Argentina are the perennial American champions. They have been known to put up a tough fight in the Olympics. In fact, during the 1976 Montreal Olympics, World Cup holders India were whipped by Australia 1-6 in a pool match. When all seemed lost for India, Argentina upset Australia 3-2. This forced a rematch betwen India and Australia. India failed to accept this golden opportunity offered by Argentina, and missed sitters to go down to Australia in the tie-breaker. This was the first time India failed to win any medal in Olympic hockey.
In the 1975 World Cup at Kuala Lumpur, Argentina beat eventual winner India 2-1 in a pool match. In the 1976 Olympics at Montreal, Argentina beat eventual finalist Australia 3-2 in a pool match.
There were 3 contenders for hosting the 1978 World Cup - Melbourne, Hong Kong and Buenos Aires. The voting went in favour of Buenos Aires since 1978 was also the Year of Sport in Argentina. From Europe (1971, 1973) and Asia (1975), it was now America's turn to spread the gospel of hockey through the World Cup. This remains to date the only men's hockey World Cup to be held on American soil.
Argentinean strike Jorge Lombi has been the top scorer in premier FIH tournaments in each of the past 5 years, as the following table shows:
| Year | Tournament | Venue | Goals by Lombi |
| Sep 2000 | Olympics | Sydney | 13 |
| Jul 2001 | World Cup Qualifier | Edinburgh | 19 (4 hat-tricks) |
| Dec 2001 | Champions Challenge | Kuala Lumpur | 7 (1 hat-trick) |
| Feb/Mar 2002 | World Cup | Kuala Lumpur | 10 |
| Aug 2003 | Champions Trophy | Amstelveen | 10 |
| May 2004 | Pan American Championship | London (Ontario) | 26 |