Argentina’s debut in the Copa América: this is how the National Team did at the start of the last tournaments :: Olé

The Argentine National Team his debut is already palpitating in the Copa America 2024. This Thursday, Scaloneta begins the defense of the title obtained in 2021: its first rival will be Canada, selected who will face starting at 9:00 p.m. (our country time) at the Mercedes-Benz Stadium in Atlanta. Within hours of the long-awaited debut, in Ole We show you how the Albiceleste did in their latest debuts in the continental competition.

In 2021, the Scaloneta starred in a tournament in which it went from less to more. We all know how it ended: with Lionel Messi lifting the trophy after beating 1-0 Brazil at the Maracana. However, the debut had not been so auspicious: It was a 1-1 draw with Chile. Leo opened the scoring with a tremendous goal from a free kick around the first half hour of play, while Eduardo Vargas tied the score for the Chileans in the second half. That was the only match that the National Team did not win in the group stage, and one of the two in which they did not achieve victory in the 90 minutes (the other was 1-1 in the semis against Colombia).

The first Copa América with Scaloni in charge began with hundreds of problems for Argentina, both on and off the field. In this framework came the debut with Colombia, a rival that showed no mercy: defeated the Albiceleste 2-0 with goals from Roger Martínez and Duvan Zapata. To make matters worse, the National Team then tied 1-1 with Paraguay and extended its bad moment. Finally, the coach managed to right the ship in time with victories against Qatar (2-0) on the last date and against Venezuela (2-0) in the quarterfinals to reach the semifinals, where he was eliminated at the hands of Brazil, the subsequent champion.

The Centennial edition of the continental tournament started with many hopes for Argentina. And the team met expectations in the debut: defeated Chile 2-1 thanks to goals from Ángel Di María and Ever Banega. In that edition held in the United States, the National Team won all its matches until reaching the grand final, a match in which it faced La Roja again. However, on that occasion the one who celebrated was the trans-Andean team, which won on penalties after drawing 0-0.

In the 2015 edition, The National Team led by Tata Martino tied 2-2 with Paraguay in its debut. After reaching the final of the 2014 World Cup, the Albiceleste was a clear favorite for the title, although the start did not live up to expectations. Afterwards, Argentina managed to reach the grand final, where they lost – on penalties – to local Chile.

The last time the Argentine National Team played the opening match of a competition was in the 2011 Copa América, in that case it was because it was the venue of the competition. In its debut in the competition, the team led by Sergio Batista faced Bolivia in the Único de La Plata. There, the Albiceleste started down due to an unexpected goal from Edivaldo Rojas. The game went uphill. Kun Agüero managed to score the final 1-1 that ended up satisfying the visitors and leaving a bitter taste in the host.

Finally, the Argentine National Team would end up qualifying in second place in Group A with five points, below Colombia. Unfortunately, in the quarterfinals, Batista’s team was going to say goodbye to the tournament after losing on penalties to Uruguay, ultimately champions of the tournament.