There are more ways to meet other foreigners in Buenos Aires than attending tango classes or sitting around in an expat bar until someone talks to you.
Joining a sporting team while in the city ensures you have a whole bunch of insta-friends with whom to play sport, eat pizza, and drink beer (or fruit shakes!) after the game.
Table of Contents
Football/Soccer ⚽️
If you’re going to play sport in Argentina, it might as well be the national pastime of choice: why not choose the country’s favorite national pastime: soccer?
There are endless options for soccer enthusiasts.
Visitors can easily organize a game and rent a field at the nearest club.
Buenos Aires Futbol Amigos is a well-established group that arranges five-a-side games.
They welcome players of all skill levels and nationalities, offering matches throughout the week, often in San Telmo and on weekends in Palermo.
Buenos Aires Futbol Amigos started as a grassroots group for pickup games but now has an app This group is made up of the oddest assortment of characters since the Cantina scene in Star Wars – a real hodge podge of nationalities and skill levels.
That means that everyone from first timers, to full-scale internationals (well, experienced players at least) are invited to come along and have a kick around.
They play games throughout the week, often in San Telmo, and on the weekends in Palermo.
See a Boca Juniors Game! Check out the list of upcoming games ->
Tennis 🎾
Tennis is one of the most popular sports in Buenos Aires, so there are courts throughout the city.
Often there are postings on local social media sites looking for a partner or opponent.
Tennis players can join a local sports club, or simple rent a court by the hour. Serious players may want to bring their own rackets though, because the cost of imported sport equipment is high here.
The Olivos Golf Club has five clay courts that are open to amateurs and professionals.
Some notable tennis venues include Olivos Golf Club, Club de Gimnasio y Escrima, the Club de Gimnasio y Escrima (Gymnastics and Fencing) which has a system of 31 courts in Buenos Aires, two with lighting in Palermo. YMCA (which at at Av. Lafuente 2480 has quite a few clay courts) and the Belgrano Athletic Club, which hosts the Championship of Tennis for the City of Buenos Aires and has a tennis school.
Cricket 🏏
Cricket is one of the oldest sports in Buenos Aires, another British import. Cricket in Argentina goes back to the British Invasion of the River Plate, with the first recorded game taking place in 1806 in San Antonio de Areco.
Although cricket is now a minority sport in here, it wasn’t always this way.
The Buenos Aires Cricket Club actually hosted the first organized fútbol game in Buenos Aires many years later.
The Buenos Aires Cricket Club used to be based in Palermo’s Parque Tres de Febrero, but due to urbanization had to relocate to the northern suburb of San Fernando.
The sport club is but commonly referred to as ‘Buenos Aires,’ by locals, making it a bit confusing for foreigners, but they offer a range of other sports mentioned here.
The Belgrano Athletic Club. linked above, also has men’s and women’s cricket and has taken the lead on hosting women’s cricket tournaments.
American Football 🏈
American football is practically unheard of in Argentina, where as far as team sports that involve balls and many players, soccer and Rugby reign.
But with the influx of young Americans to Buenos Aires living as so-called ‘expats’ or coming to work remotely, there is now a group formed to get together in the park and play American football.
Sign in below for the link to the Whatsapp group.
Rugby 
Rugby is another game that was brought to Argentina by the British toward the end of the 19th century, with the first official game taking place at the Buenos Aires Cricket Club en 1873.
There are quite a lot of amateur players especially in northern neighborhoods such as Palermo or Belgrano.
Many private high schools here and north of the city have rugby clubs that draw the more brawny students.
Rugby players, like American football players, share the reputation as the most meatheaded of the jock world — hang around in the bard of Palermo long enough and you’ll be able to spot them.
There is also women’s rugby and the Club Ciudad De Buenos Aires in Nuñez has hosted women’s rugby tournaments. Also in Nuñez is the Campo Municipal De Deportes N 9, right by the river.
The public facility where touch Rugby games take place, but you may be required to go with a resident of the area.
Americans and Canadians who miss playing American football, might have to settle for the other pigskin sport, most loved by Ozzies, Kiwis, South Africans and Brits.
Games can be found asking at clubs or other players.
Sometimes group of foreigners organize a casual tag rugby game on the weekends.
The Buenos Aires Rugby and Cricket Club (BARAC) in the northern suburbs near the Jockey Club is a good place to start — their website is down, so search for them on social media.
The Argentine Unión of Rugby has a professional team called the Pumas.
More serious player will want to check out the Unión Argentina de Rugby.
Amateur players looking for a game can sign in below for a link to the Whatsapp group
Basketball 🏀
Basketball is called ‘Basket‘ in Argentina and isn’t near as popular as soccer in the country. But there are quite a lot of foreigners keen to play.
It isn’t hard to find a pickup game in Buenos Aires in one of the many courts in the city.
Bahia Blanca, home to ex NBA pro, Manu Ginóbili is the epicenter of basketball in the country.
The aforementioned Club de Gimnasio y Escrima has basketball courts at their microcentro location.
Also downtown, the YMCA has a court, as does their gym called ‘Parque’, which is out near the limit of the city in the Bajo Flores neighborhood.
The nice thing about the YMCA is they have locations in various parts of greater Buenos Aires, not just the wealthy neighborhoods where many country clubs are located.
The public Club Ciudad de Buenos Aires in Nuñez is another good option. They have basketball and cover pretty much all the sports, including hockey and volleyball.
Log in below to get a list of courts in Buenos Aires where to find pickup games and Whatsapp groups to find players.
Golf 🏌️♂️
Golf is an individual sport of course, but still a great way to meet people on the fairway or hanging around a club.
Argentina has more golf courses than any country in Latin America.
There are some lovely private clubs with lots of facilities and clubhouses.
There are also some amazing public fairways, such as the City of Buenos Aires public golf course which has 18 holes in the heart of the city.
➡️ Read more about playing golf in Buenos Aires
Polo 🏇
Polo is widely regarded as one of the world’s most prestigious sports, with the cost of maintaining polo ponies and the meticulously maintained polo fields reflecting its exclusivity.
Polo is so associated with the aristocracy in the minds of many and most of us plebeians just haven’t had contact with it.
But Argentina is a bit of an exception as a polo mecca.
In the area surrounding Buenos Aires there are estancias where visitors can get polo lessons and try to play the ‘Sport of Kings’ themselves.
It’s a sport for both men and women, with Buenos Aires hosting championships of both men’s and women’s polo at the ‘Polo Cathedral’ in the Palermo neighborhood.
It makes for a niche sporting experience that can’t be found anywhere else.
➡ Book a day of Polo lessons & BBQ on an rancho near Buenos Aires ➡ (partner link opens in new window)
Baseball ⚾
Shankees Baseball
Baseball has traditionally been a challenging sport to find in Buenos Aires.
In the past there were never too many baseball-playing immigrants but when Argentina became famously inexpensive during the previous parallel currency days, Americans descended upon the nation.
Like every great idea, the Shankees baseball team was conceived over a few pints at a bar, way back in 2008.
‘Shankees’ (or yanquis) are what those from the United States are called in Argentina, (particularly in River Plate region, where the Spanish has a special twist
For years , the Shankees team has been participating in local weekend tournaments such as the Liga Metro de Beisball out near the Ezeiza airport.
Epic victories often followed by a great many celebratory drinks, and tragic defeats were often lamented in the same way.
Unfortunately, after winning a division championship, politics happened and the team disbanded in 2017.
So any besibol players will have to find a local team to play with or form their own new team of expats — at least you know it can be done.
Anyone enthusiastic to try to get baseball going may want to contact the Shankee founder on the
Shankees Website at Shankeesbaseball.com.
Netball 🏐
Netball, a team sport derived from basketball, has made its way to Buenos Aires. It was introduced here by women from Commonwealth countries, notably Australia.
Played with seven players on each team, the objective is to score by throwing a ball through a hoop without running or dribbling. It emphasizes quick passing within three seconds between teammates to keep the game fast-paced.
Paddle 🏓
Padel (‘Paddle’ in Spanish) isn’t moving through water on a kayak or raft with ors, but a doubles racket sport. Also called ‘paddle tennis’ it’s played on a court that is enclosed and measures one-third the size of a regular tennis court.
It’s played in about 57 countries, and is increasingly popular in Argentina.
There is an annual tournament held in Palermo’s in La Rural in November.
Pickleball 🥒
Pickleball, a mini-tennis-like sport played with paddles instead of rackets, is also gaining popularity in Buenos Aires.
The ‘Club de Padel’ (Paddle Club) in the center of the city at Entre Ríos 642 is one place to play pickleball.
Argentina even has its own Pickleball Association, which has tournaments and engages with other Pickleball groups worldwide.
In 2022 the first international Pickleball tournament took place in Punta del Este, Uruguay, highlighting the sports popularity in the River Plate region.
Tennis 🎾
There are lots of courts around Buenos Aires to play tennis, but you always need to make a reservation in advance.
Also be forwarded rackets and balls are pretty expensive here since they aren’t manufactured in Argentina, so you may want to bring your own.
⬇Sign in below to get links to the Buenos Aires Tennis Whatsapp group. ⬇
Squash
Squash is played in Argentina and the country has a Squash association.
The sport is more competitive in Mendoza than Buenos Aires, but there are quite a few amateur players in Buenos Aires as well and courts around town.
Regardless of the sport you’re interested in, social media channels and networking platforms like Meetup are excellent resources to find activities and connect with fellow enthusiasts.
Usually, participants contribute a nominal fee to cover the cost of court reservations. Once you arrive in Buenos Aires and start meeting people, you’ll discover a wealth of WhatsApp, Telegram, and Discord group chats dedicated to various sports activities.
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⬇Sign in below to receive links to Buenos Aires team sport WhatsApp groups and start your sporting adventure in the city. ⬇