Nickname: Los Leones

Previous FIH Hockey Pro League placements: 2019: 5th. 2020-21: 7th. 2021-22: 5th. 2022-23: 8th

Notable honours: Olympic gold medallists (2016), FIH Men’s World Cup bronze medallists (2014), Hockey World League silver medallists (2017), 11x Pan American Games winners (1967, 1971, 1975, 1979, 1991, 1995, 2003, 2011, 2015, 2019, 2023), 4x Pan American Cup winners (2004, 2013, 2017, 2022), FIH Champions Trophy bronze medallists (2008), 3x FIH Champions Challenge 1 winners (2005, 2007, 2012), Sultan Azlan Shah Cup winners (2008).

The Olympic champions from Rio 2016 are Pan American hockey’s most potent force, having been crowned continental champions on 15 separate occasions. Their most recent title success came in November at the Pan American Games 2023 in Santiago, Chile, where Los Leones won all five of their matches, scoring a remarkable 40 goals and conceding just three. Tomas Domene claimed a 14-goal haul in the competition, scoring nine penalty corners and five times from open play. The team sealed their berth at the Olympic Games Paris 2024 with a 3-1 win over host nation Chile, with Lucas Martinez (2) and Agustin Bugallo getting the all-important goals. They will be hoping to bring that excellent form into the men’s FIH Hockey Pro League, which kicks off on Argentinean soil when Santiago del Estero welcomes Great Britain and the Netherlands for the first mini-tournament of the season. An eighth-place finish in the 2022-23 edition was far below the expectations of head coach Mario Ronconi, who knows he has a squad capable of mixing it with the very best.

This season, Argentina will take to the field for FIH Hockey Pro League ‘mini-tournaments’ in Santiago del Estero (ARG), Buenos Aires (ARG), and Antwerp (BEL).

One to watch: Maico Casella. A creative, intelligent attacker capable of scoring spectacular goals. Maico Casella has scored an impressive 90 goals in 118 appearances for Los Leones. At 26 years of age, we can expect that tally to significantly increase over the coming years.