Argentina national under-23 football team

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Argentina Olympic
Shirt badge/Association crest
Nickname(s)Albicelestes
(White and Sky blue)
AssociationArgentine Football Association
ConfederationCONMEBOL (South America)
Head coachFernando Batista
CaptainNehuén Pérez
Most capsJavier Mascherano (20)
Top scorerDomingo Tarasconi
Adolfo Gaich
(9)
Home stadiumEstadio Monumental
FIFA codeARG
First colours
Second colours
First international
Argentina 11–2 United States 
(Amsterdam, Netherlands; 29 May 1928)
Biggest win
 Argentina 14–0 Canary Islands 
(Las Palmas, Spain; 14 November 2019)
Biggest defeat
 Brazil 3–0 Argentina 
(Bucaramanga, Colombia; 9 February 2020)
 Japan 3–0 Argentina 
(Kitakyushu, Japan; 29 March 2021)
Olympic Games
Appearances9 (first in 1928)
Best result1st place, gold medalist(s) Champions (2004, 2008)
Pan American Games
Appearances15 (first in 1951)
Best result1st place, gold medalist(s) Champions (2003, 2019)
Medal record
Olympic Games
Silver medal – second place 1928 Amsterdam Team
Silver medal – second place 1996 Atlanta Team
Gold medal – first place 2004 Athens Team
Gold medal – first place 2008 Beijing Team
Pan American Games
Gold medal – first place 1951 Buenos Aires Team
Gold medal – first place 1955 Mexico City Team
Gold medal – first place 1959 Chicago Team
Silver medal – second place 1963 São Paulo Team
Bronze medal – third place 1975 Mexico City Team
Bronze medal – third place 1979 San Juan Team
Bronze medal – third place 1987 Indianapolis Team
Gold medal – first place 1995 Mar del Plata Team
Gold medal – first place 2003 Santo Domingo Team
Silver medal – second place 2011 Guadalajara Team
Gold medal – first place 2019 Lima Team

The Argentina Olympic football team represents Argentina in international football competitions during Olympic Games and Pan American Games. The selection is limited to players under the age of 23, except three overage players. The team is controlled by the Argentine Football Association (AFA).

History[]

First participation[]

The team that won the Silver Medal at the 1928 Olympics

Argentina took part for the first time in the 1928 Olympic Games held in the Netherlands. Although the Olympics were restricted to amateur teams only, Argentina competed with its senior squad so football was not professional in the country until 1931.[1] The team advanced to the final after defeating United States with a thrashing 11–2 in the first round, and Belgium (6–3) in the second. In the semi-finals, the national team smashed Egypt by 6–0 to qualify for the final against Uruguay.

The first match ended in a 1–1 tie so a second game had to be played three days later. In the decisive match, Uruguay won the tournament after defeating Argentina 2–1, winning the Gold Medal. The Argentine line-up was Bossio, Bidoglio, Paternóster, Médice, Monti, Evaristo, Carricaberri, Tarasconi, Ferreira, Perduca, Orsi. Tarasconi was also the topscorer of the competition with 11 goals.[2]

1932–84: few participations[]

In 1932 no football tournament was held, restarting the activities in 1936 (where Argentina did not take part), being interrupted due to World War II until 1948. Because of an agreement between FIFA and the IOC, only amateur players were allowed to play in the football tournaments from then on.

Argentina returned to football competition in the 1960 games held in Rome. The squad was eliminated in the first round after a 3–2 loss to Denmark, although the team won its successive games against Tunisia (2–1) and Poland (2–0). Argentina placed second to Denmark.[3]

Argentina's next participation was at the 1964 Summer Olympics organized by Tokyo, where the team finished in the last position of the group after a 1–1 draw with Ghana and a 2–3 loss to Japan.[4] Since then, Argentina had a long absence from the games, not having taken part in the 1968, 1972, 1976, 1980 and 1984 Olympics.

1988–92[]

The national team returned for the 1988 Summer Olympics held in Seoul. The changes made by the IOC since 1984 (where Argentina did not participate) allowed the squad to include professional players in their lists,[5] some of them with several years playing in Primera División, such as Luis Islas, Pedro Monzón, Néstor Fabbri, Darío Siviski and Jorge Comas, among others. In the group stage, Argentina tied 1–1 to the United States, then beat South Korea by 2–1, finishing second to the Soviet Union and qualifying to the next stage. In the quarter-finals, Argentina lost to Brazil 2–1, being eliminated from the competition.[6]

Since the 1992 edition, the IOC stated that all football players should be under 23 years old, beyond they were professional or not. Coached by Alfio Basile, Argentina went to play the qualification tournament with experienced players such as Diego Simeone, Diego Latorre, Antonio Mohamed, Fernando Gamboa and Leonardo Astrada, who had also won the Copa América one year before.[7] Nevertheless, Argentina failed to qualify for the games, finishing 3rd. in group B after Paraguay and Colombia therefore being eliminated in first round.[8]

Since the 1996 Games, the IOC allowed squads to include a maximum of three over-23 players in their rosters.[5][9]

Return to podium[]

Hugo Morales, Hernán Crespo and José Chamot celebrating at the 1996 Olympics. The team reached the final but lost to Nigeria

Argentina came back to the competition in the 1996 edition held in Atlanta, United States. For the first time in the history of the Olympics, the IOC allowed football representatives to register a maximum of three above-23 players. The Argentine players registered under that condition were Diego Simeone, José Chamot and Roberto Sensini. Former senior team captain Daniel Passarella was the manager.

The national team debuted with a 3–1 victory over the United States, then tied to Portugal and Tunisia, both 1–1, to finish first the group and qualify for the second round. In the quarter-finals, Argentina trashed Spain 4–0 which allowed the team to pass to the semi-finals, where it defeated Portugal 2–0. After 66 years since the first final played in Amsterdam, Argentina reached its second Olympic final. The match was played on 3 August 1996 and Argentina lost to Nigeria 2–3.[10] The line-up for the final was: Cavallero; Javier Zanetti, Roberto Ayala, Roberto Sensini, José Chamot; Christian Bassedas, Matías Almeyda, Ariel Ortega, Hugo Morales; Claudio López and Hernán Crespo. Other players squad players included Carlos Bossio, Marcelo Gallardo and Marcelo Delgado.[11] In the next edition of the Games, 2000, Argentina did not participate.

First gold[]

Carlos Tevez, key player and top scorer (8 goals) in 2004, when Argentina won its first gold medal

The 2004 Summer Olympics were held in Athens and Argentina returned to the competition after the absence in Sydney. The squad, managed by Marcelo Bielsa, won the gold medal for the first time in its history. Before playing the final, Argentina won all the games in the first round, thrashing Serbia and Montenegro 6–0 then defeating Tunisia and Australia. Argentina finished first in the group with no goals conceded. In the quarter-finals, Argentina smashed Costa Rica 4–0, reaching the semi-finals against Italy which it beat 3–0. Argentina played the final against Paraguay on 28 August 2004, winning not only the game (1–0) but the gold medal as well.

Argentina won the competition with an astounding campaign, winning the six matches played, with no goals allowed during the tournament. The team also totaled 17 goals (2.83 per match). The line-up for the final was: Germán Lux; Fabricio Coloccini, Roberto Ayala, Gabriel Heinze; Lucho González, Javier Mascherano, Kily González, Andrés D'Alessandro, Carlos Tevez; Mauro Rosales and César Delgado. The most notable player of the tournament was Tevez, who finished as topscorer with eight goals.[12][13]

Second gold[]

Lionel Messi during the Argentina v Brazil match in 2008, when the team won its second gold medal

The 2008 Summer Olympics were held in Beijing where Argentina, coached by former World Champion Sergio Batista, won their second consecutive gold medal. The squad debuted with a 2–1 victory over the Ivory Coast, then defeating Australia (1–0) and Serbia (2–0). In the knockout stage, Argentina eliminated the Netherlands (aet) by 2–1, thrashed Brazil by 3–0 and won the gold medal in the final match against Nigeria, 1–0.

Argentina won all the matches played (six), scoring 11 goals with only two conceded. Some of the most notable players of the tournament were Lionel Messi, Sergio Agüero, Ángel Di María, Éver Banega, Ezequiel Lavezzi, Fernando Gago and Pablo Zabaleta, who would all play for the senior team in successive years.

The three over-23 years players were Juan Román Riquelme, Javier Mascherano and Nicolás Pareja.

2012–present[]

Anthony Lozano scores the goal for Honduras during the match where Argentina was eliminated in 2016

Argentina failed to qualify for the 2012 Summer Olympics held in London. The 2011 South American U-20 Championship qualified the top two teams for the Olympics. Argentina failed to qualify in the final stage, finishing 3rd. after Brazil and Uruguay.

For the 2016 competition held in Rio de Janeiro, most of the players called up for the squad were not given permission to play by their respective clubs, including Paulo Dybala, Mauro Icardi, Matías Kranevitter, Luciano Vietto, Ramiro Funes Mori and goalkeeper Augusto Batalla, among others.[14] After the resignation of Gerardo Martino as coach, Julio Olarticoechea (who was the Argentina U-20 coach) was appointed to take over the team.[15]

At Rio 2016, the squad debuted with a 2–0 loss to Portugal, then defeating Algeria 2–1. In the last fixture of group stage, Argentina drew 1–1 with Honduras, which caused the squad finished third in the group, not enough to qualify for the next round.[16] Some of Argentina's players were Ángel Correa, Jonathan Calleri and Cristian Pavón.

In Tokyo 2020, Argentina debuted in group C with a 2–0 loss to Australia, then beating Egypt 1–0. The team tied 1–1 to Spain, finishing third in the group and failing to qualify to the next stage. Fernando Batista was the head coach. Like the previous edition in Rio, several clubs denied their players to play for Argentina, some examples were Gonzalo Montiel, Cristian Romero, Exequiel Palacios, Lautaro Martínez, Julián Álvarez, Lisandro Martínez, Nicolás Domínguez, Nicolás González, and Nahuel Molina (went on vacation after playing the 2020 Copa América); on the other hand, footballers playing for teams outside Argentine were not also allowed to play, such as Matías Zaracho, Nicolás Capaldo, Juan Foyth, Marcos Senesi, and Leonardo Balerdi. The large list of players denied also included over-23 players Carlos Izquierdoz, Enzo Pérez, Ángel Correa, Nacho Fernández, Sebastián Driussi, Agustín Marchesín, and Juan Musso.[17]

Team image[]

Nicknames[]

The Argentina national under-23 football team has been known or nicknamed as the "Albicelestes (White and Sky blue)".

Home stadium[]

Argentina play its home matches on the Estadio Monumental Antonio Vespucio Liberti.

Rivalries[]

Brazil[]

Main article: Argentina–Brazil football rivalry

The Argentina and Brazil national football teams are sporting rivals.

Results and fixtures[]

  Win   Draw   Loss

2021[]

26 March 2021 Saison Card Cup Japan  0–1  Argentina Chōfu, Tokyo, Japan
19:00 UTC+9 Report
(JFA)
Report
(JFA)
  • Adolfo Gaich 21'
 Stadium: Ajinomoto Stadium
Attendance: 8,416
Referee: Ryuji Sato (Japan)
29 March 2021 Saison Card Cup Japan  3–0  Argentina Kitakyushu, Japan
19:45 UTC+9
  • Daichi Hayashi 45'
  • Ko Itakura 68', 73'
 Report
(JFA)
Report
(JFA)		 Stadium: Mikuni World Stadium Kitakyushu
Attendance: 7,302
Referee: C. R. Srikrishna (India)
8 June 2021 Pre-Olympic Match Week Denmark  1–2  Argentina Marbella, Spain
16:00 CEST
Stadium:
11 June 2021 Pre-Olympic Match Week Saudi Arabia  0–2  Argentina Marbella, Spain
16:00 CEST
Stadium:
13 July 2021 Friendly South Korea  2–2  Argentina Yongin, South Korea
  • Lee Dong-gyeong 35'
  • Um Won-sang 90+2'
  • Alexis Mac Allister 11'
  • Fernando Valenzuela 55'
 Stadium: Yongin Mireu Stadium
Referee: Woo Sung Kim
22 July 2021 2020 Summer Olympics GS Group C Argentina  0–2  Australia Sapporo, Japan
19:30 UTC+9 Report (Tokyo 2020)
Report (FIFA)
Stadium: Sapporo Dome
Attendance: 0
Referee: Srđan Jovanović (Serbia)
25 July 2021 2020 Summer Olympics GS Group C Egypt  0–1  Argentina Sapporo, Japan
16:30 UTC+9 Report (TOCOG)
Report (FIFA)
Stadium: Sapporo Dome
Attendance: 0
Referee: Georgi Kabakov (Bulgaria)
28 July 2021 2020 Summer Olympics GS Group C Spain  1–1  Argentina Saitama, Japan
20:00 UTC+9
Report (TOCOG)
Report (FIFA)
Stadium: Saitama Stadium 2002
Attendance: 0
Referee: Ismail Elfath (United States)

Players[]

Current squad[]

  • Caps and goals correct as of 28 July 2021.
No. Pos. Player Date of birth (age) Caps Goals Club
1 1GK Jeremías Ledesma (1993-02-13) 13 February 1993 (age 29) 7 0 Spain Cádiz
12 1GK Lautaro Morales (1999-12-16) 16 December 1999 (age 22) 1 0 Argentina Lanús
22 1GK Joaquín Blázquez (2001-01-28) 28 January 2001 (age 21) 2 0 Argentina Talleres de Córdoba
2 2DF Nehuén Pérez (captain) (2000-06-24) 24 June 2000 (age 21) 14 2 Spain Atlético Madrid
3 2DF Claudio Bravo (1997-03-13) 13 March 1997 (age 25) 12 0 United States Portland Timbers
4 2DF Hernán de la Fuente (1997-01-07) 7 January 1997 (age 25) 11 0 Portugal Famalicão
6 2DF Leonel Mosevich (1997-02-04) 4 February 1997 (age 25) 9 0 Argentina Argentinos Jrs.
13 2DF Marcelo Herrera (1998-11-03) 3 November 1998 (age 23) 14 0 Argentina San Lorenzo
14 2DF Facundo Medina (2nd captain) (1999-05-28) 28 May 1999 (age 22) 17 1 France Lens
19 2DF Francisco Ortega (1999-11-07) 7 November 1999 (age 22) 5 0 Argentina Vélez Sarsfield
5 3MF Fausto Vera (2000-03-26) 26 March 2000 (age 21) 19 3 Argentina Argentinos Jrs.
7 3MF Agustín Urzi (2000-05-04) 4 May 2000 (age 21) 17 2 Argentina Banfield
8 3MF Santiago Colombatto (1997-01-17) 17 January 1997 (age 25) 15 0 Mexico León
10 3MF Alexis Mac Allister (1998-12-24) 24 December 1998 (age 23) 9 5 England Brighton & Hove Albion
11 3MF Esequiel Barco (1999-03-29) 29 March 1999 (age 22) 7 1 United States Atlanta United
16 3MF Martín Payero (1998-09-11) 11 September 1998 (age 23) 5 0 England Middlesbrough
17 3MF Tomás Belmonte (1998-05-27) 27 May 1998 (age 23) 12 1 Argentina Lanús
20 3MF Thiago Almada (2001-04-26) 26 April 2001 (age 20) 5 0 Argentina Vélez Sarsfield
21 3MF Carlos Valenzuela (1997-04-22) 22 April 1997 (age 24) 14 6 Portugal Famalicão
9 4FW Adolfo Gaich (1999-02-26) 26 February 1999 (age 23) 19 9 Spain Huesca
15 4FW Pedro de la Vega (2001-02-07) 7 February 2001 (age 21) 5 1 Argentina Lanús
18 4FW Ezequiel Ponce (1997-03-29) 29 March 1997 (age 24) 8 3 Russia Spartak Moscow

Gallery[]

  • Raimundo Orsi, silver medalist in 1928

  • Domingo Tarasconi, all-time top scorer (9 goals in 1928)

  • Hernán Crespo, 1996 top scorer (6 goals)

  • Javier Mascherano, winner of two gold medals

  • Lionel Messi won the gold medal in 2008

  • Sergio Agüero, part of the 2008 team

Competitive record[]

Olympic Games[]

For statistics from the 1896 to 1988 games, see Argentina national football team.
Olympic Games record
Year Host Round Position GP W D L GS GA Squad
1992 Spain Barcelona Did not qualify
1996 United States Atlanta Silver medalists 2nd place, silver medalist(s) 6 3 2 1 13 6 Squad
2000 Australia Sydney Did not qualify
2004 Greece Athens Gold medalists 1st place, gold medalist(s) 6 6 0 0 17 0 Squad
2008 China Beijing Gold medalists 1st place, gold medalist(s) 6 6 0 0 11 2 Squad
2012 United Kingdom London Did not qualify
2016 Brazil Rio de Janeiro Group stage 11th 3 1 1 1 3 4 Squad
2020 Japan Tokyo Group stage 10th 3 1 1 1 2 3 Squad
Total 2 Gold medals 5/8 24 17 4 3 46 15 —

CONMEBOL Pre-Olympic Tournament[]

CONMEBOL Pre-Olympic Tournament record
Year Host Position GP W D L GS GA
1960  Peru 1st place, gold medalist(s) 6 6 0 0 25 6
1964  Peru 1st place, gold medalist(s) 5 5 0 0 11 1
1968  Colombia Did not participate
1971  Colombia 3rd place, bronze medalist(s) 7 1 5 1 7 6
1976  Brazil 3rd place, bronze medalist(s) 5 2 1 2 7 8
1980  Colombia 1st place, gold medalist(s) 6 5 1 0 13 2
1984  Ecuador Did not participate
1987  Bolivia 2nd place, silver medalist(s) 7 3 3 1 8 2
1992  Paraguay 5th 4 2 1 1 4 3
1996  Argentina 2nd place, silver medalist(s) 7 6 1 0 21 3
2000  Brazil 3rd place, bronze medalist(s) 7 3 1 3 12 9
2004  Chile 1st place, gold medalist(s) 7 5 2 0 16 8
2020  Colombia 1st place, gold medalist(s) 7 6 0 1 14 8
Total 5 Gold medals 68 44 15 9 138 56

Pan American Games[]

Pan American Games record
Year Host Round Position GP W D L GS GA Squad
1951–1995 See Argentina national football team
1999 Canada Winnipeg Did not qualify
2003 Dominican Republic Santo Domingo Gold medalists [note 1] 1st place, gold medalist(s) 5 5 0 0 10 5 Squad
2007 Brazil Rio de Janeiro Preliminary round [note 2] 9th 3 0 2 1 1 3 Squad
2011 Mexico Guadalajara Silver medalists 2nd place, silver medalist(s) 5 3 1 1 6 2 Squad
2015 Canada Toronto Did not enter
2019 Peru Lima Gold medalists 1st place, gold medalist(s) 5 4 0 1 14 6 Squad
Total 2 Gold medals 4/6 18 12 3 3 31 16 —

Honours[]

  • CONMEBOL Pre-Olympic Tournament
    • 1st place, gold medalist(s) Gold Medal (5): 1960, 1964, 1980, 2004, 2020
    • 2nd place, silver medalist(s) Silver Medal (2): 1988, 1996
    • 3rd place, bronze medalist(s) Bronze Medal (3): 1972, 1976, 2000

Notes[]

  1. ^ a b CONMEBOL teams (included Argentina) played with U-20 squads.[19]
  2. ^ CONMEBOL teams (included Argentina) played with U-17 squads.[20]

References[]

  1. ^ El Fútbol Masculino en los Juegos Olímpicos on AFA.org, 19 Jul 2021
  2. ^ Games of the IX Olympiad at RSSSF
  3. ^ Games of the XVII Olympiad
  4. ^ Games of the XVIII Olympiad
  5. ^ a b Historia del fútbol en los Juegos Olímpicos: medallero, palmarés y ganadores by Alberto P. Sierra on As, 20 Jul 2021
  6. ^ Games of the XXIV Olympiad
  7. ^ 1992 Y 2000, LAS DOS GRANDES DESILUSIONES PREOLÍMPICAS on Goal.com
  8. ^ Games of the XXV. Olympiad - Football Qualifying Tournament by Russell Gerrard, Andre Zlotkowski and Lars Aarhus on RSSSF
  9. ^ Fútbol en los Juegos Olímpicos by José M. Martín, 8 Aug 2021
  10. ^ "1996: Nigeria tocó el cielo olímpico" at Univisión
  11. ^ Games of the XXVI Olympiad
  12. ^ "Argentina era campeón olímpico de la mano de Bielsa en Atenas 2004", PlayFutbol, 27 December 2012
  13. ^ Games of the XXVIII Olympiad
  14. ^ La selección olímpica, abandonada: faltan jugadores y ni siquiera hay plata para "pagar el almuerzo", La Nación, 30 Jun 2016
  15. ^ Olarticoechea, el técnico de la Sub 20, fue designado para dirigir en los Juegos Olímpicos, La Capital, 6 Jul 2016
  16. ^ "La Selección no pudo con Honduras y quedó afuera en primera ronda", Clarín, 10 Aug 2016
  17. ^ Argentina eliminada de los JJOO: los jugadores que quiso Batista y no le cedieron on Olé, 28 Jul 2021
  18. ^ "Lista de convocados para los Juegos Olímpicos de Tokio" (in Spanish). Asociación del Fútbol Argentino. Retrieved 2 July 2021.
  19. ^ Panamerican Games 2003 (Santo Domingo) on the RSSSF, by James Goloboy and Marcelo Leme de Arruda
  20. ^ Panamerican Games 2007 (Rio de Janeiro) by Marcelo Leme de Arruda on the RSSSF
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