Argentina, Football

The Argentina women's national football team represents Argentina in international women's football. Since there is no professional league in Argentina, almost all its members were amateur players until 1991. 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. The Argentina–Brazil football rivalry in women's football cannot be compared to that of men given the big differences between both countries, with Brazil having a competitive professional women's league. Nevertheless, Argentina follows Brazil in the CONMEBOL standings. On November 26, 2006, in the finals of the 2006 Sudamericano Femenino, Argentina beat Brazil (2–0) to take the title. The team returned to play in the 2014 ODESUR South American Games, with new coach Luis Nicosia, losing 1–0 the opening match against Chile, winning against Bolivia 4–0 and advancing to the semi-finals, where they won in against their rivals Brazil in penalties after a 0–0 draw. At the final, they win the gold medal by a 2–1 victory against Chile, making Argentina women's team won another gold medal after many years. Despite a lack of investment, Argentina still managed to qualify for their first two Women's World Cup in USA 2003 and China 2007, though they were eliminated in the Group Stage of both tournaments. 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 home-and-away play-off in November 2018 to qualify for the 2019 FIFA Women's World Cup.