The Argentina women's national football team represents Argentina in international women's football. Like their men's counterpart, the women's team has been known or nicknamed "La Albiceleste" (The White and Sky Blue).
Women's football in Argentina remains largely in the shadow of the men in terms of play development and fan support; in women's sports in Argentina, field hockey and volleyball are also more popular. Almost all its members were amateur players until 1991 when the Campeonato de Fútbol Femenino was founded to increase football popularity among women in Argentina.
The Argentina–Brazil football rivalry in women's football cannot be compared to that of men given the big differences between both countries; Brazil has the clear advantage in matches between them, and has been hosting a competitive professional women's league for many years, while Argentina recently introduced it in 2019.[4]
Rubén Suñé, the first coach of Argentina in their history
The team played its first official match against Chile at Estadio Santa Laura on 3 December 1993, which ended in a 3–2 victory.[3] Coached by Rubén Suñé, the Argentina starting line-up was: Valeria Otero (Independiente); María Gérez (River), Gladys Rodriguez (Boca), Corina Riccheza (Boca), Marina Martinez (Boca); Otilia Del Valle Acuña (Boca), Patricia Vera (Sacachispas), María Elizabeth Villanueva (Boca), Karina Morales (River); Fabiana Ochotorena (Boca), Liliana Baca (Independiente).[5][6]
In the 2003 Pan American Games, the team reached the semi-finals, where Brazil won 2–1 in a tight match. In the Bronze Medal match, Argentina lost 4–1 to Mexico, and finished in fourth place.[9] Despite a lack of investment and interest, the women's national team played its first World Cup in 2003. They were drawn in a group with Japan, Canada, and Germany; Argentina lost all three matches and scored only once, their lone score was Argentina's first official goal at a World Cup, and it was scored by Yanina Gaitán.[10][11]
After their world cup debut, the team went unbeaten for 14 matches from 2005 until 2007, including throughout the 2006 South American Cup, where they beat Brazil in the final 2–0 to become champions.[12] Their run ended when they lost a friendly with China 1–0 in June 2007. Three days later it got revenge though, and beat China by the same score. Since the team won the South American Cup, there were high expectations for the 2007 World Cup, played in China. However, the squad lost all matches again, including a record 0–11 loss to Germany.[10]
With the 2006 South American Cup title, the team qualified for the 2008 Summer Olympics, their Olympic debut. Argentina finished last with no points and only one goal in favor, although less goals were conceded than in the World Cup the previous year.[13]
The team returned to play in the 2014 South American Games, with new coach Luis Nicosia,[14] losing the opening match against Chile 1–0, but winning against Bolivia 4–0 and advancing to the semi-finals, where they won against rivals Brazil on penalties after a 0–0 draw. In the final, they won the gold medal with a 2–1 victory against Chile, which meant they won their first tournament since the 2006 South American Cup.[15][16]
In the 2014 Copa América Femenina, the team finished second in their group, behind Brazil, with three wins and one loss, and qualified for the Final Stage.[17] The top two teams in the final stage qualified for the 2015 Women's World Cup and 2016 Summer Olympics, and the third-placed team qualified for a CONCACAF-CONMEBOL playoff for World Cup qualification. Argentina finished last in the final stage and missed out on the World Cup and Olympics.[18]
In 2016 the team "effectively" did not exist, as the officials were more interested in investing in the men's side.[19] Following a long struggle to demand for better treatment, the team was restarted in 2017 and its former coach Carlos Borrello was reappointed as coach of the side.[20]
Argentina playing South Korea at the 2019 Cup of Nations
In 2018, Argentina finished third at the Copa América which qualified them for the CONCACAF–CONMEBOL play-off. Argentina defeated the fourth-place finisher from the CONCACAF Championship, Panama, in a two-legged play-off in November 2018 to qualify for the 2019 FIFA Women's World Cup. In the team's debut, they managed a shocking 0–0 draw to Japan, former champions of 2011 FIFA Women's World Cup, and gained its first ever point in any Women's World Cup. The next match was a narrow 1–0 loss to England, and then an exciting 3–3 draw to Scotland, after being down 3–0 with 25 minutes left. Although Argentina didn't qualify to the knockout stages, they put in a good performance, with two draws and one loss, finishing the tournament in the group's third place.[20] The women's team's performance was deemed to be one of the country's watershed moment for the long neglected women's side, especially after the disappointing shows of the Argentine men's side in the 2018 FIFA World Cup and 2019 Copa América.[10]
After the men's team winning the 2022 FIFA World Cup, this has created an expectation of scoring the first ever victory in 2023 FIFA Women's World Cup. However, they only managed a 0–1 loss to Italy, a 2–2 draw to South Africa and a 0–2 loss to Sweden, finishing the tournament in the last place of the group stage.
↑ Sources differ about the head coach: Luis Nicosia is cited as the manager and Ezequiel Nicosia is said to be part of the coaching staff in news reports.[30] In official match reports, the latter is cited as the head coach.[31] However, articles from AFA[32] and CONMEBOL[33] refer to both as the head coaches.
The Argentina national football team, nicknamed La Albiceleste, represents Argentina in men's international football and is administered by the Argentine Football Association, the governing body for football in Argentina.
The Chile women's national football team represents Chile in international women's football. It is administered by the Federación de Fútbol de Chile and is a member of CONMEBOL. Chile were close to qualification for the FIFA Women's World Cup in 1991, 1995 and 2011 and later finally made the Finals for the first time in 2019. Chile is, along with Brazil, one of the two teams to never fail to qualify for the Copa América Femenina. Chile's friendlies are frequently played against Argentina, who is a traditional rival. The team is currently coached by José Letelier and is captained by goalkeeper Christiane Endler.
The Colombia women's national football team represents Colombia in international women's football competitions and is controlled by the Colombian Football Federation. They are a member of the CONMEBOL. The team is currently ranked 28th in the FIFA Ranking and has qualified for three FIFA Women's World Cups, in Germany 2011, Canada 2015 and Australia–New Zealand 2023.
The Peru women's national football team represents Peru in international women's football and is controlled by the Peruvian Football Federation (FPF). They have been a part of the CONMEBOL confederation since its formation in 1996. The Peruvian team has yet to qualify for a FIFA Women's World Cup and is currently ranked 76th in the FIFA Rankings.
Women's football in Argentina has struggled to find a mainstream audience. While women's football clubs have existed in Argentina for decades, only in 1991 a group of clubs was allowed into the AFA. Initially seven teams, the country saw the number of clubs with female teams rising to 35 in 1998, and then steadily plummet due to lack of interest.
Boca Juniors Femenino is the women's football team of Argentine sports club Boca Juniors. Established in 1990, it has been the leading force in the Campeonato de Fútbol Femenino since the late 1990s, having won 27 editions of the competition, including a ten-years streak winning both the Apertura and Clausura championships. Former men's squad player Juan Román Riquelme is in charge of the section since the beginning of 2020.
Estefanía Romina Banini Ruiz is an Argentine professional footballer who plays as a midfielder for Liga F club Levante Badalona and formerly the Argentina women's national team.
Andrea Susana Ojeda is an Argentine footballer who plays as a forward for Boca Juniors. She has been a member of the Argentina women's national team.
Florencia Soledad "Sole" Jaimes is an Argentine professional footballer who plays as a striker for Brazilian club Santos and the Argentina national team.
Eliana Noemí Stábile is an Argentine professional footballer who plays as a left-back for Boca Juniors and the Argentina women's national team. She is not related to Argentinian football legend Guillermo Stábile.
María Carolina Birizamberri Rivero is a Uruguayan footballer and futsal player who plays as a forward for Argentine club River Plate and the Uruguay women's national team.
Adriana María Sachs is an Argentine professional footballer who plays as a centre-back for Racing Club and the Argentina women's national team.
Flavia Lorena Benítez is an Argentine professional footballer and former futsal player who plays as a midfielder for Boca Juniors and the Argentina women's national team.
Club Atlético River Plate Women is the Argentine women's football section of the homonymous club. Established in 1991, it was the inaugural champion of the Primera A and has won the tournament 11 times. At the Copa Libertadores, River has made two appearances in 2017 and 2020, their best result was placing third, at the 2017 Copa Libertadores Femenina.
Camila Gómez Ares is an Argentine footballer who plays as a midfielder for Boca Juniors and the Argentina women's national team.
José Carlos Borrello is an Argentine football manager who is currently the head coach and technical director of the Argentina women's national team. During his tenure as the manager from 1998 to 2012 and since 2017, he has helped women's teams qualify to all three of their Women's World Cups, all three of their Under-20 World Cups and their only Olympic tournament.
The Argentina women's national under-20 football team is the representative of Argentina in FIFA sponsored tournaments that pertain to that age level. They have participated in the eight editions of the South American U-20 Women's Championship, their best result finishing runners-up in 2006, 2008 and 2012, which allowed them to qualify for the FIFA U-20 Women's World Cup in 2006, 2008 and 2012, although in all of them, they ended up being eliminated in the group stage, until 2024, when Argentina advanced to the round of 16 for the first time.
América de Cali Femenino, commonly known as América Femenino, is the women's association football section of América de Cali based in the city of Cali, Colombia. They participate in Liga Profesional Femenina, the highest category of women's football, organized by Dimayor. Like their male counterpart, they play their home games at the Estadio Olímpico Pascual Guerrero.
Linda Lizeth Caicedo Alegría is a Colombian professional footballer who plays as a forward for Liga F club Real Madrid and the Colombia women's national team.
Lara Esponda is an Argentine footballer who plays as a goalkeeper for River Plate in Argentina's Women's Primera A.
↑ Sampaoli, Julieta; Latreite, Pablo Joaquín; Pierini, Merlina; Portillo, Lucas (11 February 2020). Seminario de fútbol femenino(PDF) (in Spanish) (1sted.). La Plata: Facultad de Periodismo y Comunicación Social de la Universidad Nacional de La Plata: Ediciones de Periodismo y Comunicación. p.65. ISBN978-950-34-1936-6. Retrieved 8 August 2023.
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(16 August 2024) [2] 
Argentina 3–2 Chile 
Germany 11–0 Argentina 
