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
South American nations at the FIFA World Cup by Argentina who beat the Netherlands 3–1 after extra time in the final. This win was the first World Cup title for Argentina. Controversy surrounded the hosts, however, as all of their games in the first round kicked off at night, giving the Argentines the advantage of knowing where they stood in the group. This issue would arise again in Spain 1982, which prompted FIFA to change the rules so that the final two group games in subsequent World Cups would be played simultaneously. In 1978, Argentina needed to beat Copa América holders Peru by four clear goals to reach