The Argentina national football team, nicknamed la Albiceleste, represents Argentina in men's international football and is administered by the Argentine Football Association, the governing body of football in Argentina. It has been a member of FIFA since 1912 and was a founding member of CONMEBOL in 1916. It was also a member of PFC, the unified confederation of the Americas, from 1946 to 1961. Argentina has won three FIFA World Cups, having won their most recent World Cup in 2022. The team previously won the World Cup in 1978 and 1986, and has appeared in seven World Cup finals, including the inaugural one in 1930.
Argentina has won the Copa América a record 16 times, most recently in 2024. With victories in 1945, 1946 and 1947, it is the only nation to have won the tournament three consecutive times. Argentina won the Panamerican Championship in 1960, the inaugural FIFA Confederations Cup in 1992, and the CONMEBOL–UEFA Cup of Champions in 1993 and 2022. Argentina holds the record for most official international titles, with 23. Argentina players have won the FIFA World Cup Golden Ball three times: Diego Maradona in 1986, and Lionel Messi in 2014 and 2022. Messi has the most appearances for the team (207) and has scored the most goals (125). As of 20 July 2026, Argentina ranks second in the FIFA Men's World Ranking. Argentina is known for having rivalries with Brazil, England, Germany, Netherlands, and Uruguay.
The first ever match Argentina played was against Uruguay on June 20, 1902, in Montevideo. It was the first international match for both sides, and Argentina won 6–0. During the first years of Argentina's existence, the team only played friendly matches against other South American teams. The reasons for this varied, including long travel times between countries and the outbreak of World War I.
Argentina has appeared in the FIFA World Cup final seven times, including the first ever final on 30 July 1930, which they lost 4–2 to Uruguay. Argentina won their next final on 25 June 1978, beating the Netherlands 3–1 on extra time. In 1986, Diego Maradona led Argentina to their second title with a 3–2 victory over West Germany. Maradona led Argentina to the final again in 1990, but the team lost 1–0 to West Germany by a much-disputed penalty. With Lionel Messi as captain, Argentina reached the final in 2014, where they were defeated 1–0 by Germany in extra time. Argentina won their third FIFA World Cup in 2022 by defeating France in a penalty shoot-out, after a 3–3 draw. In the 2026 World Cup, Argentina reached the final again but lost 1–0 to Spain, finishing as runners-up. This match was very controversial as many football fans deemed the Argentine team's behavior after losing the game to be unprofessional. Argentina's World Cup-winning managers are César Luis Menotti (1978), Carlos Bilardo (1986) and Lionel Scaloni (2022).
Argentina has won the Copa América a record 16 times, most recently in 2024. The team also won the inaugural FIFA Confederations Cup in 1992 and the CONMEBOL–UEFA Cup of Champions in 1993 and 2022. In March 2007, Argentina reached the top of the FIFA Men's World Ranking for the first time.
Argentina plays most of its home matches at Estadio Monumental, the stadium of Club Atlético River Plate in Buenos Aires. The team frequently uses other venues as well, including Estadio Único Madre de Ciudades and La Bombonera.
Estadio GEBA was the first stadium Argentina used for home matches, including the Copa Newton match against Uruguay on 13 September 1908. The 1908 match marked the official debut of Argentina's white and light blue striped jersey, which has been the team's defining uniform up to the present day. GEBA was also used for the Copa Centenario Revolución de Mayo, which was organized by the Argentine Football Association (AFA) in 1910. It was the first competition between South American national teams, and is considered the predecessor of the Copa América.
Estadio Sportivo Barracas was often used by Argentina from 1920 to 1932. Playing in the stadium on 2 October 1924, Argentina forward Cesáreo Onzari scored directly from a corner kick, the first reported instance of this feat in football. Because Uruguay had recently won the gold medal at the 1924 Olympics, this type of goal is now often referred to as an Olimpico.
The first kit ever worn by Argentina, in their official debut against Uruguay in 1902, included a light blue shirt.
On 9 July 1906, Argentina wore the lightblue and white shirt for the first time in a match v South Africa during their tour of South America. The match was held in Sociedad Sportiva Argentina. Since then, the albiceleste shirt has remained as the definitive kit for Argentina. The team's away kits have been in dark blue shades, with the colours of shorts and socks varying from time to time.
Argentina has also sported other kits; on 3 June 1919 in Rio de Janeiro, playing against Brazil, Argentina wore a light blue kit, similar to that of Uruguay, out of respect for Roberto Chery, a substitute goalkeeper for Uruguay, who had collapsed and died during a match against Chile at the 1919 South American Championship; the match between Argentina and Brazil was organised by the Brazilian Football Confederation for the benefit of Chery's relatives. At the 1958 World Cup, Argentina wore the yellow jersey of Swedish club IFK Malmö against West Germany, as the team had arrived in Sweden without an away kit.
At the 1986 World Cup in Mexico, the then-manager, Carlos Bilardo, asked the team's kit supplier, Le Coq Sportif, for lighter blue shirts for their quarter-final against England in three days, but they could not be provided. Then, a member of the coaching staff scoured the shops of Mexico City for 38 plain shirts, which were transformed with an improvised version of the AFA emblem embroidered on the shirts and silvery American football numbers ironed to the backs.
Sporting the makeshift jerseys, Argentina beat England on 22 June, with Diego Maradona scoring his famous "Hand of God goal". Afterwards, the shirt became a symbol of the occasion and an important collector's item.
At the 2018 World Cup in Russia, Argentina debuted a black away kit; and at the 2022 World Cup in Qatar, they wore a purple away kit in a competitive match for the first time.
In July 2026, the Argentina national rugby team played their 2026 Nations Championship match vs England wearing a kit that was an exact replica of the model worn in 1986, including details like the silver numbers on back. The kit –manufactured by Pumas kit supplier Le Coq Sportif, the same than Argentina in 1986– was a limited edition to commemorate the 40th. anniversary of the historic football match.
Argentina has used the logo of the Argentine Football Association as its emblem since it was first worn at the 1958 World Cup in Sweden; the logo was added to the team's jackets, but not the shirts. The emblem was not used on jerseys until 16 November 1976, when Argentina played the Soviet Union at Estadio Monumental. At the beginning, the crest used did not include a laurel wreath, which was first added for the 1982 World Cup.
As a respected and common practice, two stars were added above the crest in 2004, symbolising Argentina's World Cup titles in 1978 and 1986. In 2022, a third star was added after Argentina were crowned world champions for the third time.
The 1976 crest has been credited to Norberto "Toto" Rud, a Buenos Aires businessman, graphic designer, football supporter, and member of the Jewish sports club Club Náutico Hacoaj. Rud submitted approximately 20 designs to the Argentine Football Association, and the selected crest debuted in a friendly against the Soviet Union on 28 November 1976.