 | |||
| Nickname(s) | Albiceleste (The White and Sky Blue) Los Cebollitas (Little Onions) Los Pibes (The Kids) | ||
|---|---|---|---|
| Association | Asociación del Fútbol Argentino (Argentine Football Association) | ||
| Confederation | CONMEBOL (South American Football Confederation) | ||
| Head coach | Diego Placente | ||
| Captain | Claudio Echeverri | ||
| FIFA code | ARG | ||
| |||
| First international | |||
 Argentina 5–0Venezuela  (Buenos Aires,Argentina; 27 February 1951) | |||
| Biggest win | |||
Argentina 8–1United States  (São Paulo, Brazil; 4 May 1963) | |||
| Biggest defeat | |||
 Uruguay 5–1Argentina (Quito,Ecuador; March 8, 1981)  Brazil 4–0Argentina (Quito,Ecuador; March 5, 1981) | |||
| FIFA U-20 World Cup | |||
| Appearances | 18 (first in1979) | ||
| Best result | Champions (1979,1995,1997,2001,2005,2007) | ||
| CONMEBOL Sub 20 | |||
| Appearances | 29 (first in1958) | ||
| Best result | Champions (1967,1997,1999,2003,2015) | ||
| Website | afa.com.ar/selecciones | ||
TheArgentina national under-20football team is the representative ofArgentina inFIFA-sponsored tournaments that pertain to that age level.
Argentina is the most successful nation in theFIFA U-20 World Cup, winning the competition a record six times. The team has participated in 17 of the 23 World Championship events, since the1979 edition, which they won. Argentina has also won fiveSouth American Youth Championships.
Many of Argentina's top players came through the ranks of the youth teams, includingSergio Agüero,Pablo Aimar,Nicolás Burdisso,Esteban Cambiasso,Ángel Di María,Ramón Díaz,Fernando Gago,Diego Maradona,Jorge Burruchaga,Javier Mascherano,Lionel Messi,Juan Román Riquelme,Oscar Ruggeri,Gabriel Calderón,Sergio Goycochea,Sergio Romero,Maxi Rodríguez,Luis Islas,Luciano Galletti,Juan Pablo Sorín,Franco Costanzo,Walter Samuel,Javier Saviola,Jorge Borelli,Leonardo Biagini,Diego Simeone,Carlos Tevez,Erik Lamela,Éver Banega,Manuel Lanzini, andPablo Piatti.
Argentina did not participate in thefirst FIFA World Youth Championship inTunisia, but appeared at thenext edition held inJapan. The team, coached byCésar Luis Menotti with the help ofErnesto Duchini (who had previously chosen the players and working with them),[1] won the tournament, showing a fine style of play consisting of high possession of the ball, diverse kinds of passes, dribbling, a solid defense and a powerful offensive line that scored a total of 20 goals in the tournament.Diego Maradona andRamón Díaz were the team's most notable players. The tournament was also the first official championship played by Maradona in a national team. After his frustration of 1978, Maradona made the most of his performances during the tournament, being the best player of the team due to his passing moves, dribblings to rivals, his accuracy to shot free kicks and the six goals he scored.
Before every match, Diego played with the ball, putting it on his neck or his shoulders while the Japanese people couldn't stop applauding him. When I would see this, I would say to myself: "Wow, and the show hasn't even started yet".
Argentina debuted in Group B, thrashingIndonesia 5–0 in their first match, beatingYugoslavia 1–0 in the second and defeatingPoland in the third match, 4–1. The youth squad finished first in the group with ten goals scored and only one conceded. En route to the final, Argentina hammeredAlgeria 5–0, then defeated arch-rivalUruguay 2–0. Inthe final against theSoviet Union on 7 September, the team won 3–1, becoming the World Youth Champions for the first time. Ramón Díaz won the Golden Shoe as the topscorer, with eight goals, while Maradona was awarded the Golden Ball as best player of the tournament.[2]
Apart from Maradona and Díaz, other notable players of the team wereJuan Simón, Hugo Alves,Gabriel Calderón,Juan Barbas andOsvaldo Escudero. That team is still regarded as one of the best Argentine national squads ever.[3]
Argentina attended the next tournament, hosted byAustralia in1981. They were defeated 2–1 by hosts Australia, then achieved a draw withEngland (1–1) and beatCameroon 1–0. Argentina did not qualify to the next stage, however, earning only three points after three matches played.
The team made a much better performance at the1983 championship inMexico, reaching the final withBrazil. On the first round, Argentina thrashedChina PR 5–0, then defeatedAustria 3–0 and beatCzechoslovakia 2–0. The team finished first in the group with zero goals conceded. In the quarter-finals, Argentina defeated Netherlands 2–1 (afterMarco van Basten had opened the scored for theOranje) and Poland 1–0 in the semi-finals. On 19 June 1983, Argentina played the final against Brazil, falling 1–0 at theEstadio Azteca.[4] The team was coached byCarlos Pachamé, designated by the Senior team coach,Carlos Bilardo, to work with youth players.
Some of the players of that team were goalkeeperLuis Islas, defendersFabián Basualdo,Jorge Theiler,Carlos Enrique; midfieldersMario Vanemerak,Oscar Acosta and Roberto Zárate; and forwardsClaudio García,Jorge Luis Gabrich andOscar Dertycia.[5]
Argentina did not qualify for the 1985 and 1987 championships (played in the Soviet Union and Chile respectively), but the team participated in thetournament held in Saudi Arabia as one of the three qualified in the South American championship. Argentina was defeated by Spain in the first match. The team recovered winning the second game toNorway 2–0, but although it lost the last match toIraq, Argentina qualified for the second round. In the knockout stage, the team was beaten 1–0 by Brazil.
For the1991 championship held in Portugal, Argentina was coached byReinaldo Merlo, who was designated by then-senior coachAlfio Basile as it had been in the precedent era.
Argentina made its worst campaign in youth tournaments, finishing last in their group with only one point earned from three matches. The team lost to Korea united team 1–0 in the first match, then were defeated by hosts Portugal 3–0 in a match where three Argentine players (Claudio París,Mauricio Pellegrino andJuan Esnáider) were sent off for their rough play which culminated in a brawl on the pitch between both teams. As a result,FIFA punished theArgentina Football Association (AFA) with a two-year suspension, as well as a one-year suspension for Esnáider and a two-year suspension for Norberto Recassens (one of the representatives of the AFA), both of whom insulted the referees in their dressing room at the end of the match.[6]
Some of the players that took part of that team were goalkeeperLeonardo Díaz, defendersDiego Cocca,Mauricio Pochettino and Pellegrino; midfielders París,Walter PazHugo Morales andChristian Bassedas; and forwardsMarcelo Delgado and Esnáider.[7]
Because it was banned, Argentina did not participate in the 1993 World Cup in Australia. TheArgentina Football Association (AFA) had opted to name a new coach entirely independent from the senior team coach as had been until then. Selected wasJosé Pékerman, who, despite not having much previous experience, convinced the AFA to hire him.
The good results were immediate: Argentina won the first World Cup contested with Pékerman as coach, held in1995 inQatar. In the first stage, Argentina defeated the Netherlands 1–0, then lost to Portugal 1–0 followed by a 4–2 win over Honduras, securing a second-place finish and progression to the quarter-finals, where they thrashed Cameroon by 4–0. In semi-finals, Argentina beat Spain 3–0 then defeated Brazil 2–0 in the final, exacting revenge from the 1983 tournament where the Brazilians won.
Some of its most notable players wereJuan Pablo Sorín,Joaquín Irigoytía,Federico Domínguez,Mariano Juan,Ariel Ibagaza,Leonardo Biagini andWalter Coyette.[8]
Argentina won its third title at the1997 championship, hosted byMalaysia. The team defeated Hungary 3–0 and Canada 2–1, but lost to Australia 4–3. Argentina passed to the round of 16 where they defeated England 2–1. In quarter-finals, Argentina eliminated Brazil after winning 2–0, then beat the Republic of Ireland 1–0 in the semi-finals. In the final match, played on 5 July 1997, the squad defeated Uruguay 2–1 to win its third championship. The team also received the FIFA Fair Play Award in recognition to the good behaviour showed on the field.
Argentina showed the talent of notable players such asLeonardo Franco,Fabián Cubero,Leandro Cufré,Walter Samuel,Diego Placente,Esteban Cambiasso,Pablo Aimar,Juan Román Riquelme andBernardo Romeo, many of them with already many matched played in thePrimera División when the tournament began.[9]
The performance during the1999 World Championship inNigeria was not so good. Argentina finished 3rd of 4 in the group, winning over Kazakhstan 1–0 at the debut but with a game lost to Ghana (1-0) and a 0–0 draw with Croatia. On the round of 16, Argentina was largely defeated at the hands Mexico by 4-1 and eliminated from the tournament.
In2001 Argentina hosted its first Youth Championship. The team won its fourth title, the third championship in seven years. Argentina debuted in theJosé Amalfitani Stadium (the venue where the team played all its games in Buenos Aires) defeating Finland 1–0. The next game Argentina thrashed Egypt 7–1 (with three goals byJavier Saviola), and closed its participation in Group A by smashing Jamaica by 5–1. In the knockout round, Argentina successively eliminated China (2–1), France (3–1) and Paraguay (5–0), winning the tournament with a convincing 3–0 over Ghana at the final, played on 8 July at Vélez Sársfield. Argentina won its fourth youth title unbeaten, scoring 27 goals in 7 matches, conceding 4. River Plate's forward Javier Saviola was awarded with the Golden Shoe (as the topscorer with 11) and Golden Ball as the best player of the tournament. Likewise, Argentina was awarded the FIFA Fair Play Award for the second-straight time. Apart from the multi-awarded Saviola, the national squad had a powerful team with most of its players being experienced playing at the domestic first division, notablyNicolás Burdisso,Leonardo Ponzio,Julio Arca,Leandro Romagnoli,Mauro Rosales,Andrés D'Alessandro andMaxi Rodríguez.[10][11]
The 2001 championship was the last title won with Pékerman as coach, closing a brilliant era that brought back the prestige to Argentine football.
After the departure of Pékerman, former goalkeeperHugo Tocalli was designed to replace him. With Tocalli as coach, Argentina made its debut at2003 championship defeating Spain 2–1. The team also beat Uzbekistan (by the same score) and Mali (3–1). Argentina finished first and unbeaten the first stage. In the round of 16, the national squad beat Egypt 2–1, then defeated United States 2-1 but Argentina lost to Brazil 1–0 at the semifinals. The team was also defeated by Colombia in the 3rd place match so Argentina finished in the 4th position of the general table. StrikerFernando Cavenaghi was the top scorer of the tournament with 4 goals.
In 2004, Pékerman was appointed to coach theArgentina senior team ahead of2006 FIFA World Cup qualifying.[12] One year later, Tocalli left the youth team to join Pékerman's coaching staff on the senior squad, so Francisco Ferraro was designated coach,[13] won its fifth title at theWorld championship hosted by the Netherlands. Argentina lost to the United States in the first match, won against Egypt (2–1) and Germany (1–0) to qualify for the next stage. From the round of 16 to the semi-finals, Argentina successively eliminated Colombia (2–1), Spain (3–1) and Brazil (2–1) reaching the finals for the sixth time. On 2 July 2005, Argentina defeated Nigeria 2–1 in the final to win its fifth youth championship. Both goals were scored byLionel Messi from the penalty spot.[14] Messi was the leader of the team and his magical performances resulted in him winning both the top scorer and best player's awards.[15]
In the 2005 team's squad, Lionel Messi was the star player and had already been a La Liga champion with FC Barcelona in the 2004–05 season. Other notable players for Argentina in that year were goalkeeperOscar Ustari; defendersEzequiel Garay andJulio Barroso, midfieldersPablo Zabaleta,Fernando Gago andLucas Biglia and forwardsSergio Agüero andNeri Cardozo.
Two years later, the team won its second straight title at the2007 FIFA U-20 World Cup, hosted by Canada. After a 0–0 draw in the debut with the Czech Republic, Argentina smashed Panama 6–0 and defeated North Korea[16] 1–0 to secure qualification to the second round. In the knockout stage, Argentina eliminated Poland (3–1), followed by Mexico (1–0) and Chile (3–0) en route to the final. In the final, played on 22 July, Argentina won its sixth title after defeating the Czechs 3–1.Sergio Agüero, the top scorer of the championship with six goals, was also awarded the Golden Ball as best player. Other notable players on the squad were goalkeeperSergio Romero, midfieldersÉver Banega andMaxi Moralez and forwardsÁngel Di María,Mauro Zárate andPablo Piatti.
Argentina's successful performances could not be repeated at the following seven U-20 World Cups. The team failed to qualify twice (2009, 2013) and was eliminated from the group stage on two occasions (2015, 2017).
| South American Championship U-20 Record[edit]
| ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
1Draws include knockout matches decided onpenalty kicks.
In addition to team victories, Argentine players have won many individual awards at FIFA World Youth Cups.
| Year | Golden Ball | Golden Boot |
|---|---|---|
| 1979 | Diego Maradona | Ramón Díaz |
| 2001 | Javier Saviola | Javier Saviola |
| 2005 | Lionel Messi | Lionel Messi |
| 2007 | Sergio Agüero | Sergio Agüero |
The following players were called up for the2025 FIFA U-20 World Cup, played between 27 September – 19 October 2025.[17]
Caps and goals correct as of 1 October 2025, after the match againstAustralia.
| No. | Pos. | Player | Date of birth (age) | Caps | Goals | Club |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 1GK | Santino Barbi | (2005-06-14)14 June 2005 (age 20) | 10 | 0 | Talleres |
| 12 | 1GK | Álvaro Busso | (2006-10-11)11 October 2006 (age 19) | 0 | 0 | Vélez Sarsfield |
| 21 | 1GK | Alain Gómez | (2007-03-03)3 March 2007 (age 18) | 0 | 0 |  Valencia |
| 2 | 2DF | Tobías Ramírez | (2006-11-11)11 November 2006 (age 19) | 15 | 0 | Argentinos Juniors |
| 3 | 2DF | Julio Soler | (2005-02-16)16 February 2005 (age 20) | 13 | 0 |  Bournemouth |
| 4 | 2DF | Dylan Gorosito | (2005-02-03)3 February 2005 (age 20) | 10 | 0 | Boca Juniors |
| 6 | 2DF | Juan Villalba | (2006-03-15)15 March 2006 (age 19) | 9 | 0 | Gimnasia y Esgrima |
| 13 | 2DF | Valente Pierani | (2006-02-22)22 February 2006 (age 19) | 5 | 0 | Estudiantes de La Plata |
| 14 | 2DF | Santiago Fernández | (2005-03-30)30 March 2005 (age 20) | 1 | 0 | Talleres |
| 16 | 2DF | Teo Rodríguez Pagano | (2005-10-12)12 October 2005 (age 20) | 9 | 1 | San Lorenzo |
| 5 | 3MF | Milton Delgado | (2005-06-16)16 June 2005 (age 20) | 15 | 1 | Boca Juniors |
| 8 | 3MF | Valentino Acuña | (2006-01-27)27 January 2006 (age 19) | 12 | 0 | Newell's Old Boys |
| 10 | 3MF | Álvaro Montoro | (2007-04-17)17 April 2007 (age 18) | 3 | 0 | Botafogo |
| 15 | 3MF | Tomás Pérez | (2005-08-26)26 August 2005 (age 20) | 4 | 1 |  Porto |
| 18 | 3MF | Tobías Andrada | (2007-02-02)2 February 2007 (age 18) | 2 | 0 | Vélez Sarsfield |
| 7 | 4FW | Maher Carrizo | (2006-02-19)19 February 2006 (age 19) | 14 | 6 | Vélez Sarsfield |
| 9 | 4FW | Alejo Sarco | (2006-01-06)6 January 2006 (age 19) | 2 | 3 |  Bayer Leverkusen |
| 11 | 4FW | Ian Subiabre | (2007-01-01)1 January 2007 (age 18) | 10 | 5 | River Plate |
| 17 | 4FW | Mateo Silvetti | (2006-01-14)14 January 2006 (age 19) | 4 | 1 | Inter Miami |
| 19 | 4FW | Santino Andino | (2005-10-25)25 October 2005 (age 20) | 11 | 2 | Godoy Cruz |
| 20 | 4FW | Gianluca Prestianni | (2006-01-31)31 January 2006 (age 19) | 1 | 0 | Benfica |
.jpg)
| Rank | Player | Year(s) | Total Goals |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Lionel Messi[18] | 2004–05 | 14 |
| 2 | Fernando Cavenaghi | 2003 | 12 |
| 3 | Javier Saviola | 2001 | 11 |
| 4 | Luciano Galletti | 1999 | 10 |
| Giovanni Simeone | 2015 | ||
| 5 | Ramón Díaz | 1979 | 8 |
| Bernardo Romeo | 1997 | ||
| 6 | Diego Maradona | 1979 | 7 |
| Juan Esnáider | 1991 | ||
| Juan Román Riquelme | 1997 | ||
| Pablo Aimar | 1997–99 | ||
| Marcelo Torres | 2017 | ||
| Lautaro Martínez | 2017 | ||
| 7 | Leonardo Biagini | 1995 | 6 |
| Sergio Agüero | 2007 | ||
| Ángel Correa | 2016 | ||
| Claudio Echeverri | 2025 |
Champions (1):2019The following table shows Argentina's head-to-head record in theFIFA U-20 World Cup.
| Opponent | Pld | W | D | L | GF | GA | GD | Win % |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
 Algeria | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 5 | 0 | +5 | 100.00 |
 Australia | 3 | 1 | 0 | 2 | 8 | 7 | +1 | 033.33 |
 Austria | 2 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 3 | 0 | +3 | 050.00 |
| Brazil | 6 | 3 | 0 | 3 | 6 | 4 | +2 | 050.00 |
 Cameroon | 2 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 3 | 0 | +3 | 100.00 |
 Canada | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 1 | +1 | 100.00 |
 Chile | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 3 | 0 | +3 | 100.00 |
 China | 2 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 7 | 1 | +6 | 100.00 |
 Colombia | 3 | 2 | 0 | 1 | 4 | 3 | +1 | 066.67 |
 Croatia | 1 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | +0 | 000.00 |
 Cuba | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 3 | 1 | +2 | 100.00 |
 Czech Republic | 3 | 2 | 1 | 0 | 4 | 1 | +3 | 066.67 |
| England | 4 | 1 | 2 | 1 | 3 | 5 | −2 | 025.00 |
 Egypt | 4 | 4 | 0 | 0 | 13 | 3 | +10 | 100.00 |
 Finland | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 0 | +2 | 100.00 |
 France | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 3 | 1 | +2 | 100.00 |
| Germany | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | +1 | 100.00 |
 Ghana | 3 | 1 | 0 | 2 | 5 | 4 | +1 | 033.33 |
 Guatemala | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 3 | 0 | +3 | 100.00 |
 Guinea | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 5 | 0 | +5 | 100.00 |
 Honduras | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 4 | 2 | +2 | 100.00 |
 Hungary | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 3 | 0 | +3 | 100.00 |
 Indonesia | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 5 | 0 | +5 | 100.00 |
 Iraq | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 1 | −1 | 000.00 |
 Italy | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | +1 | 100.00 |
 Jamaica | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 5 | 1 | +4 | 100.00 |
 Kazakhstan | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | +1 | 100.00 |
 Korea | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 1 | −1 | 000.00 |
 Mali | 2 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 5 | 3 | +2 | 050.00 |
 Mexico | 4 | 3 | 0 | 1 | 5 | 4 | +1 | 075.00 |
 Morocco | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 2 | −2 | 000.00 |
 Netherlands | 2 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 3 | 1 | +2 | 100.00 |
 New Zealand | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 5 | 0 | +5 | 100.00 |
 Nigeria | 3 | 2 | 0 | 1 | 6 | 3 | +3 | 066.67 |
 North Korea | 2 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 4 | 0 | +4 | 100.00 |
 Norway | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 0 | +2 | 100.00 |
 Panama | 2 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 8 | 2 | +6 | 050.00 |
 Paraguay | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 5 | 0 | +5 | 100.00 |
 Poland | 3 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 8 | 2 | +6 | 100.00 |
| Portugal | 4 | 1 | 1 | 2 | 2 | 4 | −2 | 025.00 |
 Republic of Ireland | 2 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 3 | 2 | +1 | 050.00 |
 South Africa | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 5 | 2 | +3 | 100.00 |
 South Korea | 2 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 2 | 4 | −2 | 000.00 |
 Soviet Union | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 3 | 1 | +2 | 100.00 |
| Spain | 4 | 3 | 0 | 1 | 9 | 4 | +5 | 075.00 |
| United States | 2 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 2 | 2 | +0 | 050.00 |
| Uruguay | 2 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 4 | 1 | +3 | 100.00 |
 Uzbekistan | 2 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 4 | 2 | +2 | 100.00 |
 Yugoslavia | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | +1 | 100.00 |
| Total | 93 | 64 | 9 | 20 | 188 | 75 | +113 | 068.82 |
| General topics | | ||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Managers | |||||||||||
| Players |
| ||||||||||
| Goals | |||||||||||
| Results | |||||||||||
| Venues | |||||||||||
| Official competitions |
| ||||||||||
| Official under age competitions |
| ||||||||||
| Friendly competitions | |||||||||||
| Rivalries | |||||||||||
| Culture | |||||||||||
| Related teams | |||||||||||
