Argentina–Uruguay Football Rivalry

Considered by football journalists and fans alike as one of the most important rivalries in the sport, the derby is also the most played in football history. According to FIFA records, 197 official matches have been played to date, the first of which was played on 20 July 1902, in which both teams played the first international match outside the United Kingdom in Uruguay, with Argentina winning by 6–0.

Argentina–Uruguay football rivalry

Diego Maradona and Rubén Paz at the 1979 South American U-20 Championship
Other names	Clásico del Río de la Plata
Location	South America (CONMEBOL)
Teams	Argentina  Uruguay
First meeting	20 July 1902 Friendly Uruguay 0–6 Argentina
Latest meeting	16 November 2023 2026 FIFA World Cup qualifiers Argentina 0–2 Uruguay
Next meeting	20 March 2025 2026 FIFA World Cup qualifiers Uruguay v Argentina
Statistics
Meetings total	212 (189 official)
Most wins	Argentina (97) (88 official)
All-time series	Argentina: 97 (88 official) Draw: 52 (46 official) Uruguay: 63 (51 official)
Largest victory	Argentina 6–0 Uruguay (20 July 1902)
Argentina Uruguay

Games between the two teams, even those that are only friendly matches, are often marked by notable and sometimes controversial incidents. In addition, both national teams have been described as some of the most successful sides in the history of association football; Argentina has won three FIFA World Cups, whereas Uruguay won two. Both teams have won the Copa América a record-fifteen times and have won two gold medals at the Olympic Games. The two nations have also seen success in other inter-confederation and youth competitions, and are also routinely ranked among the top national teams in the world in both the FIFA World Rankings and the World Football Elo Ratings. As of 2023, Argentina has won 92 matches, Uruguay has won 59 matches, and 46 matches ended in a draw.

Aside from the national teams, both countries have produced some of the most successful clubs in the world. The Big Five have represented Argentina's success in club football for most of its history, although other clubs have achieved success in recent history as well, respectively. In Uruguay, Peñarol and Nacional have predominantly been the most successful clubs in the country ever since the introduction of the sport. In the Copa Libertadores, Argentine clubs have reached the final 38 times, with 25 coming out as champions, whereas Uruguayan clubs have appeared in 16 finals and have won 8 of them. In the Copa Sudamericana, Argentine clubs have been featured 15 times, winning it on 9 occasions. No Uruguayan club, however, has yet reached a Copa Sudamericana final. In all intercontinental competitions, including the Intercontinental Cup and the FIFA Club World Cup, Argentine clubs have won 9 tournaments and were runners-up 14 times, and Uruguayan clubs won 6 tournaments and were runners-up 2 times. In 2009, the International Federation of Football History & Statistics released a series of statistical studies that determined the best continental clubs of the 20th century. For South America, Peñarol was ranked as the greatest football club in the continent. This was followed by Independiente, Nacional, and River Plate in that order. Boca Juniors were ranked sixth overall, although Boca Juniors were ranked as the best South American club for the first decade of the 21st century in 2012.

The two nations have also produced many defining players since their introduction to the sport. This includes but isn't limited to, Uruguay's golden generation from the first half of the 20th century, consisting of the likes of José Leandro Andrade, Alcides Ghiggia, José Nasazzi, and Juan Alberto Schiaffino, to Argentina's international prominence later on with names such as Gabriel Batistuta, Mario Alberto Kempes, Diego Maradona, and Daniel Passarella, and eventually down to modern-day generational talents, including Edinson Cavani, Ángel Di María, Diego Forlan, Lionel Messi, Juan Román Riquelme, and Luis Suárez.

Background

The foundation of the rivalry can be traced to the countries' similarities; both countries' share the same cultures and ethnicities derived from the Viceroyalty of the Río de la Plata from the 18th century, and later on, the influx of European immigration, starting as early as the 19th century, which would eventually establish the modern-day society of Argentina and Uruguay. Amongst the mass immgration included the British, but unlike most immigrants such as from Spain and Italy who were escaping poverty and political turmoil in their homeland, the British were skilled workers, ranchers, businessmen, and bureaucrats. During this time, Argentina and Uruguay were emerging nations and the settlers were welcomed for the stability they brought to commercial life. As a result, the British brought over their customs and traditions, including football. The name of the rivalry is based on their geographical location; the Río de la Plata forms part of the border between Argentina and Uruguay.

The first game was played in Argentina on 20 June 1867, with the establishment of Buenos Aires Football Club, the first football club not only in Argentina, but in South America. In Uruguay, football had been introduced in 1870. Argentina organised its first league championship, Primera División, in 1891 while Uruguay held its first domestic tournament, also named the Primera División, in 1900. The Argentine and Uruguayan Associations were the first national football organisations in South America, developing together the first international competitions in the Río de la Plata, such as Tie Cup (1900) and Copa de Honor Cousenier (1905), played by the champions of each association.

1900-1902: Beginnings; first international football match outside the United Kingdom

 

 

The Argentina (left) and Uruguayan (right) national teams that played the first international football match outside Great Britain in Montevideo on July 20, 1902

Although the first match ever recorded between Argentina and Uruguay was played on 16 May 1901, the match isn't registered as an official game due to the match being organised by the Albion Football Club, not by the Uruguayan Football Association, at the club's home ground in Paso del Molino, Montevideo. The Uruguayan side had nine players from that club and the remainder from Nacional. Argentina won the match 3–2. The first official match was held in the same venue, on 20 July 1902, with Argentina beating Uruguay 6–0.

20 June 1902

Uruguay	0–6	Argentina
		Charles Dickinson   3' Germán Arímalo   31' (o.g.) Edward Morgan   64' Carlos Carve Urioste   66' (o.g.) Juan Anderson   71' Jorge Brown   86'

Estadio del Albion Football Club (Estadio Parque Dr. Enrique Falco Lichtemberger), Paso del Molino
Montevideo, Uruguay

Attendance: 8,000

Referee: Robert Whall Rudd (Argentina)

Players that represented the Argentine squad were from Alumni (5 players), Quilmes (2), Belgrano AC (2), Lomas (1) and Barracas AC (1). For Uruguay, the squad was formed by eight players from Nacional and three from Albion. There were no players from CURCC in Uruguay, as the club didn't allow their players to participate in the match.

1905-1916: First competitions

During its first years of existence, both national teams played only friendly matches amongst each other until the establishment of the Copa Lipton in 1905, organized by both Argentine and Uruguayan Football Associations. The trophy had been donated by the Scottish tea magnate Thomas Lipton with the condition that the teams be made up of only native-born players. The tournament was contested on an annual basis between 1905 and 1992. The decade of 1910 is considered "the golden age" of the competition, due to Argentina and Uruguay were the predominant teams in South America by then and the Copa Lipton was the most important competition for both sides, considering that CONMEBOL had not been established until 1916. The first official title won by Argentina was the 1906 Copa Lipton, defeating Uruguay 2–0 in Montevideo. Throughout the duration of the competition, Argentina won the title 17 times, whereas Uruguay won it 11 times.

 

Other notable competition for both sides was the Copa Newton, also established in 1906 and continued on an annual basis until 1930. Similar to the Copa Lipton, Nicanor Newton, director of Sportsman magazine, a former Argentine-based sports magazine company, donated the trophy for a competition which would be held for beneficial purposes. Argentina won the first edition as well, defeating Uruguay 2-1 at the Sociedad Sportiva Argentina in Buenos Aires. It has only been played sporadically since, with the last edition being contested in 1976. Argentina and Uruguay have also won the tournament 17 and 11 times, respectively.

Apart from Copa Lipton and Copa Newton, two other competitions were established, with the particularity of each one being hosted in each side of the Río del Plata. The Copa Premier Honor Argentino was held in Buenos Aires (1908-1920) while the Copa Premier Honor Uruguayo (1911–1924) was held in Montevideo.

In 1910, the Argentine Football Association organized the Copa Centenario Revolución de Mayo in honor of the centennial anniversary of the May Revolution in Argentina. The competition is notable for being the first international tournament of South America where more than two football nations participated and is also considered a predecessor to Copa América. Participating teams featured the Argentine, Uruguayan, and Chilean national teams. Formtted in a round-robin system, all three games were played in Buenos Aires; the first match was played in Cancha de Colegiales and the Estadio Gimnasia y Esgrima de Buenos Aires. Because of having featured three of the subsequent four founding members of CONMEBOL, the Copa Centenario Revolución de Mayo was sometimes called "the first Copa América". However, CONMEBOL recognizes the 1916 South American Championship as the first edition of the competition.

1916: Inaguration of the Copa América

 

Six years after the Copa Cenenario Revolución de Mayo, the first edition of the "Campeonato Sudamericano de Fútbol" (South American Football Championship), later known as the "Copa América", was contested in Argentina to commemorate the centenary of the Argentine Declaration of Independence. As a result, the four participating associations of the tournment (Argentina, Brazil, Chile, and Uruguay) gathered in Buenos Aires in order to officially create a governing body to facilitate the organization of the tournament. A week after the start of the tourament, on 9 July 1916, the continental governing body of football in South America, CONMEBOL, was founded under initiative of Uruguayan Héctor Rivadavia Gómez with the approval of the four associations. The first Constitutional Congress on 15 December of that same year, which took place in Montevideo, ratified the decision.

Hosted in the Estadio Gimnasia y Esgrima de Buenos Aires and the Estadio Racing Club in Buenos Aires, six matches were played; each team played one match against each of the other teams. Two points were awarded for a win, one point for a draw and zero points for a defeat. Uruguay and Argentina met in the final match of the tournament at Racing Club on 17 July 1916, with the match ending in a goaless draw. Uruguay would win the first continental trophy with five points, whereas Argentina came secound with four points. Despite Argentina and Uruguay's large history in the most important competition of South America, they have never played a final match facing each other.

1917-1923: Continuation of international and exhibition tournaments; the "Olympic Goal"

 

In 1924, Argentina played a friendly match against Uruguay at Sportivo Barracas' stadium. When only 15 minutes had been played, winger Cesáreo Onzari scored from a corner kick, with no other player touching the ball before scoring. Due to the fact that Uruguay was the Olympic champion, this play was called "Gol Olímpico". This denomination still remains.

The goal stood since FIFA had previously regulated goals scored directly from the corner kick, as Onzari did during that match. According to La Nación newspaper, 52,000 fans attended the game, an Argentina 2–1 win, where the Uruguayan team left the field with only four minutes to play. Argentine players later complained about the rough play of the Uruguayans during the match, while their rivals also complained about the aggressiveness of local spectators, who threw bottles at them at the end of the match.

1924-1929: Uruguay's dominance at the Summer Olympics

 

The 1928 Summer Olympics saw the first match of Argentina and Uruguay playing each other outside South America. In the final the Uruguayans played Argentina who had trounced Egypt, a team (Egypt) that would now fold like a house of cards; clearly out of their depth against more sophisticated opposition, conceding 6 goals to Argentina and as many as eleven to Italy in the Bronze medal match.

Argentina came to the final after thrashing United States 11–2, Belgium 6–3 and Egypt 6–0, while Uruguay had defeated The Netherlands, Germany and Italy in previous rounds. The interest was immense, with The Dutch having received 250,000 requests for tickets from all over Europe.

The first game (attended by 28,253 spectators) finished 1–1. The tie went to a replay. With the winning goal by Héctor Scarone, Uruguay won the replay match, also achieving their second consecutive gold medal, with 28,113 spectators in the stadium.

After the finals, players from both teams did not speak with each other. Tango singer Carlos Gardel invited Argentine and Uruguayan players to a show in the cabaret "El Garrón", in Paris. His efforts to achieve a reconciliation between both parts were not successful so Argentine and Uruguayan ended up in a fight during the show.

"(Carlos) Gardel knew I played the violin so he invited me to play with him on stage. When the song finished, players of both sides started to throw breadcrumbs at each other, then they started to throw breads and then, bottles of wine. The Rioplatense brotherhood went to hell. In the midst of chaos, I saw a black man coming over me, I'm not sure if he was Negro Andrade but I broke the Stradivarius on his head, just in case."

— Argentine player Raimundo Orsi, speaking about the riot at the cabaret.

1930: Inaguration of the FIFA World Cup

 

In 1930 Uruguay organised the first FIFA World Cup. As two years before at the Summer Olympics, Argentina and Uruguay played the final, held in the Estadio Centenario in Montevideo. Argentina had previously defeated France, Mexico, Chile and the United States, while Uruguay beat Peru, Romania and Yugoslavia. Both teams thrashed United States and Yugoslavia for the same score (6–1) at the semifinals.

 

The final ended 4–2 to Uruguay after they trailed 2–1 at half-time, adding the title of World Cup winners to their status as Olympic champions. Jules Rimet, president of FIFA, presented the Uruguayan team with the World Cup Trophy, which was later named after him. The following day was declared a national holiday in Uruguay; in the Argentinian capital Buenos Aires a mob threw stones at the Uruguayan consulate.

The last living player from that final, Francisco Varallo (who played as a striker for Argentina), died on 30 August 2010 at the age of 100.

The second time Argentina and Uruguay met in a World Cup was in 1986, when Argentina beat Uruguay 1–0 at round of 16, with goal by Pedro Pasculli. The squad managed by Carlos Bilardo eliminated the Uruguayan side, advancing to the next stage. Argentina would then win their second world title when they beat West Germany 3–2 in the final.

FIFA World Cup qualifications

2002 FIFA World Cup qualification agreement

In the eighteenth and last round of the 2002 FIFA World Cup qualification, Uruguay was set to meet Argentina at the Centenario. Before the match, on 14 November 2001, Uruguay was fighting for fifth place, the inter-confederation play-off spot, against the Colombian national team. Colombia managed to win against Paraguay in Asunción 4–0 and surpassed Uruguay by one point with a total of 27 points in the qualification bracket. Uruguay had 26 points but had a greater goal difference than Colombia by one goal in favor. Therefore, a tie or win was a must for the Uruguayan side to keep their qualification hopes alive. According to Juan Sebastián Verón, who was in the starting eleven for Argentina, the team noticed that the Uruguayan players and local fans "were suffering" after the result in Asunción was already known. After the conclusion of the first half which saw Argentina and Uruguay tied 1–1, with a goal by Claudio López and Darío Silva respectively, the Argentine side stopped attacking in the second half and the match resulted in a tie. This was enough for Uruguay to qualify for the play-off competition and resulted in Colombia's elimination via goal differentiation. Argentine sports newspaper Olé entitled their article on the match, "You're Welcome, bo!", whereas Uruguayan newspaper El País entitled theirs, "Our Great Brother".

Local media also attributed Argentine players Germán Burgos and Juan Pablo Sorín with saying that they would have let themselves lose the match if Uruguay needed the three points. Colombia asked FIFA the week of the playoffs to investigate the match, but no action took place. In 2004, then-Uruguayan coach Juan Ramón Carrasco clarified that an "agreement" was made with the Argentine team to maintain the result to qualify for the playoffs. Uruguay would eventually qualify in the playoff competition, having beat Australia 3–0 at home after a 1–0 defeat in the first leg.

2006 and 2014 FIFA World Cup qualifications

Football journalists have criticised similar actions taken place between the two nations in later FIFA World Cup campaigns. Four years later, during the 2006 FIFA World Cup qualification, an almost identical scenario took place; the Colombian national team earned a must-needed three points after winning against Paraguay in Asunción 1–0, and if Argentina did not lose its last game against Uruguay in Montevideo, Colombia would advanced to the playoffs. However, José Pékerman's Argentina had nothing at stake, they already qualified. In a little effort match on the Argentine side, the Uruguayans, led by Jorge Fossati, won the match 1–0 with a goal by Álvaro Recoba in the 46th minute. This gave Uruguay the advantage in qualifying for playoff competition. However, Australia won the playoffs and qualified for the World Cup via penalties 4–2, after a 1–1 series draw.

In the 2014 FIFA World Cup qualification, with Alejandro Sabella as coach and Argentina having already classified, an alternative team was placed in the last match of the campaign on 15 October 2013 against Uruguay. The Uruguayan side came out with a 3–2 victory and secured a comfortable spot to advance to playoff competition once again, this time against Jordan. Uruguay easily qualified against the Jordan national team in a 5–0 series.

2018 FIFA World Cup qualification second match

A similar occurrence to that in 2002 and 2006 happened during the second matchup between Argentina and Uruguay during the 2018 FIFA World Cup qualification. On 31 August 2017, the match ended in a goalless draw with both teams earning one point. Unlike previous qualifications, Uruguay was in a comfortable position, entering the fifteenth round in third place, whereas Argentina was desperate to breathe life into their World Cup campaign, fighting at the playoff spot in fifth place. Before the match, Lionel Messi and Luis Suárez wore specialised shirts of their national teams to promote Argentina and Uruguay's 2030 FIFA World Cup bid; Luis Suárez's kit boasted the large number 20 on the front, while Messi's jersey featured the number 30.

Argentine and Uruguayan journalists criticised the match, especially in the last 20 minutes, claiming that the game was all "business" and both sides didn't want to take any risks. Uruguayan newspaper El País headlined that week's newspaper as "Brothers again", stating that "there are bad draws, good draws, and also very good ones. Precisely, what occurred last night in that match falls in that last category."

Notable confrontations and brawls

2019 exhibition match

On 29 November 2019, Argentina and Uruguay played an international friendly match at Bloomfield Stadium in Tel Aviv, Israel. During the second half, Lionel Messi was fouled by Matías Vecino, who reacted angrily to the challenge. Cavani then exchanged words with Messi, asking if he wanted to "fight it out," to which Messi replied, "Whenever you want." Both sides eventually brushed it off in a 2–2 draw. Both Cavani and Messi said in post-game interviews that there is no bad blood and that these are how the matches are.

2022 FIFA World Cup

Although Argentina and Uruguay were ineligible to be drawn at the same group given their CONMEBOL memberships, a fight did break out, albeit involving fans. From a bus carrying Mexican fans also included a group of Uruguayan fans who later jointly sang a song "Come to see! Come to see! In the Falklands, English language is spoken", with Falklands intentionally included, sparking wrath from Argentine fans. Originally, it was believed that only Mexican fans were singing this song, but later investigation by Mexican commercial newspaper El Imparcial revealed that Uruguayans were also among the people singing it.

2026 FIFA World Cup qualification scuffle

During the fifth round of the 2026 FIFA World Cup qualification, Argentina hosted Uruguay in La Bombonera. During the 19th minute of the match, several players got into a scuffle, most notably Rodrigo De Paul and Mathías Olivera. After the two got into a heated exchange, Messi approached Olivera and grabbed him by the throat. The trio was eventually separated; Manuel Ugarte then confronted De Paul with obscene gestures. Uruguay would eventually win the match 2–0 with goals from Ronald Araújo and Darwin Núñez.

Messi was asked about the confrontation in a post-game interview, stating that young players from the Uruguayan squad, particularly Ugarte, should "learn respect to their elders." but did later say that these occurrences are normal, "in these types of games, qualifiers, it's always like this with Uruguay." De Paul and Ugarte also played down the match. De Paul said, "It's dumb, whatever happened stays on the pitch.", whereas Ugarte has apologised for the gestures, claiming it was in the heat of the moment, and agreeing with De Paul's statement.

• As of 16 November 2023

Eliminations

• 1928 Olympic final: Uruguay 1–1 Argentina, Uruguay 2–1 Argentina (replay)
• 1930 World Cup final: Uruguay 4–2 Argentina
• 1986 World Cup round of 16: Argentina 1–0 Uruguay
• 1987 Copa América semi-final: Uruguay 1–0 Argentina
• 2011 Copa América quarter-final: Argentina 1–1 (4–5 p) Uruguay

The chart includes the complete list of matches played between both teams:

Notes