Argentina and Uruguay are, in many ways, a pair of bickering siblings. From the birthplace of tango legend Carlos Gardel to the origins of dulce de leche, few cultural debates stay settled for long on either side of the Río de la Plata. 

So it is hardly surprising that football’s most enduring regional argument concerns something much bigger: who has won more World Cups.

At first glance, the question seems simple enough. Look up the list of champions, count the trophies and compare totals. But, as is often the case with Argentina and Uruguay, things are more complicated than they appear.

The dispute begins with Uruguay’s trophy count, which, depending on whom you ask, stands at two, four or even five titles.

The traditional Uruguayan position is that the Celeste won four world championships: in 1924, 1928, 1930 and 1950. The apparent problem is obvious: the International Federation of Association Football (FIFA) World Cup did not begin until 1930. How, then, could Uruguay have won two before the tournament even existed?

The answer lies in the Olympic football tournaments of 1924 in Paris and 1928 in........

© Buenos Aires Herald