The Argentina national football team is the national football team of Argentina and is controlled by the Argentine Football Association.
| Shirt badge/Association crest | |||
| Nickname(s) | Albicelestes (White and Sky blue) | ||
|---|---|---|---|
| Association | Argentine Football Association | ||
| Head coach | José Pekerman (2004-) | ||
| Most caps | Diego Simeone (106) | ||
| Top scorer | Gabriel Batistuta (56) | ||
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| First international | |||
| Uruguay 2 - 3 Argentina (Montevideo, Uruguay; 16 May, 1901) | |||
| Biggest win | |||
| Argentina 12 - 0 Ecuador (Montevideo, Uruguay; 22 January, 1942) | |||
| Biggest defeat | |||
| Czechoslovakia 6 - 1 Argentina (Helsingborg, Sweden; 15 June, 1958) Uruguay 5 - 0 Argentina (Guayaquil, Ecuador; 16 December, 1959) Argentina 0 - 5 Colombia (Buenos Aires, Argentina; 5 September, 1993) | |||
| World Cup | |||
| Appearances | 14 (first in 1930) | ||
| Best result | Winners, 1978 and 1986 | ||
| Copa América | |||
| Appearances | 37 (first in 1916) | ||
| Best result | Winners, 1921, 1925, 1927, 1929, 1937, 1941, 1945, 1946, 1947, 1955, 1957, 1959, 1991, 1993 | ||
Argentina is one of the most successful national football teams having won two World Cups and is currently the World Youth Champion and the Olympic Gold Medal holder.
La Selección, as they are known by the Argentines,have appeared in four World Cup finals, including the first final in 1930, which they lost 4-2 to Uruguay. They won the final at their next attempt in 1978, beating the Netherlands 3-1 and also won in 1986 (led by Diego Maradona), a 3-2 victory over West Germany. Their last final was in 1990, which they lost 1-0 to West Germany due to a debatable penalty.
Argentina have been very successful in Copa América, winning it eleven times and also winning the 'extra' South American Championships in 1941, 1945 and 1946.
Besides the 2004 Gold Medal at the Olympic Games, Argentina won the Silver Medal in 1928 and 1996.
Argentina Football team also won 7 of the 14 Pan American Games winning in 1951, 1955, 1959, 1960, 1971, 1995 and 2003 lasted edition.
It also won the Confederations Cup and the Kirin Cup, both in 1992.
Since the competition's creation in 1977, Argentina has won five titles in the World Youth Championship :
- Japan, 1979 with Diego Maradona and Ramón Díaz
- Qatar, 1995 with Juan Pablo Sorín
- Malaysia, 1997 with Juan Román Riquelme, Esteban Cambiasso, and Pablo Aimar
- Argentina, 2001 with Javier Saviola, and Andrés D'Alessandro
- Netherlands, 2005 with Lionel Messi, and Sergio Agüero
Three of these titles were won by the current national coach Jose Pekerman (1995,1997 and 2001).
A pre-tournament favourite again at Korea/Japan
, they were eliminated earlier than expected to the surprise of many, losing in a memorable game against England in the most hotly anticipated match of the entire opening stage.
On June 8 2005, they qualified for their 14th World Cup Finals appearance by beating arch rivals Brazil 3-1 in Buenos Aires.
World Cup record
- 1930 - Runners-up (lost to Uruguay)
- 1934 - Round 1 (lost to Sweden)
- 1938 - Withdrew
- 1950 - Withdrew
- 1954 - Did not enter qualification
- 1958 - Round 1
- 1962 - Round 1
- 1966 - Quarterfinals (lost to England)
- 1970 - Did not qualify
- 1974 - Round 2
- 1978 - Champions
- 1982 - Round 2
- 1986 - Champions
- 1990 - Runners-up (lost to West Germany)
- 1994 - Round of Sixteen (lost to Romania)
- 1998 - Quarterfinals (lost to Netherlands)
- 2002 - Round 1
- 2006 - Tournament in progress
Copa América record
Famous players
Former Managers
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2006 World Cup Squad
Head Coach: 
José Pekerman
Tentative Starting Line-Ups and Formations
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2006 World Cup Information
Argentina won their opening game of the tournament 2-1 against first-timers, Ivory Coast. Goals from Hernan Crespo and Saviola for Argentina and Chelsea's Didier Drogba scored for the Ivorians. Argentina's next game will take place against Netherlands in Stuttgart.
Trivia
Argentina and Uruguay hold the record for the most international matches played between two countries. The two teams have faced each other 161 times since 1901. The first match against Uruguay was the first official international match to be played outside Britain. (Although Canada and the United States played two internationals in 1885 and 1886, neither match is considered official; Canada did not play an official international until 1904 and the USA did not play one until 1916.)