Argentina men's national field hockey team

Argentina
Nickname(s)Los Leones (The Lions)
AssociationConfederación Argentina de Hockey (CAH)
ConfederationPAHF (Americas)
Head CoachLucas Rey
Assistant coach(es)Lucas Cammareri
Daniel García
ManagerMartín Elli
CaptainMatías Rey
Most capsMatías Paredes (356)
Top scorerJorge Lombi (341)
Home
Away
FIH ranking
Current 7 1 (18 June 2025)[1]
Highest1 (April 2017 – October 2017)
Lowest14 (2009)
Olympic Games
Appearances13 (first in 1948)
Best result 1st (2016)
World Cup
Appearances14 (first in 1971)
Best result 3rd (2014)
Pan American Games
Appearances15 (first in 1967)
Best result1st (1967, 1971, 1975, 1979, 1991, 1995, 2003, 2011, 2015, 2019, 2023)
Pan American Cup
Appearances6 (first in 2000)
Best result1st (2004, 2013, 2017, 2022)

The Argentina men's national field hockey team (Spanish: Selección masculina de hockey sobre césped de Argentina) represents Argentina in field hockey and is governed by the Argentine Hockey Confederation (CAH). The current coach is Lucas Rey, who was appointed after Mariano Ronconi let go after the 2024 Summer Olympics. The team is currently sixth in the FIH World Rankings.

Los Leones (The Lions) are the only team of the Americas to win a gold medal at the Olympic Games. They achieved this after defeating Belgium 4–2 in the final at the 2016 Summer Olympics in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil.[2] Argentina's Olympic gold-winning coach is Carlos Retegui.

Argentina has appeared in every Hockey World Cup, since the first edition in 1973, except the 1998 edition. They won the bronze medal in 2014, their best position in the tournament. They also obtained a bronze medal at the 2008 Hockey Champions Trophy and a silver medal at the 2016–17 Hockey World League.

At a continental level, Argentina is the most winning team in the Americas, having dominated most tournaments they played, including four gold medals at the Pan American Cup and eleven gold medals at the Pan American Games.

In November 2015 Argentina reached a historic 5th place in the FIH World Rankings, only to be surpassed after their Olympic gold medal by reaching 1st place in April 2017.[3]

History

The team won the bronze medal at the 2014 World Cup, being ranked 11th in the FIH World Rankings. They also won the bronze medal at the 2008 Champions Trophy, during Carlos Retegui's first period as a coach.

In 2013, during the Hockey World League Semifinals in Johor Bahru, Malaysia, the team along with coach Carlos Retegui decide to name themselves Los Leones (The Lions), matching the nickname chosen by the women's team at the 2000 Summer Olympics in Sydney, Australia.

Argentina didn't have great performances at the Summer Olympics until they won the gold medal at the 2016 edition by defeating Belgium 4–2, when they became the first national hockey team to win that prize for their country.

Competitive record

Summer Olympics

Summer Olympics record
Year Host Position Pld W D L GF GA Squad
1908 to 1936 did not participate
1948 London, Great Britain 5th 3 1 1 1 5 12 Squad
1952 to 1964 did not participate
1968 Mexico City, Mexico 14th 8 1 1 6 4 22 Squad
1972 Munich, West Germany 14th 8 0 3 5 4 10 Squad
1976 Montreal, Canada 11th 6 1 0 5 6 15 Squad
1980 Moscow, Soviet Union Withdrew
1984 Los Angeles, United States did not participate
1988 Seoul, South Korea 8th 7 2 1 4 15 22 Squad
1992 Barcelona, Spain 11th 7 2 0 5 14 20 Squad
1996 Atlanta, United States 9th 7 3 1 3 16 19 Squad
2000 Sydney, Australia 8th 7 1 2 4 16 22 Squad
2004 Athens, Greece 11th 7 1 2 4 13 19 Squad
2008 Beijing, China did not qualify
2012 London, Great Britain 10th 6 1 1 4 11 17 Squad
2016 Rio de Janeiro, Brazil 1st 8 5 2 1 25 17 Squad
2020 Tokyo, Japan 7th 6 2 1 3 11 14 Squad
2024 Paris, France 8th 6 2 2 2 10 9 Squad
2028 Los Angeles, United States to be determined
2032 Brisbane, Australia
Total 1st place 86 22 17 47 150 218

World Cup

Men's FIH Hockey World Cup record
Year Host Position Pld W D L GF GA Squad
1971 Barcelona, Spain 10th 5 0 0 5 1 11
1973 Amstelveen, Netherlands 9th 7 2 3 2 5 9
1975 Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia 11th 7 3 1 3 15 17
1978 Buenos Aires, Argentina 8th 8 2 2 4 12 18
1982 Mumbai, India 12th 7 1 0 6 9 21
1986 London, England 6th 7 2 1 4 8 10
1990 Lahore, Pakistan 9th 7 3 1 3 15 15
1994 Sydney, Australia 7th 7 2 3 2 13 13
1998 Utrecht, Netherlands did not qualify
2002 Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia 6th 9 6 0 3 23 18 Squad
2006 Mönchengladbach, Germany 10th 7 2 1 4 9 16 Squad
2010 New Delhi, India 7th 6 3 0 3 13 13 Squad
2014 The Hague, Netherlands 3rd 7 5 0 2 18 10 Squad
2018 Bhubaneswar, India 7th 4 2 0 2 12 11 Squad
2023 Odisha, India 9th 6 3 3 0 28 13 Squad
2026 Wavre, Belgium
Amstelveen, Netherlands
to be determined
Total 3rd place 94 36 15 43 181 195

Pan American Championships

South American Championships

FIH Pro League

FIH Pro League record
Season Position Pld W D * L GF GA Squad
2019 5th 14 6 3 5 41 36 Squad
2020–21 7th 12 2 4 6 26 35 Squad
2021–22 5th 16 6 4 6 31 35 Squad
2022–23 8th 16 3 6 7 28 36 Squad
2023–24 4th 16 7 5 4 39 35 Squad
2024–25 6th 16 7 2 7 28 32 Squad
Total Best: 4th 90 31 24 35 193 209

Sultan Azlan Shah Cup

Sultan Azlan
Shah Cup
record
Year Position
2006 7th
2007 5th
2008 1st
2012 2nd
2018 3rd
Best result: 1st place

Defunct competitions

*Draws include matches decided on a penalty shoot-out.

Players

Current squad

The following 24 players were named on 2 December 2024 for the FIH Pro League matches against England and Ireland from 10 to 15 December 2024 in Santiago del Estero, Argentina.[5]

Caps are correct as of 4 August 2024, after the match against Germany.

No. Pos. Player Date of birth (age) CapsClub
12 GK Nehuen Hernando (2000-06-23) 23 June 2000 13 Old Club
25 GK Joaquin Ruiz (2004-05-06) 6 May 2004 0 Mitre

2 Agustín Machelett (1995-01-31) 31 January 1995 24 Ducilo
4 DF Juan Catán (1995-10-05) 5 October 1995 84 TSV Mannheim
5 DF Facundo Zárate (2000-07-31) 31 July 2000 25 Jockey Club Córdoba
17 DF Santiago Tarazona (1996-05-31) 31 May 1996 125 TSV Mannheim
19 DF Lautaro Domene (2001-07-24) 24 July 2001 0 Orée

22 MF Matías Rey (Captain) (1984-12-01) 1 December 1984 292 San Fernando
27 MF Tadeo Marcucci (2001-05-03) 3 May 2001 38 Lomas
28 MF Ignacio Ibarra (2000-05-07) 7 May 2000 6 Ducilo
29 MF Thomas Habif (1996-05-27) 27 May 1996 81 Mannheimer HC
30 MF Agustín Bugallo (1995-04-23) 23 April 1995 135 Mitre
41 MF Iñaki Minadeo (2003-06-09) 9 June 2003 8 Banco Provincia

7 FW Nicolás Keenan (1997-05-06) 6 May 1997 86 Klein Zwitserland
8 FW Tobías Martins (1998-07-14) 14 July 1998 28 Ducilo
21 FW Tomas Domene (1997-09-04) 4 September 1997 83 Waterloo Ducks
23 FW Lucas Martínez (1993-11-17) 17 November 1993 138 Dragons
31 FW Bautista Capurro (2003-10-22) 22 October 2003 28 Ciudad
33 FW Lucio Mendez (2000-08-20) 20 August 2000 5 Orée

15 Tomás Ruiz (2004-05-06) 6 May 2004 3 Mitre
20 Matias Andreotti (2005-03-09) 9 March 2005 0 Ba. Na. De.
32 Bruno Correa (2004-05-18) 18 May 2004 0 Ducilo
38 Agustin Bonanno (2003-05-22) 22 May 2003 0 San Fernando
55 Felipe Merlini (1999-10-29) 29 October 1999 5 San Fernando

Recent call-ups

The following players have been called up for the national team in the last 12 months.

Pos. Player Date of birth (age) Caps Club Latest call-up
GK Tomás Santiago (1992-06-15) 15 June 1992 85 Herakles 2024 Summer Olympics

DF Federico Monja (1993-09-12) 12 September 1993 85 Atlètic Terrassa 2024 Summer Olympics

MF Agustín Mazzilli (1989-06-20) 20 June 1989 276 Lomas 2024 Summer Olympics
MF Nicolás Della Torre (1990-03-01) 1 March 1990 114 Dragons 2024 Summer Olympics

FW Maico Casella (1997-06-05) 5 June 1997 140 Gantoise 2024 Summer Olympics
FW Lucas Toscani (1999-09-22) 22 September 1999 65 Klein Zwitserland 2024 Summer Olympics

Past players

Captains

Period Captain
2000–2004 Pablo Moreira
2005–2006 Germán Orozco
2007–2008 Mario Almada
2008–2013 Matías Vila
2013–2014 Lucas Rey
2014–2015 Matías Paredes
2015–2021 Pedro Ibarra
2021–Present Maico Casella
Agustín Mazzilli
Matías Rey

Coaches

Period Name
???–1983 Juan Carlos Duré
1983–1990 Luis Ciancia
1991–1992 Jorge Ruiz
1993–1996 Miguel MacCormik
1996–1999 Marcelo Garraffo
1999–2000 Alejandro Verga
2000–2005 Jorge Ruíz
2005–2008 Sergio Vigil
2008–2009 Carlos Retegui
2009–2012 Pablo Lombi
2012–2013 Franco Nicola
2013–2018 Carlos Retegui (2nd cycle)
2018–2020 Germán Orozco
2020–2021 Mariano Ronconi
2021 Carlos Retegui (3rd cycle)
2021–2024 Mariano Ronconi (2nd cycle)
2024–Present Lucas Rey

References

  1. ^ "FIH Outdoor World Hockey Rankings". FIH. 18 June 2025. Retrieved 18 June 2025.
  2. ^ "Argentina beat Belgium to win first Olympic Games men's hockey gold medal". Archived from the original on 26 August 2016. Retrieved 21 August 2016.
  3. ^ "FIH confirms final line-ups for men's Hockey World League Semi-Finals". 3 April 2017. Retrieved 3 April 2017.
  4. ^ "South American Championships – Final Standings". panamhockey.org. Archived from the original on 2 September 2018. Retrieved 28 December 2018.
  5. ^ "Los Leones Convocados Para La Pro League De Diciembre". cahockey.org.ar (in Spanish). Argentine Hockey Confederation. 2 December 2024. Retrieved 8 December 2024.