River and Argentina’s national team: a lifelong history Qatar 2022: With Franco Armani as the only representative of Argentine league football in Scaloni's team, fifty River Plate players have now been called up to the World Cup.

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River and Argentina’s national team go back a long way. On the one hand, River’s Mâs Monumental stadium has historically been the team’s home; on the other hand, River constantly churns out players for national teams.

For Qatar 2022, six players that were trained at River’s academy will be part of Argentina’s national team: Gonzalo Montiel, Germán Pezzella, Guido Rodríguez, Exequiel Palacios, Enzo Fernández, and Julián Álvarez.

Regarding the participation of current River players in the 2022 World Cup, Franco Armani will be the only representative of Argentine league football in Lionel Scaloni’s team. Furthermore, Nicolás De La Cruz will be part of Uruguay’s national team.

RIVER PLAYERS PRESENT FROM WORLD CUP TO WORLD CUP

Armani's call-up upholds a long-established tradition: River’s contribution to Argentina’s national team in various World Cups. This dates back to Sweden 1958, when River provided seven players, and reached its peak in 1978 and 1986, when Argentina lifted the World Cup trophy on both occasions, with the key participation of River Plate players.

Taking into account Armani's second call-up to the World Cup, a total of fifty River Plate players have been called up to the world’s biggest football event. Lagging behind, Boca Juniors has provided 29 players, Independiente, 28 players, and Racing and San Lorenzo, 18 players each.

SWEDEN 1958
Amadeo Carrizo, Federico Vairo, Néstor Rossi, Eliseo Prado, Norberto Menéndez, Ángel Labruna, and Alfredo Pérez.

CHILE 1962 Alberto Sainz, Martín Pando, Marcelo Pagani, José Manuel Ramos Delgado, Rogelio Domínguez, and Vladislao Cap.

ENGLAND 1966 Hugo Gatti, Jorge Solari, Juan Sarnari, Ermindo Onega, and Oscar Mas.

GERMANY 1974 Ubaldo Fillol and Enrique Wolff.

ARGENTINA 1978 Ubaldo Fillol, Daniel Passarella, Norberto Alonso, Leopoldo Luque, and Oscar Ortiz.

SPAIN 1982 Ubaldo Fillol, Daniel Passarella, Alberto Tarantini, Américo Gallego, Julio Olarticoechea, Ramón Díaz, and Mario Alberto Kempes.

MEXICO 1986 Nery Pumpido, Oscar Ruggeri, and Héctor Enrique.

ITALY 1990 José Tiburcio Serrizuela, Sergio Batista, and Ángel David Comizzo .

UNITED STATES 1994 Sergio Goycochea, Hernán Díaz, and Ariel Ortega.

FRANCE 1998 Germán Burgos, Leonardo Astrada, Sergio Berti, and Marcelo Gallardo.

KOREA / JAPAN 2002 Claudio Husain and Ariel Ortega.

RUSSIA 2018 Franco Armani and Enzo Pérez.

QATAR 2022 Franco Armani.

Image: Getty