Argentina have won more international football titles than any other nation, including two World Cups and 14 Copa America titles. Over the years some fantastic players have graced the famous blue and white shirt but none greater than Diego Maradona.
The little maestro's performance in Argentina's 1986 World Cup win is perhaps the greatest showing by any player in an international tournament. He almost single-handedly guided his country to victory with a series of virtuoso performances including scoring two of the most talked about goals of all time in the quarter final against England.
The first, the 'Hand of God' was a clear handball to put Argentina ahead while the second, voted Goal of the Century by FIFA was a mesmerising piece of individual skill. Starting inside his own half, Maradona left the England team in his wake before rounding Peter Shilton to score.
The influence of Maradona on Argentinian football is hard to overstate. Since his retirement there has been a never-ending search for the 'next Maradona' to wear the famous number ten shirt. Many players have tried, notably Ariel Ortega, Pablo Aimar, Juan Roman Riquelme and the current star of Argentinian football Lionel Messi.
The result has been that the Argentine team, though full of excellent players revolves around a playmaker who is the focal point of the side. They seemed to have cracked the problem at the 2006 World Cup with Riquelme playing as a withdrawn playmaker and Messi further up the field. In the group stage the team looked majestic, hammering Serbia & Montenegro 6-0 but they stuttered in the knockout stages and went out to hosts Germany at the quarter finals stage.
So the search goes on for the heir to Maradona's crown but with the talent of Messi and players like Atletico Madrid's Sergio Aguero breaking into the national team there are certainly some worthy candidates.
Full NameArgentina
Team Formed1893
StadiumEl Monumental, Buenos Aires
Stadium Capacity65645
Major HonoursWorld Cup:
1978, 1986
Copa America:
1921, 1925, 1929, 1937, 1941, 1945, 1946, 1947, 1955, 1957, 1959, 1991, 1993
All Time GreatsGabriel Batistuta, Claudio Caniggia, Hernan Crespo, Mario Kempes, Diego Armando Maradona, Lionel Messi, Ariel Ortega, Juan Román Riquelme, Carlos Tevez, Javier Zanetti