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Argentina national football team

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The Argentina national football team is the national football team of Argentina and is controlled by the Argentine Football Association (AFA). Argentina has won most international titles by any national team - 19, a record shared with Uruguay.

Argentina is one of the most successful national football teams in the world, and is currently eighth in the FIFA world rankings. The team has twice won the FIFA World Cup, in 1978 and 1986. Argentina has won the Copa America 14 times, a record shared with Uruguay, won the Confederations Cup in 1992 and the Olympic Football Tournament in 2004 and 2008.

Argentina and France are the only national teams which have won the three most important men's titles recognized by FIFA: the World Cup, the Confederations Cup, and the Olympic tournament. They have both also won their respective continental championship .

History

La Seleccion, also known as the Albicelestes (Light blue and whites), has appeared in four 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. Their most recent World Cup final was in 1990, which they lost 1-0 to Germany by a much disputed penalty. Argentina's World Cup winning managers are Cesar Luis Menotti in 1978, and Carlos Bilardo in 1986. "La Seleccion" means the selection.

Argentina has been very successful in the Copa America, winning it fourteen 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 an Argentine 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 six of the fourteen football competitions at the Pan American Games, winning in 1951, 1955, 1959, 1971, 1995 and 2003.

In March 2007, Argentina reached the top of the FIFA World Rankings for the first time.

World Cup 2006

Argentina had been eliminated at the group stage at Korea/Japan 2002 FIFA World Cup, although they had been among the pre-tournament favorites. There was a high expectation of a better performance in the Germany 2006.

Argentina qualified for the knockout stages with wins over Ivory Coast (2-1) and Serbia and Montenegro (6-0), and a 0-0 draw with the Netherlands.

In the round of sixteen, Argentina defeated Mexico 2-1 in extra-time, the winning goal by Maxi Rodriguez winning an online poll organized by FIFA, as the best goal of the World Cup [*]. In the quarter final, they lost 4-2 in a penalty shootout against hosts Germany after a 1-1 draw. A brawl erupted between the Argentines and Germans after the game ended. Unused substitute Leandro Cufre was sent off for kicking Per Mertesacker, while Maxi Rodriguez hit Bastian Schweinsteiger from behind. Following an investigation of video evidence, FIFA doled out 4-game and 2-game suspensions for Cufre and Rodriguez, respectively. Germany's Torsten Frings was suspended for the semifinal match for punching Julio Ricardo Cruz.

Shortly after the elimination, coach Jose Pekerman resigned from his position. AFA appointed Alfio Basile, who had previously managed the national side during the 1994 FIFA World Cup.

Copa America 2007

Argentina won all three games in the group stage, beating United States, Colombia and Paraguay. After convincing victories over Peru and Mexico in the quarter final and semi final respectively, they were favorites to beat Brazil in the final, but were defeated 0-3.

Competitive record

*Denotes draws include knockout matches decided on penalty kicks.

**Gold background color indicates that the tournament was won. Red border color indicates tournament was held on home soil.

Pan American Games record

1951 - Champions

1955 - Champions

1959 - Champions

1963 - Second place

1967 - Round 1

1971 - Champions

1975 - Third place

1979 - Third place

1983 - Round 1

1987 - Third place

1991 - Did not enter

1995 - Champions

1999 - Did not enter

2003 - Champions

2007 - Round 1

Olympics record

Honours

Senior team

FIFA World Cup

*Winner (2): 1978, 1986

* Runner-up (2): 1930, 1990

Copa America

*Winner (14): 1921, 1925, 1927, 1929, 1937, 1941, 1945, 1946 (extra edition), 1947, 1955, 1957, 1959, 1991, 1993.

* Runner-up (12): 1916, 1917, 1920, 1923, 1924, 1926, 1935, 1942, 1959 (extra edition), 1967, 2004, 2007.

FIFA Confederations Cup

*Winner (1): 1992

* Runner-up (2): 1995, 2005

Artemio Franchi Trophy

*Winner (1): 1993

'''Nations' Cup

*Winner (1):1964

Panamerican Championship:

* Winners (1):1960

Friendly titles

Copa Kirin:

* Winners (1):1992

Copa Centenario Revolucion de Mayo 1910:

* Winners (1):1910

Copa Roca:

* Winners (4):1923, 1939, 1940, 1971

Copa Lipton:

* Winners (18):1906, 1907, 1908, 1909,1913, 1915, 1916, 1917,

1918, 1928, 1937, 1942, 1945, 1957, 1962, 1968, 1976, 1992

Copa Newton:

* Winners (17):'1906, 1907, 1908, 1909, 1911, 1916, 1918, 1924,

1927, 1928, 1937, 1942, 1945, 1957, 1973, 1975

Olympic team

A selection with limited team selection (only 3 players over 23 years could be included in the squad), won the following honours. The matches in these tournaments are generally not included in the statistics of the national team.''

* Gold medal (2): 2004, 2008

* Silver medal (2): 1928, 1996

Results and Fixtures

Argentina participated in the 2010 World Cup qualifiers.

2010 FIFA World Cup
Qualification Standings

2010 FIFA World Cup
Group B

Recent games

Last game: 1 0 - Munich, Germany - March 3, 2010 - F.

Next game: vs - Buenos Aires, Argentina - May 25, 2010 - F.

see also: Argentina national team 200809 results.

see also: Argentina national team 200910 results.

KEY: F = Friendly match; WCQ2010 = 2010 FIFA World Cup qualification.

Head to head

Players