“For many years, Argentina’s economy was the strongest in the region, and there was a strong European influence; that built an image of superiority,” said Leandro Morgenfeld, a historian at the University of Buenos Aires. “The sectors of society that regional neighbors most came into contact with were those projecting that arrogance.”

Image Diego Maradona scoring his Hand of God goal in the World Cup in 1986. Credit... Bob Thomas/Getty Images

Historians of soccer and politics in Latin America attribute some of the animosity to the ways in which some Argentines have traditionally viewed their nation, which received millions of European immigrants in the 19th and 20th centuries: as a dominion of racial pre-eminence in the region.

In the realm of sports, before Brazil surged to the elite ranks of global soccer in the second half of the 20th century, dark-skinned Brazilian players faced racial abuse in Argentina. In the 1920s, the Brazilian writer Lima Barreto described how Brazilian players were called “macaquitos” (little monkeys) in Buenos Aires.

On the streets of Argentina’s capital, views differ as to why the national team isn’t popular with other Latin Americans. Daniel González, 29, a television producer who moved to Buenos Aires 10 years ago from Colombia, said the stereotypes of Argentines in his home nation were misguided.

“They have a reputation for arrogance,” Mr. González said. “But when you arrive here, you see it’s not that bad.”

Still, many Argentina do exude brazen pride. “They’re jealous of us,” Eduardo Gangi, 60, who runs a corner store in Buenos Aires, said of Argentina’s neighbors. “We’re slowly taking over the world. We sent a queen to Holland and a pope to the Vatican,” he said, referring to Queen Máxima of the Netherlands, the Argentine-born wife of King Willem-Alexander, and Pope Francis.