page_title: History of the Argentina national football team
section_title: 2010 World Cup
hierarchical_section_title: History of the Argentina national football team / History / 2010 World Cup
caption_attribution_description: Lionel Messi, Lukas Podolski and Ángel di María
context_page_description: The first match ever recorded by an Argentina national football team was played on 16 May 1901 against Uruguay, although the one played by Argentina on 20 July 1902 is considered its first official match, a 6–0 win.
  The Argentina national team has appeared in five FIFA World Cup finals, including the inaugural final in 1930, 1978 beating the Netherlands, the 1986, 1990 and 2014.
  Argentina has been very successful in the Copa América, winning it 14 times and also winning the "extra" South American Championships in 1941, 1945 and 1946. The team also won the FIFA Confederations Cup and the Kirin Cup, both in 1992, and the Argentine olympic team won the Olympics football tournaments in Athens 2004 and Beijing 2008.
context_section_description: Prior to the 2010 World Cup, Diego Maradona was appointed head coach. During the qualification process, he oversaw a 6–1 defeat to Bolivia in La Paz, Bolivia, and after a string of losses and draws, Argentina came dangerously close to failing to qualify, but victories in the last two matches secured qualification for the final tournament. In the final tournament itself, Argentina was placed in Group B, winning all their games. Their first game was against Nigeria, where Argentina netted a goal in the sixth minute to ensure a 1–0 victory. In the second match, against South Korea, a Gonzalo Higuaín hat-trick and a Korean own goal finished the score at 4–1. Argentina's last group game was against Greece, a 2–0 victory.
  Argentina then advanced to the round of 16 to play Mexico. The game started with controversy when Carlos Tevez headed a ball from Lionel Messi for a goal; replay clearly showed that Tevez was in an offside position. Eventually, Argentina beat Mexico 3–1 to advance to the quarter-finals. In a much-hyped game, Argentina was shocked after Germany eliminated them with a 4–0 win. Thomas Müller opened the scoring in the third minute, with Miroslav Klose adding an additional two and Arne Friedrich one.
caption: Lionel Messi carries out the ball, followed by Lukas Podolski in the quarter-finals of the 2010 World Cup.
exif: {}