Football in Argentina

Football in Argentina
The Estadio Ciudad de La Plata during a Primera División match in 2014
CountryArgentina
Governing bodyAFA
National team(s)Argentina
First played1867; 157 years ago (1867)
Registered players331,811[1]
Clubs3,377[1]
National competitions
Club competitions
International competitions
Audience records
Single match
120,000 (Racing 2–1 Celtic at Avellaneda, 1967 Intercontinental Cup)[2]
Season
106,000 (Racing 1–1 River Plate at Avellaneda, 1968 Nacional)[2]

Association football is the most popular sport in Argentina and part of the culture in the country.[3] It is the one with the most players (2,658,811 total, 331,811 of which are registered and 2,327,000 unregistered; with 3,377 clubs and 37,161 officials, all according to FIFA)[1] and is the most popular recreational sport, played from childhood into old age.[4] The percentage of Argentines that declare allegiance to an Argentine football club is about 90%.[5]

Football was introduced to Argentina in the later half of the 19th century by the British immigrants in Buenos Aires. The first Argentine league was contested in 1891, making it the fifth-oldest recognised league of a FIFA member (after England, Scotland, Northern Ireland and the Netherlands).[6] The Argentine Football Association (AFA) was formed in 1893 and is the eighth-oldest in the world.

The Argentina national team is one of the eight to have won the FIFA World Cup, having done so in 1978, 1986, and 2022, while being runner-up in 1930, 1990 and 2014. Argentina has also won the top continental tournament, the Copa América, 16 times, and the FIFA Confederations Cup in 1992. It also holds the record for having more official titles than any other nation with 23. The nation's Olympic representative has won two Gold Medals (in 2004 and 2008), while the under-20 team has won a record six U-20 World Cups. At club level, Argentine teams have won the most Intercontinental Cups (9) and the most Copa Libertadores (25).

Women's football has a national league since 1991, the Campeonato de Fútbol Femenino. In turn, the female national representative qualified for the World Cup for the first time in 2007 and won their first Campeonato Sudamericano Femenino (top continental competition) in 2006.

In futsal, Argentina were FIFUSA/AMF Futsal World Cup champions in 1994 and 2019.[7] They also compete in the FIFA code of futsal, where they finished champions in 2016, runner-up in 2021 and fourth place in 2004.[8] The team also won the FIFA Futsal Copa América in 2003, 2015 and 2022.[8] Moreover, Argentina was world champion in futsal for the visually impaired in 2002, 2006 and 2023, and also won the Gold Medal at the IBSA World Blind Games 2015, a Silver Medal (2004) and two Bronze (2008 and 2016) in the Paralympic Games, three runner-up world championships (1998, 2000 and 2014), three championships of the Copa América (1999, 2005, 2017), three Silver Medals in the Parapan American Games (2007, 2011, 2015) and two runners-up of the Copa América (2009 and 2013).

Argentina also compete in the beach football World Cup, where their best finish was third in 2001.[9]

  1. ^ a b c Country info on FIFA website
  2. ^ a b Los cinco partidos con más público en la historia del fútbol argentino Archived 13 July 2024 at the Wayback Machine by Daniel Szwarc on 90 Minutos, 30 Apr 2019
  3. ^ According to the Wikipedia article Sport in Argentina
  4. ^ Secretaría de Deportes de la Nación e INDEC; Censo sobre Hábitos en actividades físicas y deportivas de la población argentina, Buenos Aires, 2000.
  5. ^ Consulto Aequis Archived 19 September 2008 at the Wayback Machine
  6. ^ Argentina 1891 Archived 28 February 2009 at the Wayback Machine at RSSSF
  7. ^ "ARGENTINA ES CAMPEÓN DEL MUNDO...! - Mundial 2019 - AMF". Archived from the original on 1 September 2019. Retrieved 1 September 2019.
  8. ^ a b FIFA.com
  9. ^ AFA - Fútbol Playa Archived 31 May 2011 at the Wayback Machine (in Spanish)