page_title: History of the Argentina national football team
section_title: The Basile era
hierarchical_section_title: History of the Argentina national football team / History / The Basile era
caption_attribution_description: English: An Argentina team during the Copa América.
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: After the World Cup, Bilardo resigned, considering that his era had finished, as did Diego Maradona, announcing that the 1990 World Cup had been his last tournament.
  Alfio Basile was announced as his replacement. The new coach started his tenure convinced that the new era would come up with youth players to the team, so he mostly called up footballers who were playing in the domestic league rather than footballers from international championships, at least for the first time.
  Argentina debuted with Basile on the bench in February 1991, defeating Hungary 2–0 in Rosario. The national team played some friendly matches and tournaments such as the Stanley Rous Cup, where Argentina drew 2–2 with England at Wembley Stadium (after losing 0–2 after the first half). In March, Diego Maradona failed a drug test for cocaine in Italy, being suspended by 15 months.
  1991 was also the year when Argentina played its first official championship with Basile, the Copa América held in Chile. Argentina won its 13th Copa after 32 years, with a great performance on the field. The team debuted with a wide 3–0 to Venezuela, then defeating Chile 1–0 finishing the first stage with a 4–1 over Paraguay.
  On the final round, the Albiceleste achieved a great 3–2 over Brazil, then drew 0–0 with Chile and defeated Colombia 2–1 in the final match, winning the Cup due to points average. Argentina won the tournament unbeaten, winning six of seven matches. Gabriel Batistuta was also the leading scorer of the Copa with six goals. Apart from Batistuta, Sergio Goycochea, Leonardo Astrada, Claudio Caniggia, Diego Simeone (who wore the number 10 kit shirt), Dario Franco, Leo Rodríguez were some of the most notable Argentine players.
  In 1992, Argentina won the friendly tournament Kirin Cup (defeating Japan and Wales). Then, in October, the team won the King Fahd Cup, where they easily defeated Ivory Coast 4–0 in the semi-final and Saudi Arab 3–1 in the final game.
  On 24 February 1993, Maradona returned to the team when Argentina played the Artemio Franchi Trophy against Denmark in Mar del Plata. Argentina won 5–4 in a penalty shoot-out after a 1–1 draw. That same year, the national team also played the Copa América hosted by Ecuador, winning its second consecutive South American title. Maradona had returned to active football after being suspended due to the incident with drugs but Basile did not call him for the Cup, so Simeone wore the emblematic number 10 again.
  Argentina only drew the matches against Mexico and Colombia (both 1–1) and defeated Bolivia 1–0 to pass to the next stage. Argentina first eliminated Brazil for the second-straight time, (6–5 via penalty shootout after a 1–1 draw), then Colombia the same way (6–5 p.s.), arriving to the final game against Mexico, which the national team won 2–1, with two goals from Batistuta. Argentina achieved its 14th title, winning only two matches in normal time, the rest either in extra time or penalties. This is the last Copa América Argentina has won to date.
  Some of the players that took part in the squad were Goycochea, Ruggeri, Batistitua, Franco, Simeone, Fernando Redondo and Luis Islas.
caption: The team that won the 1991 Copa América held in Chile
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