As part of the 50 days, 50 Argentina World Cup moments, we will be counting down the top 50 Argentina moments at a World Cup using the daily number.
We are just 20 days until the start of the FIFA World Cup and in 16th place we have Gabriel BATISTUTA scoring in the 16th minute for Argentina versus Romania at the 1994 FIFA World Cup.
Arguably one of the strongest Argentina teams ever assembled at a FIFA World Cup, Alfio BASILE’s men had just taken a massive blow after it was announced that Diego MARADONA would msis the tournament. Argentina’s star man for a decade had just been ejected from the team and during a World Cup no less.
However, the team still made it out of the group stages and had to play against Romania in the Round of 16 of the World Cup. Romania had taken an early 1-0 with DUMITRESCU scoring in the 11th minute. Argentina were awarded a penalty kick and Gabriel BATISTUTA stepped up just as he did versus Greece in the group stages and scored to make it 1-1 but only for a few minutes. In the 18th minute, DUMITRESCU scored for a second time in the match to make it 2-1 for the Romanians.
Superstar HAGI netted a third to make it 3-1 in the second half. Abel BALBO pulled one back for Argentina but it wasn’t enough as they lost 3-2 and were eliminated.
Here was Argentina’s starting XI for the match:
12. Luis ISLAS
3. Jose CHAMOS
4. Roberto SENSINI
5. Fernando REDONDO
6. Oscar RUGGERI
8. Jose BASUALDO
9. Gabriel BATISTUTA
13. Fernando CACERES
14. Diego SIMEONE
17. Ariel ORTEGA
19. Abel BALBO
If you missed it, here are our 50 World Cup moments:
50: Sergio ROMERO gets 50th cap vs. Switzerland at 2014 FIFA World Cup.
49: Roberto AYALA scores in the 49th minute vs. Germany at 2006 FIFA World Cup.
48: Angel DI MARIA’s 48th cap for Argentina vs. Bosnia-Herzegovina at 2014 FIFA World Cup.
47: Mario KEMPES scores Argentina’s 47th goal all time at the 1978 FIFA World Cup vs. Peru.
46: Jorge VALDANO scores in the 46th minute at the 1986 FIFA World Cup.
45: Javier ZANETTI scores in the 45th minute vs. England at the 1998 FIFA World Cup.
44: Gabriel BATISTUTA scores goal number 44 in his Argentina career at the 1998 FIFA World Cup.
43: Gonzalo HIGUAIN receives cap number 43 for Argentina vs. Germany in the final of the 2014 FIFA World Cup.
42: Pedro PASCULLI scores in the 42nd minute for Argentina vs. Uruguay at the 1986 FIFA World Cup.
41: Maxi RODRÍGUEZ scores in the 41st minute for Argentina vs. Serbia & Montenegro at the 2006 FIFA World Cup.
40: Roberto AYALA plays in his 40th match for Argentina vs. Jamaica at the 1998 FIFA World Cup.
39: Pablo ZABALETA plays in his 39th match for Argentina vs. Nigeria at the 2014 FIFA World Cup.
38: Javier SAVIOLA scores in the 38th minute for Argentina vs. Ivory Coast at the 2006 FIFA World Cup.
37: Maxi RODRIGUEZ plays in his 37th match for Argentina vs. South Korea at the 2010 FIFA World Cup.
36: Mauricio PINEDA scores in the 36th minute for Argentina vs. Croatia at the 1998 FIFA World Cup.
35: Ezequiel LAVEZZI plays in his 35th match for Argentina vs. Netherlands at the 2014 FIFA World Cup.
34: Diego MARADONA scores his 34th goal for Argentina vs. Greece at the 1994 FIFA World Cup.
33: Gonzalo HIGUAIN scores in the 33rd minute for Argentina vs. Mexico at the 2010 FIFA World Cup.
32: Hernan CRESPO scores his 32nd goal for Argentina vs. Mexico at the 2006 FIFA World Cup.
31: Diego MARADONA scoring in Argentina’s 31st FIFA World Cup match vs. Hungary.
30: Argentina loses opening match of 1982 FIFA World Cup vs. Belgium.
29: Argentina are knocked out of the 1982 FIFA World Cup after playing their 29th ever group stage match.
28: Claudio CANIGGIA scores in the 28th minute for Argentina vs. Nigeria at the 1994 FIFA World Cup.
27: Pedro TROGLIO scores in the 27th minute for Argentina vs. the Soviet Union at the 1990 FIFA World Cup.
26: Diego MARADONA scores his 26th goal for Argentina vs. Belgium at the 1986 FIFA World Cup.
25: Sergio AGUERO plays in his 25th match for Argentina vs. Germany at the 2010 FIFA World Cup.
24: Diego MARADONA scores his 24th goal for Argentina vs. England at the 1986 FIFA World Cup.
23: Ezequiel GARAY plays in his 23rd match for Argentina vs. Belgium at the 2014 FIFA World Cup.
22: Argentina defeat Greece 2-0 on June 22 at the 2010 FIFA World Cup.
21: Lucas BIGLIA plays in his 21st match for Argentina vs. Iran at the 2014 FIFA World Cup.
20: Rene HOUSEMAN scores in the 20th minute for Argentina vs. East Germany at the 1974 FIFA World Cup.
19: Diego MILITO wears the number 19 shirt for Argentina on his World Cup debut vs. Nigeria at the 2010 FIFA World Cup.
18. Javier MASCHERANO plays in his 18th match for Argentina vs. Netherlands at the 2006 FIFA World Cup.
17: Claudio LOPEZ scores for Argentina in the 17th minute vs. Netherlands at the 1998 FIFA World Cup.
