Both countries came into the match assured of their best ever finish in a men’s hockey tournament at the Olympic Games, but Belgium looked best poised to claim gold in the early stages of the encounter when Tanguy Cosyns gave them the lead inside three minutes.

Argentina’s captain Pedro Ibarra drew his team level from a penalty corner, following a feint by Gonzalo Peillat, before Ignacio Ortiz put them in front in the closing stages of the opening quarter.

Peillat, the tournament top scorer, got himself on the scoresheet by slamming a penalty corner into the net for his 11th goal of Rio 2016. 

Belgium’s Gauthier Boccard put his team back in with a chance in the third quarter by producing a superb individual effort, after dribbling past three Argentina defenders and firing a shot into the bottom corner.

The goal was not enough to rescue Belgium as the Argentine defence stood strong in the final quarter of the match.

A desperation move to take off goalkeeper Vincent Vanasch to gain an extra outfield player failed to help Belgium, with Argentina’s Agustin Mazzilli able to slot into an empty net with 16 seconds left to secure a 4-2 win for Argentina.

"It's like touching the sky with your hands, so I feel so happy,” said Peillat.

"We won the tournament and it was the first time in the history of Argentina.

"It's my dream.

“When I started playing hockey I always was thinking about this dream and now it came true."

Germany secured the final spot on the podium after they triumphed in a shoot-out against the Netherlands.

Jorrit Croon gave the Dutch team a 1-0 lead in the third quarter of the tie.

Martin Haner equalised shortly afterwards for Germany to take it to the shoot-out.

Billy Bakker and Sander de Wijn were the unfortunate players for The Netherlands to miss their shots, while Germany converting all four of their penalties to claim a 4-3 victory.

The Netherlands will hope for better fortune tomorrow when they are due to face Britain in the women's gold medal match.