The country is known for producing some of the greatest players of all time. The list includes names such as Diego Maradona, Lionel Messi, Mario Kempes, Fernando Redondo, Gabriel Batistuta, among others. Maradona is considered by many as the greatest of all time, even better than Brazil’s Pele and modern greats like Lionel Messi and Cristiano Ronaldo. He was instrumental in Argentina’s World Cup-winning campaign in 1986, which made him a superstar for football fans across the world. The country is also known for its rivalry with its South American neighbour Brazil who has won five World Cup titles and is also home to names such as Pele, Garrincha, Romario, Zico, Roberto Carlos, Ronaldo, Rivaldo, Ronaldinho, Kaka, Neymar, among others. The rivalry, also known as the Battle of the Americas, is among the biggest rivalry in the world and has been described as “the essence of football” by FIFA. The matches are keenly followed by fans across the world. One of the reasons for the popularity of the fixture is the availability of talent on display from both sides and the level of competitiveness.
The Argentinian national football team is governed by Argentine Football Association (AFA). It is under the global jurisdiction of Federation of International Football Association (FIFA) and South American Football Confederation (CONMEBOL) in South America. The team is managed by Lionel Scaloni and is captained by Lionel Messi. Unfortunately, the Argentinian and Barcelona legend has lost four major international finals (3 Copa America and 1 World Cup) with the national team.
The home stadium of the team is the Estadio Monumental Antonio Vespucio Liberti in Buenos Aires, also known as the River Plate stadium.
History of Argentina national football team
The first known match was played by Argentina against Uruguay in 1902. It was the first international match for both teams. It was held in Montevideo, the capital of Uruguay, and was won by the Argentinian side 6-0. In the initial years, the team played matches only against South American teams. The team participated in the first World Cup tournament in Uruguay and reached the finals, which they lost to the home side 4-2.
Argentina at the FIFA World Cup
Argentina is one of the most successful teams in the World. The team has won two world titles in 1978 and 1986 and has been unlucky in the finals three times in 1930, 1990, and most recently in 2014. The team qualified for all but four World Cup tournaments.
Argentina at Copa America
Argentina has won the South American competition 14 times. It is the only team to have won the oldest continental championship three times consecutively from 1945 to 1947. The last Copa America title for them was in 1993. In 2015 and 2016, the team reached the finals only to lose to Chile on both occasions via a penalty shoot-out. Interestingly, the team never lost to Chile in normal time in the history of the tournament.
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