The dataset of free-living soil nematodes from Colección Helmintológica of Museo de La Plata is presented. There is a large knowledge gap regarding soil nematodes especially in Argentina but also in the Neotropical region and this dataset provides information on this topic. The collection includes more than 850 specimens, organized in 294 lots of nematodes sampled or/and studied by Dr. Eliseo Chaves between 1975 and 2022. The specimens belong to 67 genera, 28 families, eight orders. The dataset is included in the Global Biodiversity Information Facility (GBIF,  https://www.gbif.org), under the publisher Museo de La Plata (Argentina).