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" (National Team), also known as "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 3–1 at extra time. Argentina won again in 1986 with a 3–2 victory over West Germany , and a tournament campaign inspired by their captain 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 15 times, most recently led by Lionel Messi in 2021, and are  currently tied with Uruguay in most wins. 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, on 20 June 1902. The game (which was the first international for both sides) was held in Montevideo and Argentina won 6–0. 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" (national team), also known as the "Albicelestes" (sky blue and whites), 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 the Germany national football team. Previous to this their last World Cup  final was in 1990, which is 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 15 times. The team also won the FIFA Confederations Cup and the Kirin Cup, both in 1992, the 1993 Artemio Franchi Trophy, and the Nations' Cup in 1964. Argentina 'Olympic' team (with only three players of over 23 years of age included in the squad) 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. Argentina play their most matches at River Plate stadium, Monumental Antonio Vespucio Liberti, although the team has also played in other venues such as Rosario Central, (during the 2010 World Cup qualification) Estadio Único Madre de Ciudades in Santiago del Estero, Boca Juniors' stadium (La Bombonera) Those venues were used in some matches of the 2022 World  Cup qualification, along with Estadio Mario Alberto Kempes in Córdoba and Estadio San Juan del Bicentenario in the homonymous province. GEBA Stadium was the venue where Argentina played their first international matches as local team. The match held on September 13, 1908, for the Copa Newton v. Uruguay has a historic relevance for being the first time Argentine wore the light blue and white striped jersey, which would be the definitive uniform up to present days. GEBA was also venue for the Copa Centenario Revolución de Mayo, the first international South American competition organised in 1910. The Argentina national team  played its last game at GEBA on October 19, 1919, when the squad won the Copa Premier Honor Argentino after thrashing Uruguay by 6–1, Other memorable venue for Argentina was Estadio Sportivo Barracas, which holds an important anecdotal fact in its history on October 2, 1924, when Argentina beat Uruguay 2–1 with a goal converted directly from a corner kick by forward Cesáreo Onzari. Since then, a goal like Onzari’s is referred as a "Gol olímpico" or "Olympic goal". Sportivo Barracas was the usual venue for Argentina from 1920 to 1932. The stadium would be later demolished in 1937 . Team image. Uniform. The kit first worn by Argentina in their official debut v Uruguay in 1902 was a light blue shirt. On July 2, 1908, Argentina debuted the light blue vertical stripe on white jersey, when the squad played vs a team formed by Liga Paulista players at Velódromo Paulistano. That striped jersey has remained as the official kit since then. 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 scoured 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. Crest. The Argentine Football Association ("AFA") 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 (without the laurel wreath, that was added for the 1982 World Cup). In 2004 , the two stars added above the crest symbolized the national team FIFA World championships of 1978 and 1986. Players. Current squad. The following 31 players were called up in the squad for the 2022 FIFA World Cup qualification matches against Venezuela and Ecuador on 25 and 29 March 2022, respectively. On 21 March 2022, defender Lisandro Martínez (injured) and forward Lautaro Martínez (positive for SARS‑CoV‑2) were called off. "Information correct as of 29 March 2022, after the match against Ecuador." Recent call-ups. The following players have been called up for the team in the last twelve months. Head-to -head record. Below is a result summary of all matches Argentina have played against FIFA recognized teams. 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 was defeated in extra time by  a score of 1–0. Uruguay. Argentina have a long-standing rivalry with their neighbours, 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 197 times since 1902. 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 (the predecessor to the Confederations 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 (3–2 to Nigeria), and 2008 (1–0 to Argentina). 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 much bigger rivalries with Brazil, England, Germany and Uruguay in contrast to the West Africans who remain keen to finally overcome a more illustrious foe. Argentina national football