[3] It is the one with the most players (2,658,811 total, 331,811 of which are registered and 2,327,000 unregistered; with 3,377 clubs and 37,161 officials, all according to FIFA)[1] and is the most popular recreational sport, played from childhood into old age.

In turn, the female national representative qualified for the World Cup for the first time in 2007 and won their first Campeonato Sudamericano Femenino (top continental competition) in 2006.

[9] Recovering from an oppressive dictatorship spanning from 1829 to 1852, Argentine leaders aspired to reconstruct their nation's reputation as a symbol of progress and democracy.

Domingo Faustino Sarmiento, a highly influential intellectual and former president of Argentina, argued in favour of emulating the path taken by Western Europe and the United States.

The first recorded football match in Argentina took place on this pitch on 20 June 1867,[11] being covered by English language daily newspaper The Standard.

The most successful and admired team of this early period was Alumni, founded by graduates and students of Watson Hutton's English High School.

They beat the Buenos Aires High School Alumni team 3-0 with Molyneaux remarking 'how far the Argentines were ahead of their European counterparts in France and Denmark.

In 1911, Alumni folded and by 1912 the Association was renamed in Spanish as the Asociación Argentina de Football, although the tradition of giving the clubs English names continued for many years.

During the early 20th century, many new football leagues were started in cities across Argentina as the popularity of the game spread out from Greater Buenos Aires, these include Rosario (with the establishment of Liga Rosarina in 1905), Córdoba (1912), Santa Fe (1913), Tucumán (1919), San Luis (1920) and Salta (1921).

[26] Teams from Rosario had also participated in the first National Cups organised by the Argentine Football Association, such as Copa de Honor Municipalidad de Buenos Aires,[27] (which Newell's Old Boys and Rosario Central would later win in 1911 and 1916 respectively)[28] The first official match played by the Argentina national team took place on 16 May 1901 against Uruguay, a 3–2 win for Argentina.

This could involve examining how political power influenced soccer policies, team selections, or the portrayal of the sport in the media.

The authorities utilized the success of the national team to convey an image of normalcy and stability, downplaying the grim reality of the political situation at home.

[37] In 1982, due to an uncertain political atmosphere and an extremely unstable government with multiple presidents over the span of a short time, most football clubs were lacking the money to keep top domestic players.

For many years, the only winners were the so-called "big five"[41] (Boca Juniors, Independiente, Racing Club, River Plate and San Lorenzo de Almagro).

The Copa Campeonato, originally awarded to Primera División champion, is the oldest trophy of Argentine football,[43] having been established in 1896, three year after the AFA was created,[44] and played without interruption until 1926.

The most important is the Superderby, which is contested between Argentina's two most popular[48] and successful[41] teams, Buenos Aires rivals River Plate and Boca Juniors.

Circumstances allowed the wide development of a special style, called "pasture football", little regulated, often massive, without coaches, captains or parents.

These conditions promoted a game based fundamentally on improvisation and individual skill in handling the ball, the so-called "art of dribbling" (dribbling), and the short pass, as well as a more physical and violent defensive game, with resource systematic to the old law of British premodern football, "hacking" or trip, known in the Río de la Plata as "ax".

[50] The first international club competition was organized by both, Argentine and Uruguayan associations, with the establishment of Tie Cup or "Copa de Competencia Chevallier Boutell" in 1900.

[10] The love of soccer evolved in Argentina, creating a sense of shared identity among them, and surpassed the leader's goal of unifying their citizens.

Supporters in Argentinian football stadiums operate under a key principle known as Aguante (Endurance)[clarification needed] which serves as a belief system that guides the behavior of those in attendance.

Key values that make up aguante that scholars such as Eduardo Herrera have also claimed are central in the construction of Argentinian masculinity are courage, endurance, and fearlessness in physical confrontation.

[56] The espectadores attend matches to enjoy the play of the game but do not weigh the principal of aguante close to heart compared the other two fan categories.

[56] The leadership of these organized subgroups of fans, which are mainly made up of men between the ages of 15–50 years old, are entirely driven by demonstrations of aguante and awarded additional benefits stemming from relationships with club executives that grant special privileges to these groups such as tickets or allowing them to bring in typically prohibited items into the stadium to stir energy and excitement for the football club during the match.

The excitement and passion at stadiums are typically found to be instigated and sustained by the presence of the percussion and brass instrument brought in by barras groups.

[56] The brass instruments that are typically played at stadiums by outside musicians hired by barras groups are trumpets, trombones, and euphoniums.

[56] While the collective energy and synchronization incited by the music can create a sense of unity among attendants and supporters alike, ethnomusicological scholar Eduardo Herrera also believes that they can embolden individuals to normalize discriminatory behavior that they wouldn't otherwise do if they weren't in a crowd, which would explain some of the recorded derogatory language and violent behavior found in Argentinian stadiums.

[57] Hinchas (supporters) create an emotional ambiance in many stadiums, singing and cheering loudly all game long, but since the away fan ban due to violence, the atmosphere in many stadia has become poorer, with goals for away teams greeted by silence and the disappearance of round trip chants between home and away fans, that provoked in each side to sing louder for show more passion.

Barra bravas (Argentine organized groups – like the English hooligan firms) also create occasional problems, usually in riots after the match.

[64] Stadiums with 45,000 plus capacity include José Amalfitani (Vélez Sársfield – 49,540), Tomás Adolfo Ducó (Huracán – 48,314),[65] Pedro Bidegain (San Lorenzo – 47,964).