Pato — the word means “duck” in Spanish — is Argentina’s official national sport, designated so by presidential decree in 1953. It is played on horseback, combines elements of polo and basketball, and has a history that stretches back to the gauchos of the Argentine pampas in the 17th century. It is also one of the least-known national sports of any major country.
The original version of pato, played from the 1600s to the early 1800s, was genuinely dangerous. Players on horseback competed to carry a live duck (sewn into a leather basket with handles) across the countryside to a destination. There were no rules about team size, field boundaries, or methods. The result was a chaotic, violent game that caused enough deaths and injuries that colonial authorities banned it multiple times. The Catholic Church weighed in against it in the early 19th century. By the mid-1800s, pato had mostly disappeared from organised play.
Table of Contents
How modern pato works
Modern pato bears a family resemblance to its ancestor but is now a structured sport with defined rules, safety standards, and an international governing body. The duck is gone — replaced by a leather ball with six handles, roughly the size of a volleyball. The goal is a vertical ring on a pole rather than a distant landmark.
Two teams of four players each compete on a rectangular field. Players score by throwing the ball through the elevated ring, which faces horizontally (not like a basketball hoop, but oriented so the ball must pass through from the side). To be in possession, a player must hold the ball by one of the handles with their arm extended outward — a rule that prevents players from hiding the ball against their body and encourages the physical contest for possession.
If two opposing players reach the ball simultaneously, they enter a “cinchada” — a tug-of-war while both remain on horseback. The player who pulls the ball free gains possession. Matches are divided into periods called “chukkers” (borrowed terminology from polo) of eight minutes each.
Pato’s place in Argentine culture
Argentina declared pato the national sport in 1953 under President Juan Peron, partly as a gesture toward the gaucho tradition that sits at the heart of Argentine rural identity. The gaucho — the semi-nomadic horseman of the pampas — is a powerful cultural symbol in Argentina, comparable to the cowboy in the United States. Pato connects the modern sport with that heritage.
In practice, pato is a niche sport even within Argentina. Football dominates Argentine sports culture so thoroughly that polo is probably better known internationally than pato, despite pato being the official national sport. Rugby (Los Pumas) also draws significantly more Argentine public attention than pato does. The sport is played mainly in rural provinces and in clubs connected to the gaucho tradition.
The Federacion Argentina de Pato governs the sport and runs a domestic championship. International competition exists — Brazil, the United States, and Uruguay have pato federations — but the sport’s global footprint is minimal.
Argentina’s national sport vs Argentina’s most popular sport
This is a distinction worth making. Argentina’s official national sport is pato. Argentina’s most popular sport is football, by a margin that does not require statistics. The two do not conflict — “official” national sports are often symbolic designations rather than reflections of what most people actually watch or play.
Argentina also has two sports that generate far more international attention than pato: polo (Argentina is one of the world’s dominant polo nations) and rugby (Los Pumas are consistently ranked in the global top ten and have reached two World Cup semifinals). If you ask an Argentine which sport they associate with their country, football comes first; pato is often a source of mild surprise to Argentines themselves when the topic comes up.
Pato’s equipment and rules at a glance
The ball has six evenly spaced leather handles. Scoring: throw the ball through the vertical ring. Goal height: approximately 2.4 metres from the ground. Field size: 220 metres by 90 metres. Team size: four players per side. Match format: six chukkers of eight minutes. Players must hold the ball with arm extended if in possession. The cinchada (tug-of-war) is the defining physical contest of the sport.
FAQ: pato, Argentina’s national sport
What is pato in Argentina?
Pato is Argentina’s official national sport, played on horseback. Two teams of four compete to throw a leather ball (with six handles) through a vertical ring. The sport descends from a 17th-century gaucho game played with a live duck in a leather basket.
What is the national sport of Argentina?
Officially, pato. In practice, football is far and away the most popular sport in the country. Pato was designated the national sport by presidential decree in 1953.
Why is pato the national sport of Argentina?
The 1953 designation under President Peron reflected a political and cultural intention to elevate the gaucho heritage as a symbol of Argentine identity. Gauchos, the horsemen of the pampas, are a central figure in Argentine cultural mythology, and pato originated in gaucho communities.
How do you score in pato?
By throwing the ball through a vertical ring mounted on a pole. Unlike a basketball hoop, the ring is oriented sideways so the ball passes through horizontally.
Is pato still played today?
Yes, though it remains a niche sport. The Federacion Argentina de Pato runs a domestic championship, and international competition exists with Brazil, Uruguay, and the United States among the participating nations.
The original pato vs modern pato
The 17th-century version of pato was played with a live duck sewn into a leather basket with six or more handles. Multiple players would grab the handles simultaneously and pull — and the team that ended up with the duck would ride it toward their destination. No fixed field, no referee, no limit on players. Brawls were common. Deaths were not rare. That version of the game is gone. The modern sport retains the handles and the horseback competition but has been regulated into something that clubs can insure and fields can host.
For Argentina’s other major sporting tradition, see the rugby in Argentina article on Los Pumas. For national sports from other countries, the national sports of all countries article covers 100+ nations.
