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Having endured the arduous qualifying round, Argentina will be making their way to World Cup South Africa 2010 with the complete intent of winning the title for the first time in twenty-four years. In order to reach that goal, the former World Cup Champions (1978, 1986) have placed their fate in the hands of coach Diego Armando Maradona, Argentina's most famous soccer figure and the driving force behind La Albiceleste's memorable 1986 victory.

Maradona's job has been somewhat simplified, given the fact that he has an all-star national squad at his disposal, and one which features several holdovers from the Germany 2006 quarter-final team. This is not to mention striker Lionel Messi, to go along with quite a few other young stars, all having several youth titles to their name as well. Given a roster such as this, Team Argentina appears to have the resources which may just allow them to make up for recent Cup disappointments, and even the nation's first international trophy since the Copa America in 1993.

En route the South Africa, the Argentineans definitely followed the most difficult path in qualifying for the finals, just as in the 1985 prelude to La Albiceleste's sensational victory at the 1986 FIFA World Cup Mexico. The two-time world champs began the campaign under the leadership of coach Alfio Basile, who eventually made way for Maradona after a loss to Chile on Matchday Ten had knocked Argentina down to third place. Although, after a series of setbacks, the team fought back and eventually turned things around by gaining narrow victories over Peru and Uruguay in their final two matches.

Argentina ended with 28 points – their lowest total since the inception of the ten-team group system – by recording eight wins, four draws, and six losses, three of which proved to be particularly agonizing. Following the loss to Chile, La Albiceleste dropped a humiliating 6-1 decision in Bolivia and then suffered only their second-ever qualifying loss at home to Brazil. However, Maradona's squad did engineer a late turnaround, beginning with forward Martin Palermo scoring a late game-winning goal in a driving rainstorm, gaining Argentina a dramatic victory over Peru, while days later the Argentineans solidified their place in the finals with a grueling 1-0 win over Uruguay in Montevideo.