History of the Argentina national football team History of the Argentina national football team The first match ever recorded by an Argentina national football team was played on 16 May 1901 against Uruguay, although the one played by Argentina on 20 July 1902 (also against Uruguay) is considered its first official match, a 6–0 win. Since its establishment, the Argentina national team has appeared in five FIFA World Cup finals, including the first final in 1930, 1978 (when the team won its first World Cup) beating the Netherlands), the 1986 (winning its second World Cup after defeating West Germany), 1990 and 2014. Argentina has been very successful
2014 FIFA World Cup Group B to Argentina on penalties. The third place match was won by the Netherlands with a convincing 3–0 victory against Brazil. The two teams had met in 9 previous matches, including in the 2010 FIFA World Cup Final, won by Spain 1–0 after extra time. This was the first time in the FIFA World Cup that the previous finalists met in the group stage. Halfway into the first half, the referee judged that Diego Costa caught a trailing leg from Stefan de Vrij's attempted tackle. Xabi Alonso scored the penalty kick for Spain, shooting into the bottom-right corner with his right