The Argentina women's national field hockey team () is governed by the

Argentine Hockey Confederation The Argentine Hockey Confederation () is the official governing body of field hockey in Argentina. It governs the Argentina men's national field hockey team, men's and the Argentina women's national field hockey team, women's national teams and clu ...

(CAH). The current coach is Fernando Ferrara, who was appointed after

Carlos Retegui Carlos José Retegui (born 19 December 1969) is an Argentine retired field hockey player. He was a member of the National squad from 1989 to 2006 and competed in three Summer Olympics (1996, 2000 and 2004). In 2006 he was dismissed from the natio ...

was let go in late 2021. The team is currently second in the

FIH Women's World Ranking The FIH Women's World Rankings is a ranking system for women's national teams in field hockey. The teams of the member nations of International Hockey Federation (FIH), field hockey's world governing body, are ranked based on their game results. Th ...

. ''Las Leonas'' (The Lionesses) have appeared in six Hockey World Cup finals, including the first final in 1974, which they lost 1–0 to the

Netherlands , Terminology of the Low Countries, informally Holland, is a country in Northwestern Europe, with Caribbean Netherlands, overseas territories in the Caribbean. It is the largest of the four constituent countries of the Kingdom of the Nether ...

. Argentina had to settle with second place in two more finals before winning the tournament for the first time in

2002 The effects of the September 11 attacks of the previous year had a significant impact on the affairs of 2002. The war on terror was a major political focus. Without settled international law, several nations engaged in anti-terror operation ...

, beating the Netherlands 4–3 in the final on penalty strokes after a 1–1 draw. Argentina, led by eight-time FIH Player of the Year Luciana Aymar won again in

2010 The year saw a multitude of natural and environmental disasters such as the 2010 Haiti earthquake, the Deepwater Horizon oil spill, and the 2010 Chile earthquake. The 2009 swine flu pandemic, swine flu pandemic which began the previous year ...

, a 3–1 victory over the Netherlands. Argentina's World Cup-winning coaches are Sergio Vigil in 2002 and

in 2010. Argentina has been very successful at the

Summer Olympics The Summer Olympic Games, also known as the Summer Olympics or the Games of the Olympiad, is a major international multi-sport event normally held once every four years. The inaugural Games took place in 1896 in Athens, then part of the King ...

, winning four consecutive medals (two silver, two bronze) since the 2000 edition, when they became the first women's team in any sport to win an Olympic medal for their country. Luciana Aymar is the only player that has participated and won those four medals. Also, after their first title in

2001 The year's most prominent event was the September 11 attacks against the United States by al-Qaeda, which Casualties of the September 11 attacks, killed 2,977 people and instigated the global war on terror. The United States led a Participan ...

at a

Hockey Champions Trophy The Hockey Champions Trophy (HCT) was an international field hockey tournament held by the International Hockey Federation (FIH). It featured the top 6 ranked nations in that year. History Founded in 1978 by Pakistan's Air Marshal Nur Khan and ...

, they have won the tournament six more times. In front of a home crowd, they won the 2014–15 Hockey World League as the first international title after Aymar's retirement from the national team the previous year. At a continental level, Argentina has dominated and won every tournament they played, including the Pan American Cup and the

Pan American Games The Pan American Games, known as the Pan Am Games, is a continental multi-sport event in the Americas. It features thousands of athletes participating in competitions to win different summer sports. It is held among athletes from nations of th ...

leaving the

United States The United States of America (USA), also known as the United States (U.S.) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It is a federal republic of 50 U.S. state, states and a federal capital district, Washington, D.C. The 48 ...

with second place on most events until they lost the

2011 Pan American Games The 2011 Pan American Games, officially the XVI Pan American Games () and commonly known as Guadalajara 2011, were an international multi-sport event held from October 14–30, 2011, in Guadalajara, Mexico. Some events were held in the nearby c ...

final for the first time. In July 2003, after the implementation of an official World Ranking System, Argentina reached the top of the

for the first time, reaching it again in 2010 after obtaining the World Cup title and once more in late 2013.

History

Hockey was introduced in Argentina by English immigrants at the beginning of the 20th century, and the first women's teams were officially formed in 1909. In 1997, Sergio Vigil, a former player for the men's national team, was appointed coach. Under his leadership, ''Las Leonas'' achieved their first World Hockey Cup title, their first

Olympic Olympic or Olympics may refer to Sports Competitions * Olympic Games, international multi-sport event held since 1896 ** Summer Olympic Games ** Winter Olympic Games * Ancient Olympic Games, ancient multi-sport event held in Olympia, Greece bet ...

medals, their first

Champions Trophy The ICC Champions Trophy, formerly known as the ICC Knock Out Trophy, is an international One Day International (ODI) cricket tournament organised by the International Cricket Council (ICC) contested by international men's teams. Inaugurat ...

medals, and many other achievements. The team went from having a rather limited audience to becoming a national sensation, with some of the players even appearing as models in advertising campaigns.

Nickname

Throughout its history, the team has developed a reputation for being tenacious even when a match appears to be lost. For this reason, a

lion The lion (''Panthera leo'') is a large Felidae, cat of the genus ''Panthera'', native to Sub-Saharan Africa and India. It has a muscular, broad-chested body (biology), body; a short, rounded head; round ears; and a dark, hairy tuft at the ...

ess was chosen as their symbol when the team qualified for the

2000 Summer Olympics The 2000 Summer Olympics, officially the Games of the XXVII Olympiad, officially branded as Sydney 2000, and also known as the Games of the New Millennium, were an international multi-sport event held from 15 September to 1 October ...

. During the second round of games, Argentina played against the powerful Dutch team, and they chose this occasion to place the image of a lioness on their shirts for the first time. The image was designed by then-player Inés Arrondo together with Vigil's sister-in-law. Argentina won that match, went on to win the silver medal, and ''Las Leonas'' were born. Subsequently, the junior (under 21) team is called '' Las Leoncitas'' ("the baby lionesses" or "the lioness cubs"). The lioness logo was redesigned in 2006 by the team kit supplier,

Adidas Adidas AG (; stylized in all lowercase since 1949) is a German athletic apparel and footwear corporation headquartered in Herzogenaurach, Bavaria, Germany. It is the largest sportswear manufacturer in Europe, and the second largest in the ...

, along with Confederación Argentina de Hockey and even some of the most representative players. This is slightly different from the original, showing the lioness' tail pretending to be a hockey stick while holding a ball. The nickname also falls in line with an unwritten Argentine tradition of naming national teams after

big cats The term "big cat" is typically used to refer to any of the five living members of the genus ''Panthera'', namely the tiger, lion, jaguar, leopard, and snow leopard. All cats descend from the ''Felidae'' family, sharing similar musculature, c ...

: the men's

field hockey Field hockey (or simply referred to as hockey in some countries where ice hockey is not popular) is a team sport structured in standard hockey format, in which each team plays with 11 players in total, made up of 10 field players and a goalk ...

team is called '' Los Leones'' ("The Lions"), the men's

rugby union Rugby union football, commonly known simply as rugby union in English-speaking countries and rugby 15/XV in non-English-speaking world, Anglophone Europe, or often just rugby, is a Contact sport#Terminology, close-contact team sport that orig ...

team is called '' Los Pumas'' ("The Pumas"), and the women's

volleyball Volleyball is a team sport in which two teams of six players are separated by a net. Each team tries to score points by grounding a ball on the other team's court under organized rules. It has been a part of the official program of the Summ ...

team is known as '' Las Panteras'' ("The Panthers").

Tournament records

Players

Current squad

The following players were called to play at the Pro League window between June 7th and 22nd against

Spain Spain, or the Kingdom of Spain, is a country in Southern Europe, Southern and Western Europe with territories in North Africa. Featuring the Punta de Tarifa, southernmost point of continental Europe, it is the largest country in Southern Eur ...

England England is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. It is located on the island of Great Britain, of which it covers about 62%, and List of islands of England, more than 100 smaller adjacent islands. It ...

India India, officially the Republic of India, is a country in South Asia. It is the List of countries and dependencies by area, seventh-largest country by area; the List of countries by population (United Nations), most populous country since ...

and

China China, officially the People's Republic of China (PRC), is a country in East Asia. With population of China, a population exceeding 1.4 billion, it is the list of countries by population (United Nations), second-most populous country after ...

in various european locations. ''Players, caps and goals updated as of 8 June 2025.'' Head coach: Fernando Ferrara

Recent call-ups

These players were called up in the last 12 months.

Past players

* Gabriela Aguirre (2006–2016) * Magdalena Aicega (1993–2008)A Magui Aicega le llegó la hora del adiós tras 15 años de éxitos
on ''La Prensa'', 22 Aug 2008 * Laura Aladro (2005–2016) * Agustina Albertario (2010-2025) *

Mariela Antoniska Mariela Andrea Antoniska Arrondo (born 20 May 1975) is an Argentine field hockey goalkeeper, who won the silver medal with the national field hockey team at the 2000 Summer Olympics in Sydney, the bronze medal at the 2004 Summer Olympics in ...

(1998–2006) * Inés Arrondo (1999–2009) * Luciana Aymar (1998–2014) *

Noel Barrionuevo María Noel Barrionuevo (born 16 May 1984) is an Argentine field hockey player. She won the bronze medal at the 2008 Summer Olympics in Beijing, the silver medal at the 2012 Summer Olympics in London, and another silver medal at the 2020 Summer O ...

(2006–2021) * Moira Brinnand (1988) * Claudia Burkart (2001–2015) * Victoria Carbó (1983–1991) * Julieta Castellán (1994–1996) *

María Castelli María Paula Castelli Deluca (born 23 November 1972) is an Argentine former field hockey player who competed in the 1996 Summer Olympics The 1996 Summer Olympics (officially the Games of the XXVI Olympiad, also known as Atlanta 1996 and com ...

(1991–1996) *

Martina Cavallero Martina Cavallero (born 7 May 1990) is an Argentine field hockey player. At the 2012 Summer Olympics, she competed for the Argentina national team where the team achieved the silver medal. Martina also won three Champions Trophy, the World Leag ...

(2012–2018) * Jimena Cedrés (2013–2023) *

Laura del Colle Laura Andrea del Colle is an Argentine field hockey player. At the 2012 Summer Olympics, she competed for the Argentina women's national field hockey team The Argentina women's national field hockey team () is governed by the Argentine Hockey ...

(2012) * María Colombo (1983–1988) * Silvia Corvalán (1995–1999) *

Silvina D'Elía María Silvina D'Elía (born 25 April 1986) is an Argentine field hockey player. At the 2012 Summer Olympics, she competed for the Argentina national field hockey team. Silvina won the 2010 World Cup, five Champions Trophy, the silver medal at ...

(2003–2021) * Marina di Giacomo (2003–2004) * Natalí Doreski (2001–2005) * Carla Dupuy (2009–2016) * Magdalena Fernández Ladra (2017–2023) * Milagros Fernández Ladra (2017–2023) * María Paz Ferrari (1994–2004) * Andrea Fioroni (1988) * Julieta Franco (2012) * Anabel Gambero (1991–2002) *

Soledad García Agustina Soledad "Sole" García (born June 12, 1981) is a retired Argentine field hockey player. She won the silver medal with the national field hockey team at the 2000 Summer Olympics in Sydney and the bronze medal at the 2004 Summer Olympics ...

(1999–2011) * Julia Gomes Fantasia (2013–2018) *

Mariana González Oliva Mariana Alejandra González Oliva Gulla (born March 12, 1976, in Buenos Aires) is an Argentine retired field hockey player, who twice won a bronze medal with the national women's hockey team at the Summer Olympics in 2004 and 2008, the World Cup ...

(1996–2008) *

Alejandra Gulla Alejandra Laura Gulla (born July 4, 1977, in Lincoln, Buenos Aires) is a retired field hockey player from Argentina, who won the bronze medal with the national field hockey team at the 2004 Summer Olympics in Athens and a ...

(1998–2010) * Agustina Habif (2014–2019) * Florencia Habif (2011–2019) * María de la Paz Hernández (1999–2008) * Marcela Hussey (1988) * Priscila Jardel (2017–2020) * Giselle Juárez (2013–2017) * Giselle Kañevsky (2006–2020) * Gabriela Liz (1983–1998) * Marisa López (1983–1995) * Rosario Luchetti (2005–2020) * Sofía Maccari (2011–2021) * Sofía MacKenzie (1991–1996) * Laura Maiztegui (2000–2002) * Mercedes Margalot (1998–2012) * Karina Masotta (1991–2002) * Delfina Merino (2009–2022) * Laura Mulhall (1983–1998) * Florencia Mutio (2012–2019) * Vanina Oneto (1991–2004) * Alejandra Palma (1988) * Gabriela Pando (1994–1998) *

María Gabriela Pazos María Gabriela Pazos (born September 20, 1967) is a retired female field hockey player from Argentina. She was a member of the Women's National Team that finished in seventh place at the 1988 Summer Olympics in Seoul, South Korea. Three years l ...

(1988–1991) * Carla Rebecchi (2004–2021) *

Marcela Richezza Marcela Fabiana Richezza (born December 23, 1964) is a retired female field hockey player from Argentina. She was a member of the Women's National Team that finished in seventh place at the 1988 Summer Olympics in Seoul, South Korea after having ...

(1988–1991) * Jorgelina Rimoldi (1994–2001) * Micaela Retegui (2019–2022) * Macarena Rodríguez (2005–2025) * Cecilia Rognoni (1996–2010) * Pilar Romang (2013–2016) * Mariana Rossi (2008–2013) * Mariné Russo (2001–2010) * Gabriela Sánchez (1988–1996) *

Rocío Sánchez Moccia Rocío Sánchez Moccia (born 2 August 1988) is an Argentine field hockey player. She competed for the Argentina national team, winning two silver medals at the 2012 and 2020 Summer Olympics and a bronze at the 2024 Summer Olympics. On 3 July ...

(2009-2024) * Mariela Scarone (2009–2025) * Daniela Sruoga (2009–2014) * Josefina Sruoga (2009–2015) * Ayelén Stepnik (1996–2008) * Belén Succi (2006–2022) * María Alejandra Tucat (1983–1988) * Lucina von der Heyde (2015–2023) * Paola Vukojicic (1999–2008) * Victoria Zuloaga (2009–2019)

Not in use jersey numbers

When Luciana Aymar (eight-time FIH Player of the Year Award winner and regarded as the best player in the history of the sport), retired from the national team in 2014 after 376 international matches played, some of Aymar's teammates (such as Carla Rebecchi) asked the Confederation for the retirement of her iconic number 8 worn by her during 17 years with the national team. Nevertheless, the number is not officially retired by the CAH, although it has not been assigned to other players since.

Captains

Coaches

Honours

Since its breakthrough in the

(where the team nicknamed ''"Las Leonas" for the first time), Argentina has won more than 20 official titles, which are detailed below: *

: ** Silver medal (3): Sydney 2000,

London 2012 The 2012 Summer Olympics, officially the Games of the XXX Olympiad and also known as London 2012, were an international multi-sport event held from 27 July to 12 August 2012 in London, England, United Kingdom. The first event, the ...

Tokyo 2020 The officially the and officially branded as were an international multi-sport event that was held from 23 July to 8 August 2021 in Tokyo, Japan, with some of the preliminary sporting events beginning on 21 July 2021. Tokyo ...

** Bronze medal (3): Athens 2004,

Beijing 2008 The 2008 Summer Olympics (), officially the Games of the XXIX Olympiad () and officially branded as Beijing 2008 (), were an international multisport event held from 8 to 24 August 2008, in Beijing, China. A total of 10,942 athletes fr ...

, Paris 2024 *

World Cup A world cup is a global sporting competition in which the participant entities – usually international teams or individuals representing their countries – compete for the title of world champion. The event most associated with the name is ...

(2):

* FIH Pro League (1): 2021–22 *

FIH Hockey World League FIH Hockey World League may refer to: * Men's FIH Hockey World League The Men's FIH Hockey World League was an international field hockey competition organised by the International Hockey Federation. The league also served as a qualifier for th ...

(1): 2014–15 *

(7):

2008 2008 was designated as: *International Year of Languages *International Year of Planet Earth *International Year of the Potato *International Year of Sanitation The Great Recession, a worldwide recession which began in 2007, continued throu ...

2009 2009 was designated as the International Year of Astronomy by the United Nations to coincide with the 400th anniversary of Galileo Galilei's first known astronomical studies with a telescope and the publication of Astronomia Nova by Joha ...

2012 2012 was designated as: *International Year of Cooperatives *International Year of Sustainable Energy for All Events January *January 4 – The Cicada 3301 internet hunt begins. * January 12 – Peaceful protests begin in the R ...

2014 The year 2014 was marked by the surge of the Western African Ebola epidemic, West African Ebola epidemic, which began in 2013, becoming the List of Ebola outbreaks, most widespread outbreak of the Ebola, Ebola virus in human history, resul ...

2016 2016 was designated as: * International Year of Pulses by the sixty-eighth session of the United Nations General Assembly. * International Year of Global Understanding (IYGU) by the International Council for Science (ICSU), the Internationa ...

* Pan American Cup (6):

2004 2004 was designated as an International Year of Rice by the United Nations, and the International Year to Commemorate the Struggle Against Slavery and Its Abolition (by UNESCO). Events January * January 3 – Flash Airlines Flight 60 ...

2013 2013 was the first year since 1987 to contain four unique digits (a span of 26 years). 2013 was designated as: *International Year of Water Cooperation *International Year of Quinoa Events January * January 5 – 2013 Craig, Alask ...

2017 2017 was designated as the International Year of Sustainable Tourism for Development by the United Nations General Assembly. Events January * January 1 – Istanbul nightclub shooting: A gunman dressed as Santa Claus opens fire at the ...

2022 The year began with another wave in the COVID-19 pandemic, with SARS-CoV-2 Omicron variant, Omicron spreading rapidly and becoming the dominant variant of the SARS-CoV-2 virus worldwide. Tracking a decrease in cases and deaths, 2022 saw ...

(8):

1987 Events January * January 1 – Bolivia reintroduces the Boliviano currency. * January 2 – Chadian–Libyan conflict – Battle of Fada: The Military of Chad, Chadian army destroys a Libyan armoured brigade. * January 3 – Afghan leader ...

1991 It was the final year of the Cold War, which had begun in 1947. During the year, the Soviet Union Dissolution of the Soviet Union, collapsed, leaving Post-soviet states, fifteen sovereign republics and the Commonwealth of Independent State ...

1995 1995 was designated as: * United Nations Year for Tolerance * World Year of Peoples' Commemoration of the Victims of the Second World War This was the first year that the Internet was entirely privatized, with the United States government ...

1999 1999 was designated as the International Year of Older Persons. Events January * January 1 – The euro currency is established and the European Central Bank assumes its full powers. * January 3 – The Mars Polar Lander is launc ...

2003 2003 was designated by the United Nations as the International Year of Fresh water, Freshwater. In 2003, a Multi-National Force – Iraq, United States-led coalition 2003 invasion of Iraq, invaded Iraq, starting the Iraq War. Demographic ...

2007 2007 was designated as the International Heliophysical Year and the International Polar Year. Events January * January 1 **Bulgaria and Romania 2007 enlargement of the European Union, join the European Union, while Slovenia joins the Eur ...

2019 This was the year in which the first known human case of COVID-19 was documented, preceding COVID-19 pandemic, the pandemic which was declared by the World Health Organization the following year. Up to that point, 2019 had been described as ...

2023 Catastrophic natural disasters in 2023 included the Lists of 21st-century earthquakes, 5th-deadliest earthquake of the 21st century 2023 Turkey–Syria earthquakes, striking Turkey and Syria, leaving up to 62,000 people dead; Cyclone Freddy ...

* South American Championship (4): 2003, 2008,

South American Games The South American Games (also known as ODESUR Games; Spanish: ''Juegos Suramericanos''; Portuguese: ''Jogos Sul-Americanos''), formerly the Southern Cross Games (Spanish: ''Juegos Cruz del Sur'') is a regional multi-sport event held between nat ...

(3):

2006 2006 was designated as the International Year of Deserts and Desertification. Events January * January 1– 4 – Russia temporarily cuts shipment of natural gas to Ukraine during a price dispute. * January 12 – A stampede during t ...

2018 Events January * January 1 – Bulgaria takes over the Presidency of the Council of the European Union, after the Estonian presidency. * January 4 – SPLM-IO rebels loyal to Chan Garang Lual start a raid against Juba, capital of ...

Gallery

File:2_AG-ARGENTINA_AUSTRALIA.jpg, Mariné Russo in a match against

Australia Australia, officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a country comprising mainland Australia, the mainland of the Australia (continent), Australian continent, the island of Tasmania and list of islands of Australia, numerous smaller isl ...

in 2005 File:HOCKEY.jpg, Mercedes Margalot in a match against Nederlands in 2005 File:Argentina_v_Netherlands_WCT_2010_Final_535.jpg, Celebrating their win after the 2010 Champions Trophy final. File:Las Leonas (2010).jpg, The 2010 World Champion squad File:Argentina 2016 CT Champions (27852970981).jpg, Champions Trophy winners in 2016

Notes

*The team alternates between light blue and black skirt/socks when using their main kit, even during the same tournament, apparently arbitrarily. For example, during the 2010 World Cup, see photos fro
Day 1
(black)

(light blue) an

(black).

References

External links

*
FIH profile
{{Navboxes , title = Titles , bg = gold , list1 = {{FIH Women's Hockey World Cup winners {{Women's Pan American Cup winners {{Women's FIH Champions Trophy winners Americas women's national field hockey teams