Argentina national team coach Lionel Scaloni has stated that he will probably leave after December.
Lionel Scaloni spoke at a press conference after Argentina’s 1-0 loss in the World Cup final where he stated that he will think about his future. Scaloni spoke to Diario Olé after the press conference, this is what he had to say:
“I’ll continue until December and after, surely, I’ll speak with the president. Probably, the idea is to relax and to stop for a bit. That’s the idea. This is a great place, a dream, hopefully there are people that have the opportunity to be here. Any Argentine would dream of being here.
“It has been a pleasure being here, proud. In my wildest dreams, I would not have thought and well, until December, if the president wants, I am here and after that, like I said, it will be complicated because, it’s also fair, that it could change.
“Until December and after, probably, cut ties. We will see.”
I hope he stays, because I am weary of any other manager getting in and shitting the bed, like Sampaoli, Bauza, and Batista did. The squad will need a full rebuild, it’s too easy for it to be fumbled by someone for a couple years and then we show up in 2030 half baked.
Fast winger, Decent Full back and DM including nerve control = Beast Argentina
inefective Winger, full back like Molina, without midfield control and hot temper otta and parades = worst Argentina
Is Paredes on roids? I’m joking, but seriously holy shite WTF is wrong with him.
These comments man
Can someone explain to me why everyone is suddenly giving up on Scaloni?
Deschamps lost multiple tournaments with arguably the most talented squad in the world, yet France kept faith in him. He stayed until 2026 and still took them deep into another World Cup. So why are people acting like Scaloni has no redeeming qualities?
He still took Argentina to another World Cup final with a much more limited squad. People also forget that when you’ve just won everything, there is no reason to completely tear apart the core of your team. Argentina won the Copa America , the Finalissima, and the World Cup. Why would Scaloni make massive changes to a group that had delivered every major trophy?
Now that we fell short in 2026 and the tournament exposed several weaknesses, this is exactly the time to start rebuilding.
And who better to lead that rebuild than the man who already did it once? People forget that Scaloni inherited a broken Argentina after 2018, trusted a new generation, built a winning culture, and turned them into one of the greatest international teams of all time.
Why can’t he do it again?
Every great coach has setbacks. One disappointing tournament shouldn’t erase everything he’s accomplished. Give him the chance to rebuild this team, just like he did before.
scaloni is definetely a mich better coach than deschamps, who got only 1 wc win out of 4 he coached, when france had the best players in 2018, 2022, 2026, and in 2014 maybe second or third best. he also has 0 euros.
however, i think the road for scaloni should end here. there was a magic bond between him and the players. now many players will retire, and i think he will not have it with the new players. also maybe he doesnt have the energy that he had before.
billardo left after the 1990 lost final, after a similar performance. scaloni should also leave, we will be forever greatful to him for the wc 2022, but it should end now. deschamps and löw also overstayed, and you know the results.
@JasonZ
I honestly don’t think Scaloni’s time is over. If Pep, Ferguson, and Simeone can manage the same team for 10+ years, I don’t see why Scaloni can’t. He’s more than capable of moving on from the old guard and starting a new cycle. At the very least, he deserves one more tournament.
We also don’t have many realistic alternatives. From what I’ve seen growing up, Argentina has had some incredibly arrogant and self destructive coaches and they’ve ended up being the downfall of our golden generations. Scaloni is easily the most level headed Argentina coach of the modern era.
He delivered results that were impossible with an aging squad and a team that wasn’t considered among the strongest on paper. He hasn’t done anything that justifies leaving or being sacked.
Let him rebuild the team from scratch and see how the next Copa America goes. There is absolutely nothing that’s happened to suggest he shouldn’t be given that opportunity.
Ancelotti had worse wc than us and he is still trusted to rebuild brazil team and he is 20 year older than scaloni
I want him to stay. He has done good job with limited resources. Yes one bad match and some irritating decisions. But also 4 trophy and 2 finals. Most important Argentina looks like a band of brothers. Not only Scaloni, thanks to every one and their hard work (Aimer, Samuel, Ayala and many more). They never managed big teams before.
Because this piece of shit refues to learn & use young talent.
He is happy creating a group of player, he “prefers” thats it. No merit, no nothing. He will only make it worse.
He didn’t learn nothing from his WC 2022 mistakes. He learnt nothing from R32 this year, he is the worst coach of all the top teams.
you have 26 players for a reason\. He runned down 15 of them to the ground, the rest were invited to have live shows on the pitch
Exactly my point. More than ever, we need Scaloni. After all the coaching chaos Argentina went through before he arrived, it’s refreshing to finally have stability. Even with a squad that many considered average—alongside Messi—we still reached the World Cup final.
Now the priority should be gradually integrating the next generation while giving the 2022 World Cup-winning squad the respectful farewell they deserve. Scaloni is still the best coach for that job.
My only criticism of him in this tournament is that he didn’t show the same courage and bold decision-making he displayed in Qatar. I also really missed seeing Prestianni throughout the tournament.
Enzo Fernández and Alexis Mac Allister didn’t perform at the level the team needed from them. And, personally, I wish more Argentine players would think twice before moving to the Premier League. I feel the EPL is often overrated, and in some cases, it changes players in ways that hurt the qualities that made them special in the first place.
Agree that argentina coaches have been arrogant and stubborn with their favouritsm (exclude Sabella he just didn’t have luck back then). Scaloni became one of them too and eventually he ran out of luck with aging Messi. We admire him for bringing out the best of messi, but that era must end. He failed to refresh this squad after wc2022 and stick to those same players. Remember this is sport, players go down nothing permanent. Chemistry and balance can be recreated. He ruined it himself with his chosen 11 and messi-centric tactics
Ps: Arg players should never join diego simeone team. Look at what he has done to them with anti football
I still can’t believe we lost the final. We could have won if why we had 11 men in the field. Enzo, Molina, Simone, DePaul cost us World Cup final.
Don’t blame these players, they
don’t select players or plan match tactic or study the opponent’s plan. It is the coach, they wouldn’t be playing had the coach selected other players.
Scaloni deserves credit for achievement of this team. However should he consider to continue he Must make bold decisions and kick out likes of Molina, DePaul, Macalister, Nico Gonzalez and probably Paredes( pains me too) once Messi retires. Talking of Molina what the hell was he thinking punching Rodri, that was disgraceful not even recounting about his pathetic defending.
I still beleive that proper 442 ( with Alvares & Lautaro in front) formation without Messi in first 60 minutes can give as more counter attack opportunites and then fresh leg Messi can enter to put pressure to tired spaniards. But it is the true that you can not leave Messi on the bench in the final of WC😉
Once again big thanks to team for all their efforts. It was great to watch Argentina till last match of the WC. Vamos 🇦🇷🇦🇷🇦🇷
Parades is the only proper no.5, he has done well starting the last 2 matches, but why drop him for De Paul, possibly the worst midfielder of this World Cup?
Enzo has a great momentum going after 2 goals in the last 3 matches and why change his position and make him play as no.5 and cut his wings and also put him against the best def mid in the world right now, Rodri?
Macallister has been piss poor all tournament, it’s not only a sin to him in all matches but not substitute him when he struggling so hard is mad.
Montiel is a poor player but honestly he was holding on well till you decide to replace him with Molina, who is by far the most pathetic player to ever play in a World Cup final. He proved it again in the minutes he was on the pitch and eventually cost us the game as he was responsible for the goal. Lautaro once dropped has been a revelation coming off the bench but sat on the bench?
Gracias Scaloni for your contribution to the Arg NT..
But I kindly ask that you don’t leave the team at this stage
Develop the squad by bringing in new players and building a team that can remain competitive for the next four years. Identify the weak positions, strengthen the squad, and leave behind a solid foundation. Then, when the time comes, you can step away with peace of mind, knowing you’ve handed over a strong team to your successor.
But please, don’t leave at this stage.
The way we played for the last 10 minutes with 10 players was actually a blueprint. We could have attacked Spain from the beginning itself. With some slight changes in the set of players, we could have pulled it off. I still think Simeone should have started. We can’t blame Scaloni either for not attacking from the get-go, because it was a World Cup final and all teams tend to play cautiously in such situations. It was tough luck for us yesterday; it’s as simple as that. The Finalissima was a huge opportunity missed by us.
If he played the Finalissima, he would lose by a big margin and the media and fans would pressure him to get rid off the old folks, and he didn’t want things to end that way . That was the main reason Argentina refused playing Spain before the WC.
This team really need new midfielders and wingers. I dont know about the coach he is still living in 2022.
This WC showed Enzo and Mac are not up to the job no creativity. Even Alvarez has to go deeper down to defend and recover the ball. Poor him.
Those gangsters depaul, ota, paredes, the great one and only molina, taglia, almada, nico g, have to go with or without messi. But i hope the goat stays for whatever position it is.
If we wait for another maradona or messi maybe its just daydreaming.
Le celso’s performance against jordan remained the best midfield performance for Argentina in this world cup. I honestly don’t have a clue why he wasn’t used considered he was one of old guard? Is he secretly injured? That would be only explanation..
Barco and Le celso was painfully underused.
I’ve been an Albiceleste fan since 1990. Today, I saw their worst performance ever in a major final, both in terms of playing and attitude.
Honestly, I didn’t have high hopes when Scaloni announced the World Cup squad. I thought they’d only make it to the quarterfinals (since I expected them to face Portugal, who thankfully didn’t do their part). So, reaching the final was actually a big deal, and I was surprised we beat England with such a good game.
But beating England gave me hope we could do better in the final against Spain. Unfortunately, we played really negatively, which surprised me after their good play against England.
What made it worse was the Argentinian players’ attitude—lack of sportsmanship. That’s what I really couldn’t stand. I’m so mad at all the players and officials. It’s understandable if Argentina is the most hated football team in the world. Now I get why people say Argentina is favored by FIFA and the World Cup was rigged for them; I can’t argue with that anymore.
Argentina needs to learn sportsmanship. I’d accept losing in the final to the best team in the world, but not this kind of attitude. I don’t remember Brazil, also from South America, acting this way.
We can lose with dignity… Remember, knowledge is power, but character is more.
What nico gonzalez and simeone did for NT till now? Both are totally flop. In club level also they haven’t done anything remarkable
In any other nationals team this must be their last match for the country
Many of this players should be retired from national team include messi,montiel,otamendi,tagliafico,depaeul,molina,… I prefer pochetino become new Argentina coach
De Paul, Paredes, Molina, Montiel, Otamendi, Tagliafico, and the old guards please RETIRE from the Argentina.
Thanks for the memories and titles, but it’s time to GO
Bielsa is jobless now. He should be given another chance to bring back the WC. In last 30 years, only during his tenure Arg played real dominating football where every opponent used to fear us. The failure in 2002 WC where Arg entered as the top favourites along with France was a freak accident.
you must be retard to even mention bielsa.
Are u out of mind? Marcelo beisla seriously????
Who’s better than him that you think AFA should hire? All the current bunch of Arg coaches – Gallardo, Pochettino, Heinze, Berrizo, Tata Martino etc are his disciples.
I accept that he is a bit crazy but he’s number one in identifying and building young talents which Arg need the most now.
@prometheus
Respectfully disagree. I understand what are you coming from but He called a mad coach for a reason.
Bielsa burns out players by overworking them and creates a toxic environment. Scaloni has shown that if you keep the squad happy and the atmosphere positive, you can still win or reach major finals even against all odds. Bielsea does total opposite. Bielsa’s teams have gone out in the group stage twice. No thanks, man. He doesn’t understand the value of a happy squad. He acts like an army drill officer and treats the players like subordinates. This isn’t the 1990s anymore.
Totally agree. Bielsa will bring a different style, and in my opinion, he’s the best coach worldwide, but he needs players who buy into his philosophy. I think for Argentina, in the current situation, if Scaloni leaves, Bielsa is the perfect match because all the old veterans will retire, and he can build a team from scratch.
The issue with Bielsaball is that most of the experienced players aren’t really on board with the intense training, especially how he deals with people.
Bielsa’s a fantastic coach and person with pretty strong values, in my opinion. But I get that you need results to back up all that knowledge, and unfortunately, Bielsa’s track record isn’t exactly sparkling.
Bielsa..out from Group stage..this year also..
This mother hecker coach sgould be thrown out of the team. How many games did we keep almost losing coz od De paul, molina & zero creativity in midfield?
Today this clown turned the great Argentina into worse than Cape verde. Keeps wasting subs, keeps playing the same useless retards every game.
we literally had paz, barco, lopez, lo celso in our subs & refuses to use any. De paul is the biggest fraud I have ever seen.
All he does is suck messi & get his way. Dude has no talent, nothing. No ability to pass, intelligence nothing.
Lo celso, Paz would have done billion times better.
Why did he waste a sub in Molina? That mother fkr almost lost us Egypt, Swiz, England game. Even in last WC he was absolute crap.
FK U SCALONI GET OUT!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Just a photo from the moment Spain lifted the WC.
The entire Argentine team turned their backs to them instead of applauding. What a huge lack of sportsmanship. Embarassing.
The headlines in some newspapers are shocking with texts like: Football 1 – Criminals 0
It is tough to be a fan today.
Argentina was classless yesterday – no dispute there – but the team’s back was already turned looking at the Argentina fans applauding them – for quite some time.
The team did NOT suddenly turn their backs when the trophy was going to be lifted.
If you have video evidence to the contrary let me know. But let’s not buy into false social media invective.
This old lonely feeling is back to haunt me, and as you grow older it takes longer recovery time. And you open the YouTube and you realise how many people are celebrating our loss it is a torture. Supporting the NT means a lot of suffering and we’ve been through it a million times. Spain winning fair is not an issue, we can’t win it always.
But I have to say what we saw yesterday was unforgiving. Curacao played better against Germany despite losing 7-1. For 7 straight games the whole world can see we have no width up front which makes it even worse with possibly the worst wingbacks of the whole tournament. He did nothing to change anything and only shuffled the same bunch of cards which no joker at all. This was Sadism at its peak by Scaloni. You have Barco (dynamic, can dribble, pick a Long ball, defend), Paz (another one who can dribble, pass, stretch and shoot), Lopez (nobody talked about how he dragged 2 players with him and freed Álvarez before passing it him. An impact in the few minutes he got). Why did you even bring them? Only the friends club. Palacios played well in the only match he played even covering as a RB. Senesi has been one of PL TOP defenders last season and yet washed Otamendi is always ahead of him. All the above 5 players are coming of a great season and in form.
RDP is wasted, MacAllister is so so poor all tournament and yet started all 8 matches as if he was Zidane. He has been crap all season with Liverpool too. If RDP doesn’t start then he will be the first to come in, same goes with Otamendi. Scaloni has made it look like the NT should be thankful to the likes of these friends club players. These c**** should be thankful for even wearing this jersey. Some fools say we don’t have the talent pool, you won’t find one if you don’t try one. Argentina has a 30 team League and you think there is no one there when you players playing in minor leagues shining for various team. You don’t have to play in big league to play for the NT. Scaloni screwed up with this the past 3 years and despite that he could have achieved a lot had he used the players he had at his disposal.
I can feel every word in your first two lines.
Losses like this become harder to bear with age. There comes a stage in life when the victories of the team you’ve loved for decades become one of the few remaining sources of pure, uncomplicated joy. There isn’t the same emotional elasticity anymore—to shrug it off, move on, and simply wait for the next tournament.
I’ve been trying to console myself by remembering that people of my generation also support Spain. Tonight is their night, and they deserve every bit of the happiness they’re feeling.
But another thought refuses to leave me.
This may well have been the last World Cup triumph I could realistically hope to witness for Argentina. We don’t know what life has in store. We don’t know how many more chances we’ll get. That uncertainty leaves behind a strange emptiness—a void that’s difficult to explain to anyone who hasn’t carried a team in their heart for decades.
Perhaps it’s a selfish thought. Football is, after all, just a game.
But feelings are rarely rational. And tonight, this one feels painfully real.
So true. And obviously Spain deserve their chance of happiness. Football keeps us young inside even as we physically age. The last World Cup win made me feel 10 years younger, made me feel as I had achieved something. But also, when we win we shrug it off soon enough and look for the next victory but when we lose we can’t seem to find a place to hide. What hurts me most is not that we lost but how it was self made.
Argentina cant play defensive football. We have seen bottling lead against Netherlands, france in 22. We are made for attack and play higher with more options. The reason Argentina made so many comebacks cause we decided to attack with more men after eating goal… The results always comes to our favor this way.
The coward football made us look terrible today. We created 2 chance while 1 man down cause we decided to attack.. We should’ve done it from the very first min.
We win some, we lose some; that’s part of the game. If we kept winning all the time, what would be the purpose of playing? It happens. Nothing lasts forever, and someday every streak has to come to an end. We move on with a heavy heart, knowing that new and fresh opportunities will come our way. Let’s see how things unfold.
Guys just find this on instagram
Why all games against spain one important player from back line gets injured 😳
Spain vs portugal -nuno mendis
Vs belgium – their all important goal keeper
Vs france their all important cb
Vs Argentina both our CBs get injured
All this while the match was in the balance
Is there anything fishy 😳
It’s just mere coincidence anyway..you can’t be buying into dark magic and stuffs
For money, Argentina bought the embarrassment and they played with the feelings of their fans. It was a fix match. They intentionally allow Spain to humiliat them. Argentina never played such pathetic football in the history before. Even none of the country played such a poor and childish football in world cup Final. No Energy, No Passion, No Desire and Lazy Attitude on the field showed that such football was played because of Money.
@paul
– Dybala is injured all the time. Stop with the emotional arguments. He can’t even stay fit long enough to secure a consistent role at club level. Scaloni can’t build a squad around a player who spends half the season injured.
– The criticism about Soule is fair. I do think Scaloni should’ve taken him. But let’s not pretend he would’ve changed the outcome today. Everyone was hyping Simeone before the England match like he was the answer to all our problems, then he had awful game twice and was at fault for the goal we conceded against spain . That’s how football works. Average players always become better in people’s minds when they’re not playing. I still think Soule deserved a spot, but let’s not act like he was the missing piece.
– Buendia is another attacking midfielder, a position where we’re already well stocked. He also only found form near the end of the season, so there wasn’t much time to integrate him into the team.
If these are your biggest criticisms of Scaloni, then you’re only proving my point about Argentina’s lack of elite talent. Back in 2010, Maradona left out players like Cambiasso, Riquelme, and Zanetti. Those were genuine selection controversies. Now we’re arguing over an injury prone Dybala, a Serie A 7 rated player who had a decent season, and an attacking midfielder who was average for most of the year before playing 3 good game in the Europa League. That alone shows that How Scaloni hate is exaggerated.
Ok I get your point. How many attacking midfielders got their chances and don’t tell me Enzo Fernandez or Messi who is a false 9. Locelso,Nico Paz were they even given a chance? Scaloni deserves his Flowers but stop over defending him. Without Messi this team looked clueless. If scaloni was bold he could have used Sabella playbook against Germany. Players like DePaul were complete disgrace having fewer touches and accurate passes than Messi is unacceptable. Problem is not losing but manner in which they lost.
I agree Scaloni’s tactics haven’t been good in this tournament. I’m not blindly defending him. I just don’t agree with people insulting him and saying he was never a good coach, that he got carried by Messi and Di Maria, or that he is bias to old groups
Other coaches had a much younger Messi and Di Maria and still flopped badly. Scaloni got the best out of them at a much older age, built a system that suited them, and helped the entire team succeed.
Scaloni surprised me this tournament because he became overly pragmatic for some reason, which is unlike him. Back in 2022, Argentina played much more attacking football. His biggest issue then was becoming too defensive after taking the lead. This time, though, he started games defensively and only became attacking after conceding. I hated those tactics, and yes, he deserves a lot of the blame for that. Not giving barco ( not paz cause I am not convinced of him) for me is questionable. He looked really good against Jordan and then should’ve used more of le celso.
You have a point in the lack of new elite talent.
After winning multiple U20 World Championships in previous decades, Argentina has not produced winning squads in recent editions. Although we did finish 2nd behind Morocco last year. A look at Europe’s best five leagues gives us a clue
England – winner Arsenal has no Argentine players, nor does Man City
Spain – winner Barcelona has no Argentine players, Real Madrid has one (a major flop)
Italy – Lautaro plays at Inter Milan. That team is the exception
Germany – No Argentines in Bayern Munich or Borussia Dortmund starting line ups
France – In previous years PSG had Argentines, not any more
There is no new Maradona or Messi on the horizon. There are talents like Tomas Aranda (Boca) and young Bruno Cabral (River, he featured in the new Hyundai commercial), but they have yet to develop.
As much as i criticised scaloni sometimes here and there, since 2021copa i dont want no other man for that job until 2034 minimum he has given that much sucess and identity to this team who were in chaos in 2018wc…
Also dont forget any coach will panic if his two starting cb gets injured lisando have had olmo in his pocket until that injury
And the worst part if scaloni and messi leaves there will be huge ego clash as i am the next big man here ego so scaloni must remain there to countinue this structure and DNA which is fine only lacked fitness and youth which he can eassily fix coming copa.. Also time to integrate garnacho i said it before as well while he announced the team garnacho will be a miss he can be the x factor in big games.
Ganache isn’t remotely close to international class
Garnacho must leave Chelsea / Epl first
Napoli / Serie A will be best fit for him. If he can prove i believe he can start regularly for us.
Same goes for Mustanuano and Echeverri.
Maintaining the dressing harmony is probably the only reason scaloni should stay. The bonding that we have in our team is based on the leadership of messi. But, when that goes missing who will be the big daddy in dressing room. That has to be scaloni. But, I really doubt his tactical acumen after today’s match and after Messi where will that spark come from when we need it the most. Scaloni has to channelise the disappointment, anger and frustration into building the next argentina. Messi please be a mentor to the argentina dressing room.
Gracias Scaloni for all that you gave the NT in last 8 years. Arguably our best run . With a day less of rest, main CBs mid match injury, Enzo foolish card accumulation, a wrong starting 11 IMO , we were behind Spain by miles yesterday. It was just the brilliance of Emi which almost dragged us to penalties & maybe we would have won there! Anyway i think this is the apt time for a refresh. Hopefully we dont have both Lionels leaving same time. Ideally i would wish Messi retires now & Scaloni continues atleast till next Copa. It is important we start the WCQ well & strong. But Players like Ota, Depaul, Tagli need to make way & time to experiment with fresh fullback faces ( Giay, Oso, Soler,Gorosito etc ) . I am most disappointed by the post match antics of Parades. So disgraceful. Whatever Gavi said, you cannot react like that & you really stained the NT jersey by that shitshow. I really admired the way Parades has been our 2nd best player this WC. But killed it with that moment of madness.
But i strongly believe, if coach had not stayed with this team & brought in new faces, we would not even have reached the finals. In hindsight it is this team chemistry/camaraderie & Messi’s brilliance that got us so far & near
I had been critical of Scaloni since 2021, despite his incredibly successful track record. Weaknesses eventually catch up with you and, at some point, they bite. But hopefully, this failure will teach some important lessons. No training is complete without failure.
Will he stay or Should he stay? I’m skeptical that Argentina will find a better coach than Scaloni, despite all the criticism he deserves. Nobody is perfect. Argentina has a long history of bringing in worse coaches after bad ones, with Sabella being a notable exception, and I don’t see any reason to believe that trend will change.
But does Scaloni still have the enthusiasm and courage to continue? I’m not so sure. I think he may need to take a break.
Argentina has had an incredible run over the last six years. Football has changed enormously, yet Argentina is still the team carrying the lantern for South American football. Where is Brazil?
Sad for Messi? Of course. But we were also heartbroken for Maradona in 1990, and that heartbreak created millions of Argentina fans around the world. Today, Messi’s tears and his legacy may light that same fire in a new generation of children and those yet to be born.
Sometimes a forest burns to ashes, only to nourish the seedlings that come next.
“Sometimes a forest burns to ashes, only to nourish the seedlings that come next”.
Good analogy.
I never watched an Argentina this much helpless..can’t control the ball..no tactics worked.. Spain dominated us in every area..Lucky they didn’t score more..
I think it’s the best time for Scaloni and Messi to leave…they have done everything possible.
Let new blood comes.. fresh and young legs..new style…let’s rebuild…
This had more to do with a lack of experience against a system as unique as Spain’s than anything else. That’s exactly why our federation should’ve arranged meaningful friendlies against possession heavy teams like Spain or Portugal instead of wasting international windows on Panama and Guatemala. I don’t know how no one is blaming that corrupt fatso Tapia for this.
This poor performance was mainly down to three factors rather than a lack of quality:
– A lack of experience dealing with an elite high press and spains tiki taka midfield.
– Not enough recovery time between matches, then having to play the final in the blazing afternoon sun. Most of our injuries were a consequence of that.
– The players lost their heads. Constantly chasing the ball against a team that dominates so much possession is mentally exhausting. We saw the same thing happen to Real Madrid players against Barcelona for years.
Give this same squad another game after five days of proper rest, with the experience they gained from today, and they’d put up a much better fight. This game was just unfortunate for us.
We should’ve played the Finalissima at any cost, even if it meant playing in Spain’s backyard. We needed that match. It was the perfect opportunity to expose our weaknesses against this unique system before the World Cup, instead of finding out in the final.
The only option to stop spain yesterday was to have a fast wingers and pressing fullbacks as well.
Portugal was so lucky they had Nuno mendes and Rafeal Leoa in 2025 .
Scaloni tried to use this approach with nico + tagliofico
When they failed he tried with molina + simeone
I dont see any wrong in his approach . Its our luck we dont have that quality player or talent.
Idk why people are against scaloni . He did the right approach . Thats how other team stopped spain and scored against them.
Maybe prime Di maria or Lavezzi could do something. Lets hope for the best .
And pls dont blame Scaloni. Only de paul’s inclusion is controversial in the Xi . Rest looks fine.
Are you serious?
Simeone wasn’t part of the starting squad; he was pushed there in semi final and final with no proper nurturing or integration into the starting 11. Molina is not a WC material for even teams like Suadi Arabia. Tagliofico arrived to the world cup unfit and he’s not world class LB even when he’s fit, let alone his old age.
Wrong roster and player selection to start with. So if you don’t have the right ingredients (players), you should try a different recipe (tactic).
Add to that Scaloni was chicken to attack which is the only strength of this team along with goalkeeping
I also dont like Molina but that was the only way to stop them. Or have some attack . We dont have any Rw than Simeone as well. Bringing on Lautaro wouldnt have much impact since we were struggling to send gd balls to our forward.
We dont have Prime Di maria i know .
Then what approach should we do? Starting nico paz? He is a gd player but spain would mark him and would disconnect him easily as well. I dont think Scaloni would start him in finals as well.
I am very disappointed by gonzalez as well. He simply lost possession every time almost.
Roaster is the worst but Rb and Lb we dont have many options as well.
Some selection is illogical as well. De paul, Molina , almada they dont deserve the call.
He can’t use what he didn’t have, wingers and fullbacks. He should have instead focused on the strength of the team, midfielders and forwards. He failed to do that. After seeing how Spain beat France, I felt confident that Spain would have been a better matchup than France. I thought Scaloni would try to strengthened the midfield. Did he even watch the Spain v France game? Lo Celso was the man for Argentina before sustaining an injury heading into the 2022 WC. He played a great game against Austria and even scored from a freekick. He didn’t feature in any of the remaining matches. Both Barco and Nico Paz only featured once.
Enzo scored against england . Stubborn Scaloni would drop him ?
Mac alister started as DM as de paul is Scaloni’s preffered always regardless of form. Barco should get some chances. But dont think scaloni would ever drop de paul in the final.
That his biggest weakness clinging to something that doesnt work anymore. Opponents have studied his worn tactics and his chosen players since 4 years ago. Even unknown egypt players gave hard time to this team. Just because depaul has his tongue on messi’s ass doesn’t mean he can’t drop the guy, he is the head coach.
Had this scaloni slowly refresh the squad right after wc 2022 with some young talents maybe he could try different tactics. That “chemistry and balance” shits not a permanent thing.
Or does he only knows “give the ball to messi” method?
I don’t know game you watched. The way scaloni set up argentina he was clear to take it deep and set up in a counter attack. Clearly, he didn’t watch Spain vs France trying to do exactly what France did but without the pace. If he really wanted to do that he should have simeone start instead of depaul and dropped messi into proper no 10 to overwhelm the defence and launch longballs to nico and simeone. Headers aren’t exactly the strong suit of Spain. We could’ve exploited this weakness of Spain. In my opinion, the worst decision was substituting nico for paredes instead of de Paul. It was a disasterclass from scaloni
Total attempts on goal:
Spain 20 / Argentina 2
Total shots on target:
Spain 12/ Argentina 0
Sounds like Spain vs Qatar.
It’s all scalonis fault.
If Lamine Yamal is Argentinean, he wouldn’t even be a bench warmer for Argentina at this age. Instead, he would be left out of the squad by Scaloni, and would be a sub when he passes his prime.
Exactly that! I remember Messi getting benched at the 2006 WC. Lamine Yamal at 19 is not better than Messi at 19 and so was Mbappe at 19. They won the WC at 19 because they benefited from being part of a great team and having managers who had faith in them. I never use the 2006 WC against Messi. To me, he he played 5 World Cups
Then why did Scaloni play Mastantuono, you fucking moron? He kept giving him chances until he started playing like shit for Madrid.
Shut the fuck up with the nonstop whining you lifeless troll. If Argentina had a player who was a main player for a club like Barcelona or finished second in the Ballon dor, do you seriously think Scaloni wouldn’t play him? If Yes then get your meds..
Mastantuono is fraud, zero talent, and like you said, moron, Scaloni gave him tons of chances, simply because he was part of the friends club.
@wcrussia
You said Scaloni doesn’t trust young players. Mastantuono alone proves that’s false. What does it matter if he underperformed? If Mastantuono gets chances, in what world do you think Yamal wouldn’t?
Get a life, instead of trolling 24/7 with complete horseshit.
Fuck off. Scaloni made no effort to incorporate Dybala, one of the all time greats and the third greatest Argentine attacker after Messi and Di Maria, into the national team. Soule – one of the best wingers in Serie A for 3 years, is yet to play a single minute for the national team. Buendia was in scintillating form, ignored in the national team.
Scaloni has displayed an ugly habit of of sticking with out of form and old players, even when they benchwarm in their clubs, or resign from Europe, in the name of an inflexible “system” even when the system does not work.
Some players are judged after 200-300 minutes without any opportunity to build team chemistry. Others disappoint for 1000 minutes but still continue to be given chances.
“Second in Ballon d’or” should not be a prerequisite for giving good players a chance.
Everything happens for the reason, I do want messi to play at least 1 more game for NT in Argentina. For others, it’s time to leave for NT, i like to see what scaloni decide, but I think he will continue till next COPA.
hehe, you want Messi stays but others leaving. It won’t work that way. If Messi stays or play the next few games, the same friends will be there too.
This is even more sad, hopefully Scaloni changes his mind, Everybody needs a break.
Usually, when we lose a final like we did against Germany in 2014, I feel devastated because I genuinely believe we were the better team and let golden opportunities slip away.
This time is different. Of course I’m disappointed, but our performance wasn’t one to celebrate. The intensity, courage, and urgency we showed after conceding—even with 10 men—was exactly what we needed from the start. Had we played with that same fire earlier, we would have created more chances and possibly found a goal.
In my opinion, we made it too easy for Spain by allowing them to control possession and dictate the tempo. The better team won on the day, and they deserve credit for that.
Now it’s time to rebuild. Replacing legends like Messi, De Paul, Paredes, Tagliafico, Emi Martínez, Otamendi, and others won’t be easy. There will be setbacks and growing pains, but Scaloni has earned our trust. He built one great team, and I believe he can build another.
Looking back, AFA probably shouldn’t have backed out of the Finalissima. It might have given us a clearer idea of what to expect from Spain. But what’s done is done.
More importantly, congratulations to this group of players and the entire coaching staff. They gave us memories that will last a lifetime. We experienced the Copa América, the Finalissima, and the World Cup together. For that, they will always have our gratitude.
We win some, we lose some. The era of being the hunted is ending, and once again we become the hunters. That’s what makes this next chapter exciting. The road back to the top begins now, with new players, new stories, and new dreams. It won’t be easy, but reclaiming the trophy will make the journey worth it.
Better team we were the best team in the world as we are 90% of the time
It was a dejavu of the 1990 world cup final. in that there was 2 red cards and absolute negative football that is being spoken today by all football pundits. I was young at that time and really hated Carlos Bilardo for his tactics. Then came 1994 and 1998 where we were the best team on paper from a talent persepective and what happened. We did not even get to the finals till 2014. It was then I realized that world cup football is not about playing sexcy but maximising your strengths. Carlos Bilardo won the 1986 world cup and was lauded as a great coach. Would he become pathetic in 4 years time. We are all spoilt watching the Messi of Barcelona and their style of play which was total football. I dont think we will ever get to see that again.
Coming to yesterday’s match, folks are missing the basic point that Spain had an additional day of rest and 50% of their matches were played in air conditioned stadium. They had a much deeper squad and did not play the overtime that Argentina had to. I accept that Scaloni could have managed some of his substitutions better. There was 2 forced substitutions due to injury of centre backs which really changed the entire tactics. Spain did not have a great timr in front of goal the entire tournament. Scaloni used that knowledge to tire them and hoped that he could repeat what we did against England. Unfortunately there is a curse on Argentina football in terms of playing hard and smart vs playing outright stupid. What Pardes did for his first card was stupidity, same with Enzo. Pardes should have been sent off if it was all fair and square. Anyway what Scaloni did with the national team has been the best work by any coach dating back to 1982 when I started following Argentina football. 4 tournament wins out of 5 and being in the final of World cup twice is just outstanding. Coaching is just not only about strategy, it involves man management, picking the right team and staff and above all building a bond in the team which for me was a root cause of Argentina not doing well in 90’s and early 2000. I hope he continues to coach and build a team like what he has done. For me it is going to take a while before we will see Argentina get to a world cup final.
Finally the end of journey to the greatest player to ever grace football. In the 6world cups he played, we went to finals in 3 of them. That is 50%. The great Spanish team could not. Neither the French. He was a real difference maker in this world cup and awards should be lucky to have his name on them. The effort he put in from December to be fit for the world cup shows what an athlete he is. I just have to thank Messi for what he has given to football. The day he retires football will not be the same.
In the end it was the most exciting adn stressful world cup an Argentina fan can for through. If only had Argentina had scored in the end and had we won in penalties, the entire world will be singing praises of Scaloni and Messi. None except the Spain fans would have been cribbing that they were the better team.
We are in the world of social media doom where nonsense talk and theories decide the narratives.
Any way bow down to Argentina team for what they have given us in the last 5 years. Always indebted.
Cheers!!
Raj
It clear both centre backs were injured carrying injuries that exploded are final
Scaloni went ultra negative
We didn’t use Messi
We didn’t use are youth
Nico should always be the super sub
We lost are late attacking chances with replacing defense
A more attacking option from the start would have freed messi
Enzo knew the ref wasn’t screwing around got the second yellow over a nothing didn’t matter challenge mikes from are goal
Don’t make jokes act tough then get egg on your face the very next game
TALK ABOUT NOT SEEING THE WOOD FOR THE TREES
YOUR NOT A CHILD ENZO, HIW did you not see the karma TRUCK driving St your face st 200 mph
If water is falling in droplets from above it’s likely raining or it’s piss
Enzo created his own future talk about dumb
How i will forget the night? Messi was so helpless . Emi tagliofico gave everything only to lose .
((((( Dadir10 July 19, 2026 At 7:00 pm
Get behind the coach and shut your fucking mouth up, you idiot. hahaha.
Why are you complaining now? Aren’t you the clown who used to shout at people when they talk about the bad choices and bad tactics of Scaloni?)))))))
I’m not complaining. I’m giving my opinion which isnt braindead like you ?. Yes, I support Scaloni, but I don’t blindly support him. I will discuss tactics and what went wrong without being disrespectful to the coach who won us so many titlse
Unlike you, I never called him names or came up with nonsense like “he’s picking his friends” or “he’s carried by Messi.” The man has won four major trophies in a row. He has earned the benefit of the doubt and doesn’t deserve those ridiculous takes.
I still believe he’s the right man to lead us forward. He’s one of the best national team coach in the world and has taken Argentina to another World Cup final, something we failed to achieve from 1994 to 2018.
The funny thing is you’re so spoiled by his success that you trash him for not winning 5 title in a row despite the fact wouldn’t have won any of those trophies without him. Be grateful, shut your damn mouth, and show some respect to a legend.
It’s also funny how you all crawl out of your caves to talk trash now, when you were nowhere to be seen while we were winning every knockout game. Absolutely embarrassing. Plastic, pathetic fan
Yes bro . Scaloni only made us believe we could achieve . Good team doesnt mean always trophy . Look at portugal team as an example.
Idk but personally i think scalani should stay . I dont want to go back to coach changing era .
@rahman
These people can’t see how limited we are talent wise compared to other top national teams. Modern football is incredibly difficult to win without width. Every top team has world class wingers, and on top of that they have world class fullbacks constantly supporting them. We have neither. Is Scaloni supposed to pull a miracle out of a magic box?
Spain had fucking Yamal and Nico Williams, with Cucurella providing support from fullback. Argentina had who? Spain will always dominate the midfield, so naturally we needed quality wingers to stretch the game and give our midfield passing options. We simply couldn’t because we don’t have the quality in those positions.
If Scaloni had wingers like Di Maria or Lavezzi, this Argentina team would look way, way better. It’s easy to blame Scaloni when the country simply isn’t producing talent in some of the most crucial positions on the pitch.
It’s honestly sad how many people think we have some golden generation and should be winning World Cups as if it’s guaranteed. Our best winger in the entire country is Nico fucking Gonzalez who is an atletico bench warmer . Yet somehow every problem gets blamed on Scaloni when the issues run far deeper than that.
How is Argentina lacking talent exactly
Is this a real question? Compare Argentinas fullbacks to the likes of Spain, France, Portugal, England, and even Morrocos. Only other big nation that has some sorry ass players in those positions are Brazil but atleast they can somewhat defend. I love Tagliafico and he has always been a solid player for the team but he’s a very limited player, he’s not the type of player that can offer you moments of brilliance, meanwhile the rb position has been a headache this entire WC run with Molina conceding many goals at his side. Dont even get me started on the wingers. Nico Gonzales and Simeone? Lol. I truly believed Argentina could’ve done a repeat with Messi doing the work, and he almost did but the midfield needed to be perfect and that’s really my biggest critique of Scaloni
We dont have good Rb or LB . Tagliofico was the only option we had but he isnt that kind of fullbacks like Nuno mendes or cucurella .
Our team had so many weakness and very limited options . See people are only complaining barco and paz or soule buenda should given chances . They all are midfielders. But do we have modern wingbacks or fullback even?
molina played for champions league team but he cant even beat a makeshift RB Lorente there .
And those who see how spain plays there was only one option to stop them . And it is having pressing wingers or full backs like Nuno mendes did in 2025.
Sadly we dont have any like them.
Thats why scaloni brought on Molina and Simeone . But they r not gd enough.
Golden generation we ain’t Belgium mate
How many copa finals and wins. How many WC finals
How many plyimpic finals
U20 finals
What are you talking about golden generation
We ain’t Greece or Belgium or holland
We are Argentina
Yes bro
The only option to stop spain yesterday was to have a fast wingers and pressing fullbacks as well.
Portugal was so lucky they had Nuno mendes and Rafeal Leoa in 2025 .
Scaloni tried to use this approach with nico + tagliofico
When they failed he tried with molina + simeone
I dont see any wrong in his approach . Its our luck we dont have that quality player or talent.
Idk why people are against scaloni . He did the right approach . Thats how other team stopped spain .
@chris brown brother u got the point . Maybe prime Di maria or Lavezzi could do something .
This guy almost blew the 2022 World Cup final with his substitutions, but today he completely blew it. Why did he take off Montiel and bring on Molina, who is arguably the worst defender in Argentina’s history? Almost anyone could have done a better job than him. Why did he start Romero and Lisandro Martínez knowing they couldn’t last the full 90 minutes? Why did he start De Paul over Paredes? De Paul has looked finished ever since moving to MLS.
We should have won this game if he hadn’t gotten both his starting lineup and substitutions so wrong. Instead, we made this Spain team look like the greatest team of all time. Scaloni completely damaged Argentina’s legacy with this performance. We need a different coach-someone who can actually coach properly, but not Simeone or Gallardo
Scaloni just resign immediately please, not because the team lost….loss is part of the game, but because the humiliating performance and your “no plan” strategy to a world cup final.
If I messed up in just a single word in a report presented to 6 board of directors, I get fired on spot, so what do you think when you perform like that infront of millions across the globe, and represent the entire nation?
You spent the entire England game whining, then disappeared when we we won instead of cheering . Now you’re back again, barking the moment we hit a rough patch, when everyone should just accept the pain and move on.
Even your six board members know your opinions are worthless and you are a bum thats why they fire you. Scaloni has won us four major titles. Resign for what, exactly? He’s earned the right to leave whenever he decides to, not because of a few reactionary fans after one off result.
If you can’t respect what he’s achieved, then go support another team instead of constantly crying every time something doesn’t go your way.
I didn’t chear after England game knowing we would face Spain, and also knowing our roster was rubbish to start with: washed players, experienced but injured, and toooooo old.
The final game was humiliating with zero shot on goal and zero attack, I didn’t even see Simon for the entire game because we didn’t reach their penalty area.
If Scaloni has 20% dignity and respect to his nation, he would resign immediately.
Brazil lost 7-1 on their own soil. This isn’t anywhere near as bad as you’re making it out to be. Yes, we struggled to create chances and got outplayed, but you also have to consider that this Argentina squad had never faced a team as unique as Spain before.
I honestly believe that if that incompetent fatso Tapia had arranged the Spain game before the World Cup or, we would’ve had a much better idea of how to deal with their midfield and high press. Our performance was worse than it needed to be simply because we had no experience playing a team like them. We had the perfect opportunity to prepare before the World Cup and completely wasted it.
On top of that, both of our starting center backs got injured. Our players lost their heads and picked up stupid yellow cards, then Enzo got sent off.
Also remember Spain had one extra day of rest, while we didn’t, and the match was played in broad daylight under the sun. We looked fatigued and out of legs and those injuries happened cause of that
The performance was bad, sure, but it’s nowhere near as disastrous as you’re making it out to be. We still took the game almost to the 115th minute despite playing with 10 men. The world didn’t expect prime Barca level football from Argentina. They expected a pragmatic, ruthless Argentina that would win at any cost. How many Champions Leagues did Real Madrid win while playing like garbage but still finding a way to win?
Stop crying and support the team. No dignity was lost today, and Scaloni can leave with his head held high. He took Argentina to another World Cup final with a squad that has full of bang average atletico bench warmers cause Argentina cant produce shit anymore
Bull shit, Argentina produces footballers in every position more than any nation. Attackers, midfielders, defenders and goalkeepers are superstars of every league, you name it. Though it requires effort and determination to assemble a balanced team out of them, Scaloni didn’t want to take that task, considering he did it before 2022, as a result of his complacency he arrived to WC 2026 with solely Messi magic. Messi, not Scaloni, took us to another final, and if there was justice Messi should have been rewarded with the golden ball.
@WCrussia
“Bull shit, Argentina produces footballers in every position more than any nation. Attackers, midfielders, defenders and goalkeepers are superstars of every league, you name it”
Name them then. Name one quality winger Argentina has produced since Di Maria who can match the level of Yamal, Baena, or Nico Williams today.
Name a single fullback who can match Cucurella’s level.
You’re just talking out of your ass. Argentina has been producing mediocre talent, and this team has been carried by a 39-40 year old Messi. Our so called best forward scored fewer club goals than Ferran Torres who mostly plays from bench at Barca. Our two main midfielders are considered washed by most of their own club fans, while Spain are fielding players like Rodri, Pedri, and Fabian Ruiz in their prime who are absolutely dominating club football
Open your eyes and look at the difference in quality. Until Argentina starts producing players who can genuinely dominate at the highest level in club football, don’t put all the blame on the coach.
What a devastating final. This was not a loss, but a humiliation. We could not achieve anything in regular time. Twenty attempts on goal for Spain, zero for Argentina. Zero… It was so frustrating to watch. So many players could not pass to someone wearing the same shirt. Spain had better technique, tactics and were very deserved winners. I thought the 1990 final was bad. Well, this was worse.
Of course, we fought like lions and were unlucky to lose both Lisandro and Romero to injuries, but Scaloni made a huge mess. Molina for Montiel? Why? Why not bring Lautaro for the tired Alvarez who ran his ass off? And later in the game, Senesi for Alvarez? Unbelievable. Messi was alone upfront with no one to pass the ball to.
I have been an Argentina fan for decades and will continue to be. But I feel ashamed for the performance. So many dumb and unnecessary fouls. And after the final whistle Parades showed behavior that will / should get him suspended for years and damaged the image of the national team around the globe.
It was a sad ending for Messi after such a great career. The tears reminded me of Maradona in Rome in 1990.
Many players from this team will or should retire. A new team will have to be built around Lisandro, Romero and Alvarez. Will our team ever play another WC final? Sure, but it could take decades. Talents like Messi and Di Maria are not born every year.
It was great to witness the past five years. Thank Messi!
Absolutely scaloni lost the plot.Thank you for giving us so much joy after three straight final losses and the horrors that folowed during sampaoli era. We were in the gutters. Ayala, samuel, aimar, tocalli, scaloni rebuilt this team into a family. Seeing our boys giving their best and fighting for each other made me so proud as a fan. But, it’s time you say goodbye.
We need a more astute coach now. We will not have Messi as an icon in the team around whom the lockerroom revolved for whom the boys would give their life. But, now, it’s over we need young blood in the eleven. Barco, paz, almada, palacios, echeverri, franco have to take us forward. Please settle the dressing room before you leave. That’s my last request.
Don’t leave, Coach.
Eight years ago, when Argentina lay broken after 2018, you picked up the pieces. You didn’t inherit a champion—you built one. Brick by brick. Player by player. Belief by belief. The greatest fairytale in Argentine football wasn’t written by chance; it was written by you.
So don’t walk away now.
Don’t resign. Rebuild.
Every great cycle ends. If this defeat hurts as deeply as 2018 did, then treat it the same way. Be ruthless. Thank the heroes and bid farewell to those who gave us everything—Messi, De Paul, Otamendi, Molina, Montiel, Enzo, Mac Allister—and begin again with a new generation.
Legends eventually leave, but Argentina must endure.
History has already proved that no one rebuilds an Argentina side better than Lionel Scaloni.
If anyone can turn heartbreak into hope again, it is you. If anyone can transform a team in four years, it is you. If anyone can write another fairytale, it is you.
We have seen you do the impossible once. We believe you can do it again.
In Scaloni we trust. 🇦🇷
Utter humiliation. Worst performance by any team in a World Cup final. Laughing stock and meme content for years to come. Thanks to one stubborn retard. GTFO now, why wait till December you moron.
Wasted 3 years without bringing in new players, then select incompetent friends club members and even worse continuing to use the same players match after match despite struggling.
Failed to utilise the squad properly. This mediocre Spain team had us on our knees all match and beat the crap out of us till we can take it no more.
I agree this Spanish team was mediocre; couldn’t score more than one goal and their attackers have poor finishing all tournament long, alas we failed to crush them.
As for Argentina, any other Manger with dignity would leave immediately after that horrendous performance. Why would he wait till December, just to stack a few months salary? Just announce your retirement now, that performance tonight will not be forgotten for years to come.
There is no substitution or lineup change would have made a difference in this game.
This game was over before it began and nothing would have changed that.
Spain dominated so thoroughly that it was laughable.
The score could have easily been 4-0 if the Gallegos had simply kicked the ball anywhere except Dibu’s chest.
Spain is a team that is on another level than Argentina. In years to come that will change. But right now there is no comparison.
Congrats to Spain. Argentina’s time will come again.
If the incompetent friends add another runners up trophy to Argentina’s history, then I’d take those friends every single time.. Stop whining like we got knocked out in the group stage. Where were we before Scaloni?
We fought until the second half of extra time with one man down. Half of our squad wouldn’t even clean the boots of players in the top national teams stacked with talent. This squad overperformed, you dumbfk. It’s just funny how you’ve taken success for granted and can’t see that we don’t even have a top 5 squad quality wise, yet we still reached another final.
Even Messi tried to get Cucurella booked for a yellow card. They all lost their mind in this game
Rodi golden ball
Is this a joke
He deserved it.
Quite frankly and to be objective, this should have gone to Messi, a player carried the team to the final by scoring game after game. They were scared of media blame if they hand it to Messi, same rigged bs or FIFA loves Messi….so they picked another player, but their alternative does not make sense at all.
LENGTHY COMMENT WARNING
I am not the type to sharing too much of my opinion, but now that the WC is over, I think this is the best chance for me to write a long comment.
1) We come to the 2026 WC with a very limited squad
a) Our wings are dead
We had “world-class” players sure, but this team when compare to the 2022 WC is definitely a downgrade in terms of the balance in player profiles. What we lacked in this campaign is 1-2 good wingers who can beat the defenders 1vs1 (no, Simeone and Nico Gonzalez CAN’T do this, they passed the ball back then they run forward waiting to be passed back to).
This makes our two wings essentially dead. Whenever Nico Gonzalez and Simeone played, their main job is basically help the FB in defence and *sometime* act as a runner, a passing option in attack.
Looking at both the games against England and Spain, we can clearly see that, especially the final. Nico constantly losed the ball to Pedro Porro or when Rodri tracked the left side. He cannot dribble past one of them.
b) Even attacking in the central lanes is hard
If Spain, or France, or England are in a situation like we’re today where it’s too difficult to play out from the back, you know what they’re gonna do? The GK will hit it long to a *target man*, another profile we don’t have. Both Lautaro and Alvarez are too short and too weak (compared to England, France CBs..) to play that role. Not to say they’re not 2 world-class strikers, it’s just another player profile that we lacked.
c) The only way to move the ball forwads
Scaloni basically bet everything on the midfield. He’s determined to set the team up to progress through the central lane. By overcrowding the midfield with 4 players + Messi/Alvarez dropping deep, we pretty much always outnumbered the opposition. The players can also rotate their position, most notably Enzo and Macca, making more difficult for the opponent to track us. It’s hard to pass in such a crowded space (because our opposition can also put more numbers in the midfield to stop us), hence why we saw so many error passes. But the individual quality of this squad still comes through from time to time.
Messi down the right wing is also a *part-time* solution. Messi move out the right wing to try and lose his tracker, combining with De Paul, Molina + 1 (mostly Alvarez, this is when both Alvarez and Lautaro play) and try to use his insane passing ability to generate chances. But this can only be done late in the game, as you cannot put Messi down the right wing the whole game. Messi need the opponent to be somewhat tired, and try to hit them with surprised burst of speedy dribbles. Messi at 39 years old is still the best (and the only one) “winger” who can take on a defender.
2) The problem the tactic
Obviously, we’re too reliant on Messi. Moreoever, we’re really easy to counter. Just match our 5 players in the midfields, pressing with high intensity and we can’t attack anymore. When we can’t progress the ball forward and lose the ball in the midfield, our defence is always put in danger (just imagine losing the ball 25m directly in the area directly in front of your goal). And that’s not even mentioning how poor our FB is against good wingers who can play 1vs1 (Tagliafico I give a 6/10 in terms of defense, Molina… I won’t even bother to grade him defensively)
Here’s the part where people start criticizing Scaloni, but I differ. Even though I am the one writing, I think this is THE BEST approach to MAXIMIZE THE ABILITY OF OUR STAR PLAYERS. And they provided the results: we have the best attack (before the most unserious 3rd place match ever), and progress to the final, beating a good England side.
The key word here is “The ability of our star players”, not the ability of “of the best Argenine players pool”. To try and play a different tactic and get a better result than this, we NEED TO REBUILD THE SQUAD
3) The most valid criticism I have seen on Scaloni
As written above, I don’t really agree with other members on this forum when they said things like: Scaloni need to play *insert winger’s name* (Scaloni still did this in 2 games but it didn’t really change our attacking approach and effectiveness, they were mostly to counter our opponent’s winger). Heck, even changing up a midfielders (like Barco or Paz), I don’t believe it will have much of an effect (the rationale for this comment is usually someone playing lost the ball too much – because our opponent is countering us by crowding the midfield, or everything is going through Messi and we need another creativity outlet – Messi is dropping deep to create numerical advantage, whoever we swap in the midfield will not change how Messi play)
The most valid criticism in my opinion (and the only one I have seen) is Scaloni squad building.
4) Why not rebuild sooner
I don’t think Scaloni didn’t try anything to change things up. He has given Garnacho and Mastantuono some chances (albeit not a lot). Another winger is Prestianni has also been called up, but I don’t think anyone of them deserve a spot at this WC. The only one true regret for me is Buendia, but he hasn’t been called up for too long.
Complacency is also a factor, but I think it’s much easier to criticize Scaloni in hindsight. If you were Scaloni 4 years ago, seeing how well Enzo, Macca, Romero, Licha, Molina, Alvarez played, with players like Paredes, Tagliafico, De Paul in their early 30s, and you still have players like Lautaro, Locelso who can always shine… All of the sudden, this current tactic didn’t seem that bad of an approach. You will most certainly build something around these players.
Of course, reality is different. Enzo didn’t really develope in the way we want (which’s a DM. Maresca turned him into a box-to-box work horse), Macca coming in from a very bad year at Liverpool, Molina somehow regressed even though he’s in his prime year. Even Alvarez in the last 2 years at Atletico, I would say he has stagnated.
But still, their star quality still comes through, at least enough for us to be in the final, so if you put yourself in the shoes of Scaloni, you have even more reasons to believe in this tactics (at least during this WC tournament)
5) Moving forward
I have no doubt that Scaloni see the massive problems with this current tactics, it’s just that in his opinion (and I think the same too) that this is the best way to get the most out of our current players. (might explain why he talked so much about appreciating each wins, and how this group makes him emotional…)
Now that we have somewhat of a clean slate, if Scaloni and co still have the heart and desire to continue winning, I believe he’s the one to take us forwards. People forget that Scaloni is a brave manager. He’s willing to change 2/3 midfielders to a squad that was unbeaten in 36 games, he’s willing to put Lautaro, his Copa America hero on the bench for Julian Alvarez. I have no doubt that Scaloni has the ability to get the most out of his players (which in international football, is even more important than tactical knowledge). Now that Scaloni has the time, he can rebuild Argentina just like he did in 2018. This time, our base is much better than the mess that was 2018.
Let’s tone down the pressure a little bit on this squad and coaching staffs. Remember before Scaloni and this group, our last titles was 1993. We lost 4 finals between since 2007 – 2016. Losing the 2026 WC finals against a good Spain is nothing to be shameful about, and we just won 2 Copas, a WC and Finalissima in the last 5 years. The “me” from 2010-2018 would faint out of joy if you told me what we have won in the last 5 years.
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I don’t know game you watched. The way scaloni set up argentina he was clear to take it deep and set up in a counter attack. Clearly, he didn’t watch Spain vs France trying to do exactly what France did but without the pace. If he really wanted to do that he should have simeone start instead of depaul and dropped messi into proper no 10 to overwhelm the defence and launch longballs to nico and simeone. Headers aren’t exactly the strong suit of Spain. We could’ve exploited this weakness of Spain. In my opinion, the worst decision was substituting nico for paredes instead of de Paul. It was a disasterclass from scaloni
Yeah right, we will play counter attack with who upfront? Nico/Simeone/Alvarez who’re not tall enough to win longball, can’t consistently dribble past a defender? Spain didn’t play a high defensive line, so this never gonna work. And did our midfielders looked like they want to play the long balls throughout the game to you?
We LOOKED deep because midfielders have to drop deep to build up. Spain front line pressing was good in that game, plus we can’t progress the ball down the left flank because Nico Gonzalez can’t dribble and lost the ball too many times. We’re by no means set up to play hit-and-run with the ball.
Also, the way you’re looking at the game is too simplistic. Counter-attacking is the approach to the game, not an overall tactics. You still need an attacking plan (which from what I undertand from your comment, you suggest playing long balls to have someone on our attack win it). My comment said our only attacking plan is to progress through the central lane by using our midfielders. I even said we don’t have a target man profile, so we always have to progress the ball from the backline. Having an attacking plan also doesn’t mean you can’t defend deep and wait for your chance to attack.
Thank God.without messi, dimaria scaloni style defensively coach may not work.change the coach change the philosophy
Agreed. The final alone proves how clueless as a coach he was. He came to the WC final attended by football gurus and watched across the globe with no plan. Poor preparation and bizarre tactics. For instance, Messi played the semi like a final, and at his age with only 2 days rest, another coach would bench him and let him come of the bench. We played with only 10 players and when Enzo red carded, we played with 9.
Thete is the glaring issue he had 4 yrs between two WC s introduced next to no one
Incredible PR loss. Scaloni was a gentleman and a good role model on how to act. But throughout the entire tournament you can kinda tell he was suffering a lot and was regretting coaching in another World Cup. Back in 2022 he called managing Argentina the most stressful thing he’s ever experienced. I hope in his final matches the AFA can actually arrange some friendlies against good opposition in October and November so that Scaloni can finally bin half of the squad and lay the groundwork for the future
You really must be joking. This clown is Long dead without Messi and Di Maria. Without Messi he will take us to Paraguay level. Pathetic fellow.
Just like he destroyed Brazil 4 0 without Messi and Di Maria. LOL. I will gladly play like Paraguay if its means we are beating brazil 4-0
Well said.
I’m not even mad Argentina lost to Spain, who totally deserved it, because I’ve already seen Argentina win two Copas and a World Cup, and beating England in the semi-final was good enough. But Paredes’ behavior was out of line; he made Argentina look bad.
Parades behaviour was a reflection of bad coaching too. Those guys got pumped by his blind trust to the point that they can behave on pitch whatever they want because they know there would be no consequences given by their captain or coach. Period.
I had a bad piece of fish for dinner that made me vomit, which also is a reflection of bad coaching and Scaloni’s fault.
Not everytime, we are going to reach the final. In recent versions of WC, more teams are included and multi hosts are involved makes it harder to reach the final. That golden opportunity was wasted by pure stubbornness from Scaloni. Even if he ran out of ideas, he could’ve consulted other veteran coaches on how to approach this match instead of being stubborn and only his opinion that matters. It was obvious that he had no response to the Spanish side from the first whistle, meaning his preparation to the match was rubbish.
Again, that was a great opportunity wasted, considering Spain have no lethal strikers infront of the goal, and a team like Paraguay or Colombia would easily beat them.
What Paredes did after the match, in front of the whole world, was disgraceful. Argentina has been loved and supported by millions of people around the world, and that love comes with a responsibility to uphold the values and dignity that earned it. History is rarely kind to arrogance.
Paredes should quit NT instead of Scaloni as it will be much harder to replace Scaloni and loosing Paredes won’t be so bad as loosing Scaloni. Scaloni deserves more respect for what he and whole coaching has done for Argentina NT. I understand emotions are carried away at this moment and i’m feeling like allmost as bad as 2014 or at 1990 and specially seeing my kids suffering even more badly, than i did at 1990 or at 1982, 1994 and so on…It must be due to this social media and stuff, which make’s people to suffer even more as back in the day’s we were lucky not have those….Feel really sorry for Argentina and for every supporter all over the world, but even i know it might not help at this moment….Still, this team wrote their own history and it would be very hard for others to repeat it!
The way we lost it make’s it feel bad, but without Scaloni we would have never made it so far! Winning 2 Copa’s and winning 1 WC out of 2 final’s with Finalissima is been written in history of football til’ forever! 🇦🇷✨🇦🇷
Scaloni is a great motivator, but not a great coach or manager. He motivated the whole team but failed to utilise all the resources he had at his disposal.
When you recycle washed players and expect miracles, you need to sit next to Portugal’s coach, Roberto, and should not be given a pass to the final.
It’s not the time to nitpick right now, Scaloni, Aimar, Samuel and Ayala, they gave us a fairytale, forever grateful.
Scaloni is in the hall of fame with Bilardo and Menotii, a legend among legends.
A National hero. Forever grateful to him.
I would love for him to stay but if he wants to leave that is ok.
If he leaves the baton should pass to one of Aimar, Samuel, or Ayala.
Hopefully he does not leave!
But, are they as astute tactically. I understand the natural succession but this team needs more than hardwork. We need a smart coach to integrate young players till copa without alienating the leadership and experience of old guards like paredes, depaul.
His done amazingly well
My biggest thank you is he got rid of the connection to curses and bad luck and created a force built a team not of attack or defence but both
By only criticism is he over did it with early defensive displays second half’s at first I just took it as building reliability for the 22 wc
As the team needed structure but sometimes it went to far including the final vs France were again he hid it to early,
But I loved his creativity his cunning his sly plays his defence attack possession football counters and no reliance on a single way of playing or formation
He also before it was to late got the best out of Messi
His management thus time around again took a injurie filled team with out key replacements to a WC final with the least number of playing players and almost zero use of the kids
With cone back tactics displays that were incredible
I just wish he had gone for the throat in the final
Spain will be found out there game is exactly the same as always the exact same thing on repeat ,
I kinda want him to stay but also don’t because without Messi he may become ULTRA NEGATIVE
WE need ARE YOUNG AMAZING TAKENT TO SING
Not talk about messi fir 30 yrs
Ararda mass and Paz could be the golden trio of the future
Soule, Buendia, Parrone, Nico Paz, Barco, Prestiani, Dyballa, even Senesi (called as a replacement), all these guys and a dozen more would be strong team if you had the motivation to integrate them, but you were complacent.
We could make a ultra attacking super team out of are talent
Or a balanced side or a defensive there ARGENTINIANS THATS WHY
GALARDO OR SIMEONE who else is in the running for this job
If scaloni stays he must put the past in the past
I’m sorry he won’t. If he doesn’t trust in young hungry talent today, nothing will change his perspective tomorrow because that’s his ideology.
We went to the world cup that’s extended to 8 games plus travel time with a thin squad – only 15 players are rotated – while keeping the rest as manikans by the sideline.
Let’s say he doesn’t trust Paz, Barco, etc…then why didn’t he bring other decent experienced players so he an use them in place of out of form or tired players?
He also contradicted himself, before the tournament, he claimed he wouldn’t take any injured player or in doubt of injury to world cup and there is no compromise. What happened he dragged every injured, out of form and mediocre player to the world cup. Reaching the final was a brilliance from Messi, Cuti, and Martinez, and let’s not forget we didn’t face top notch teams throughout the journey.
Lastly, AFA rejected playing Finalissima and found absurd excuses and the reason behind it was that Scaloni knew his team would be exposed if he plays against Spain, causing people to ask for a major change of his old squad, and since he was determined to keep the same squad he’s loyal to, he avoided playing Spain or any strong team before the WC.
The comment on Finalissima is spot on! This match 3 months ago would have been the needed wake up call. Arg not playing any good European or strong African nation in last 1 year has been a costly mistake.
However disagree on Scaloni. He can still be good if not stubborn and include new talent, give enough time to integrate and shine. As much as I want Messi to see in this jersey I think its v difficult to carry a 39 year old in top competition. Dont want him to become Christiano for Argentina. My personal belief he would never so that and take the decision correctly. Continuing now means we are looking at creative duties at least till copa and then less than 2 years for the next world cup to find a new combination or we say he plays at 43 😝