summary of all matches Argentina have played against FIFA recognized teams.
Opponents
110040+4100.0%
110043+1100.0%
110020+2100.0%
7511127+571.4%
211062+450.0%
10100000.0%
5401124+880.0%
3826579838+6068.6%
330091+8100.0%
107392641161165–449.1%
9801186+1288.8%
201123–10.0%
110050+5100.0%
916025619271+12166.2%
100101–10.0%
3719996836+3254.8%
7520145+972.4%
521257–250.0%
6231710–335.3%
311134–150.0%
211031+250.0%
35201059134+5758.9%
220080+8100.0%
220040+4100.0%
153651822–426.6%
126331511+450.0%
2310673433+145.4%
110020+2100.0%
220060+6100.0%
3300130+13100.0%
3300121+11100.0%
220041+3100.0%
110070+7100.0%
7511156+971.4%
10101100.0%
110010+1100.0%
211021+150.0%
210152+350.0%
5311146+860.0%
154561522–726.6%
220061+5100.0%
330081+7100.0%
8701184+1487.5%
110031+2100.0%
10100000.0%
30151145027+2350.0%
220041+3100.0%
9144613–711.1%
110051+4100.0%
96121513+262.5%
110031+2100.0%
200213–20.0%
220081+7100.0%
102543216212107+10559.0%
513214510245+5762.7%
116231812+658.3%
8512137+662.5%
220050+5100.0%
651081+7100.0%
9621126+680.0%
134721311+236.4%
422073+450.0%
105232115+644.4%
421153+250.0%
110060+6100.0%
211031+250.0%
4310104+675.0%
110060+6100.0%
110020+2100.0%
146261819–142.8%
311166033.3%
7520153+1271.4%
110030+3100.0%
110021+1100.0%
11722309+2162.0%
194894659310235+7547.8%
2521228417+6787.0%
211021+150.0%
Total 101555025021919191071+84854.7%

Results and fixtures

2019

2020

2021

Players

Current squad

The following players were selected for the 2022 FIFA World Cup qualifiers against Ecuador and Bolivia on 27 and 31 March 2020, respectively. A complementary list including Argentine Primera División players will be released at a further date.
On 12 March 2020, the FIFA announced that the matches originally scheduled to take place during the international window of 23–31 March 2020 are postponed to later dates. Details of the postponed matches will be discussed and announced soon.

Caps and goals correct as of: ''18 November 2019, after the match against Uruguay.

Recent call-ups

The following players have been called up for the team in the last 12 months.
INJ Withdrew due to injury

PRE Preliminary squad

RET Retired from the national team

SUS Suspended

Previous squads

;World Cup
;Confederations Cup
;South American Championship / Copa América

Statistics

Most capped players

is the most capped player in the history of Argentina with 147 caps.
Rank.NameCareerCapsGoals
1Javier Mascherano1473
2Javier Zanetti1994–20111434
3Lionel Messi2005–13870
4Roberto Ayala1994–20071147
5Diego Simeone1988–20021069
6Ángel Di María2008–10220
7Sergio Agüero2006–9741
7Oscar Ruggeri1983–1994977
9Sergio Romero2009–960
10Diego Maradona1977–19949134

Top goalscorers

celebrates after scoring against Nigeria at the 2018 World Cup. He is the highest goalscorer in the history of Argentina with 70 goals.
Rank.PlayerCareerGoalsCapsAvg/GameOfficial Match Goals
1Lionel Messi2005–7013836
2Gabriel Batistuta547738
3Sergio Agüero2006–419720
4Hernán Crespo1995–2007356426
5Diego Maradona1977–1994349115
6Gonzalo Higuaín2009–2018317523
7Luis Artime1961–19672425?
8Daniel Passarella1976–198623706
9Leopoldo Luque1975–198121458
9José Sanfilippo1956–19622129?

World Cup winning captains

YearNameCapsGoals
1978Daniel Passarella7023
1986Diego Maradona9134

Individual records

The first Argentina national team manager was Ángel Vázquez, appointed in 1924. Guillermo Stábile is the manager with the most matches coaching the team. Here is the complete list of managers:

Rivalries

Brazil

Argentina have a long and fierce rivalry with their South American neighbours.

England

With a rivalry stemming from the 1966 World Cup and intensified by the Falklands War of 1982, Argentina and England have had numerous confrontations in World Cup tournaments. Among them was the quarter-final match in 1986, where Diego Maradona scored two goals against England. The first was a handball, but was ruled legal by the referee. The second, scored minutes later, saw Maradona passing five England outfield players before scoring, and is often described as one of the greatest goals in football history.
The nations were paired together in the Round of 16 at the 1998 FIFA World Cup, won by Argentina on penalties, and again at the group stage in 2002, England winning 1–0 through a penalty by David Beckham who had been sent off in the tie four years earlier.

Germany

Argentina have played Germany in seven FIFA World Cup matches including three FIFA World Cup finals: In 1986 Argentina won 3–2, but in 1990 it was the Germans who were the victors by a 1–0 scoreline.
In 1958 they met for the first time in the group stage, where Argentina suffered a 1–3 loss to defending champions West Germany. In 1966 both again faced each other in the group stage which ended in a scoreless draw. 2006 they met in the quarter-finals; Argentina lost on penalties after a 1–1 draw. They met again at the same stage in 2010, this time ending with a 4–0 victory for Germany. They played each other for the third consecutive World Cup in the Brazil 2014 event's final, where Argentina were defeated in extra time by a score of 1–0.

Uruguay

Argentina have a long-standing rivalry with their neighbors, that came into existence from the early South American Championships, the 1928 Summer Olympics and the first World Cup final, held in 1930.
Argentina and Uruguay hold the record for most international matches played between two countries. The two teams have faced each other 198 times since 1901. The first match between Argentina and Uruguay was also the first official international match to be played outside the United Kingdom.

Nigeria

A minor rivalry developed from the 1990s between Argentina and Nigeria, based not on geographical proximity, long-term battles for honours or factors outside football, but due to the frequency of significant matches between them. This has included five World Cup group games, all won by Argentina by a single goal margin: 2–1 in 1994, 1–0 in 2002, 1–0 in 2010, 3–2 in 2014 and 2–1 in 2018. The fixture is the most common in the competition's history involving an African nation, and has occurred in five of the six tournaments for which Nigeria has qualified. The sides also met in the 1995 King Fahd Cup as champions of their respective continents, drawing 0–0.
Below full international level, their Olympic teams also faced off in the gold medal match in 1996, and 2008. The final of the 2005 FIFA World Youth Championship was also played between them; both Argentina goals in their 2–1 win were scored by Lionel Messi, who would go on to find the net for the senior team in the 2014 and 2018 World Cup fixtures. On 6 September 2011, Bangabandhu National Stadium hosted an international friendly football match between the full-strength Argentina and Nigeria teams, featuring Lionel Messi, Sergio Agüero, Javier Mascherano and John Obi Mikel among the other star players of both nations. Argentina won 3–1 with goals from then-Real Madrid teammates Gonzalo Higuaín and Ángel Di María, and an own goal from Nigeria's Elderson Echiéjilé with Chinedu Obasi scoring Nigeria's lone goal.
The sense of rivalry is more keenly felt on the Nigerian side, as Argentina have won almost all of their encounters and have more important traditional opponents to concentrate on, in contrast to the West Africans who remain keen to finally overcome a more illustrious foe.

Honours

Competitive

FIFA World Cup
  • Champions : 1978, 1986
  • Runners-up : 1930, 1990, 2014
South American Championship / Copa América
  • Champions : 1921, 1925, 1927, 1929, 1937, 1941, 1945, 1946, 1947, 1955, 1957, 1959, 1991, 1993
  • Runners-up : 1916, 1917, 1920, 1923, 1924, 1926, 1935, 1942, 1959, 1967, 2004, 2007, 2015, 2016
  • Third place : 1919, 1956, 1963, 1989, 2019
  • Fourth place : 1922, 1987
FIFA Confederations Cup
  • Champions : 1992
  • Runners-up : 1995, 2005
Intercontinental Cup of Nations
  • Champions : 1993
Panamerican Championship
  • Champions : 1960
  • Runners-up : 1956
Summer Olympics
  • Silver medal : 1928
Pan American Games
  • Gold medal : 1951, 1955, 1959, 1971, 1995
  • Silver medal : 1963
  • Bronze medal : 1975, 1979, 1987

    Friendly

  • Newton Cup : 1906, 1907, 1908, 1909, 1911, 1916, 1918, 1924, 1927, 1928, 1937, 1942, 1945, 1957, 1973, 1975, 1976
  • Lipton Cup : 1906, 1907, 1908, 1909, 1913, 1915, 1916, 1917, 1918, 1928, 1937, 1942, 1945, 1957, 1962, 1968, 1976, 1992
  • Roca Cup : 1923, 1939–40, 1940, 1971
  • Superclásico de las Américas : 2017, 2019
  • Nations´ Cup : 1964
  • Kirin Cup : 1992, 2003
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