Nicolás Tagliafico commented after Argentina’s 1-0 loss in the World Cup final.
Tagliafico started for the Argentina national team and was not substituted out, despite being injured in the final of the World Cup. The 33 year old posted on Instagram after the match:
“It hurts a lot, I’m not going to deny it. But having reached another final and leaving your life on the pitch cannot be erased. Proud to belong to this group that gave it all.
“Thanks to all Argentinians for accompanying us during every step of this World Cup. They made us feel their support from the first to the last day.
“Go Argentina, always.”
Argentina’s been in five finals, winning three plus a Finallissima against Italy. If Scaloni leaves, I’d love to see Bielsa take over, even if it’s an unpopular idea, or Pekerman if Bielsa’s too much. Scaloni honestly looks totally drained emotionally.
I don’t know if all those off-pitch rumors are true, but even if they are, watching the game, it was the first time this tournament I couldn’t figure out how our squad could break Spain’s rhythm. I don’t blame Scaloni for the final game; he had to make the best of the decisions he made before the tournament started. The two injuries and Enzo’s red card took away any chance to fix anything or show a proper reaction, in my opinion. The match against England took so much out of everyone, physically and mentally, and I felt like there wasn’t much left.
I’m sad but not broken. Maybe it’s because we had so much success and everything will end some how. My brother is a huge Messi fan and he told me yesterday that his done with football because without Messi there is no enjoyment. Of course im sad for Messi because he deserves to go out with a happy end. But life is not fair and you don’t get always what you deserve. What stays are positive and negative memories
I’ve been an argentina fan over four decades and the national team will regroup and come back. Like it did after Maradona and all the fail attempts to win anything till the Copa America.
We’ve tried Bielsa before lad, he ain’t it. His style isn’t conducive to long-term success amongst the upper echelons, especially when have an athletically poor team.
Yeah, you’re right, but if we need to rebuild from scratch, Bielsa isn’t a bad option in my opinion. He could have success if he builds a team with players who buy into his ideas and philosophy. How can we have proper preparation without qualifications? That’s what worries me the most, to be honest.
keep ur stupid suggestion to urself.
the fact that u cant see how the coach fkd it up royally is beyond me.
even the players behaving like thugs is on the coach to straighten it out but he is too scared to do anything.
Hey friend, you gotta chill. We’re all frustrated. Let’s just be cool with each other since we’re all in the same boat. Being rude to one another won’t fix anything and won’t change your feelings. It’s a process and you will find a way to deal with it like we all do.
Does anyone have the list of players who went back to arg to celebrate on the bus.
seriously, after that humiliating defeat not even 2 fkin days & they go back to celebrating on a bus.
Glad messi wasnt there. at;east the man is a man of honor.
WATCH SCALONI’S INTERVIEWS.
this scumbag has 0 intention of leaving out these thugs & losers. he will play them again.
the only way to move forward is to fire this scum. he has no shame, no introspection nothing.
his epic performative infront of the camera in the press conference & right after that he is on the plane to argentina & now he is smiling & gloating.
truly shameless piece of shit. the only ones who truly feel bad are Messi, martinez, alvarez & few others.
The shameless excuses for scaloni on this forum is sickening. This mother hecker literally gave out the worst performance in history of WC final & helped spain break records after records.
cape verde, uruguay went to toe toe with them and almost beat them. Belgium almost beat them.
but the so called defending champions played like lil bitches. fking hate scaloni & his thugs on the field.
if players are getting violent its the coach to keep them in check. but we have a coach who instead managing them has become their bitch.
FK U SCALONI, HOPE U NEVER FIND A COACHING JOB U PIECE OF SHIT.
How could a team that played so brilliantly in the semi-final suddenly seem to forget how to play in the final? Before every match leading up to the final, the families of the Argentine players and the federation’s president were present, yet, strangely, they were absent from the final. Why? Argentina lost one of their most important centre-backs to injury in the first half, and another centre-back was injured in the second half. Why did this happen?
Throughout the match, I never felt that Argentina were playing with the determination to win. Instead, they committed numerous fouls, and it almost seemed as though they were inviting a red card. Lautaro Martínez was hardly seen on camera after a certain point in the match, which I found unusual.
In my opinion, the controversy began after Argentina won the semi-final, when the players celebrated with a banner referring to the Falkland Islands as “Islas Malvinas.” Around the same time, Argentina’s Vice President described the British as “pirates.” I believe these events attracted significant attention.
To me, the 1986 World Cup was more than just a football tournament. Argentina won it after the Falklands War, and they also reached the 1990 final. I believe many people were unwilling to see Diego Maradona win back-to-back World Cups. Likewise, I feel that in 2026 there were those who did not want Lionel Messi to become a back-to-back World Cup winner. In my view, FIFA often appears unable to remain completely independent of European football’s influence.
I also believe that South American football has repeatedly challenged Europe’s so-called “total football,” particularly through players like Messi, whose performances have humbled many of Europe’s greatest teams. In both the 1990 and 2026 finals, I believe the red-card decisions were highly controversial.
I keep wondering what might have happened if Argentina had won the final. Perhaps the players would once again have displayed a banner supporting the Malvinas/Falkland Islands, drawing global attention to what many Argentines see as an unresolved legacy of colonialism.
Before the final, a video of Messi went viral in which he encouraged everyone to focus solely on football. Even so, Argentina appeared unusually aggressive throughout the match. To me, this was not entirely unprecedented.
The 1998 World Cup final also remains mysterious in the eyes of many fans. Brazil, who had been outstanding throughout the tournament, suddenly looked unrecognisable in the final, which France won. One of the biggest talking points from that match was Ronaldo Nazário’s illness just hours before kick-off. Had Brazil won that final, they would have secured back-to-back World Cup titles and later had the opportunity to win three consecutive World Cups.
Why the hell are they doing these political demonstration on the football pitch?
instead of preparing for the final they keep eating asados, political displays. its crazy.
there was a final to play for.
The kid nico paz saying he will do everything to get that worldcup back home again
The other kid Garnacho i was checking while. Tournament he never even post storybof our victory or the lose of final..
Nico pass is having 100% passion for the shirt be was crying when his team lost in u17worldcup we need that love &passion players for 2030
I was huge fan of garnacho upuntil this worldcup since his manunited u18 days but bro have huge attitude problems
Soule-nico-prestiani will be the future
The way Lional Scaloni at the end of the press conference cried incosolably and said “it is difficult to form a group now” showed he is mentally and emotionally exhuasted. It looks unlikely from his thinking that he will continue however i hope Tapia and co convices him to stay beyond December because he is the only guy who can start the rebuild. Copa AMerica in 2 years time lets go for itt #VamosArgentinaForLife
Brazil will be looking add salt to our wounds they were weighting so long for this moment.
LOL right
now he is partying on top of a bus not even been 2 days after thatt excruciatingly humiliating defeat.
the coach is a good actor
Wish we had more players like taglifico instead we have a clown called Molina he keeps pushing players like they tryna diddle him or something.
even the assist for the goal, williams wasnt reaching it but that retard pushed him towards it.
get all these brain dead retards out of the squad. At this level beating up players, pushing them right infront of the ref. like wtf???
Romero keeps pushing his own players onto the opposition players? like are these low iq fools?
I have huge respect for Tagliafico. Not only for his performances and consistency, but also how he looked at football and the world.
During his time at Ajax, he was already learning about tactics to be a coach later on.
As someone pointed out here, as we get older, the healing process takes longer. Days like these are difficult to get through, but like everything else, time heals.
The question is, as some of us get older, will we still have the patience we showed during those frustrating years from 1994 to 2021? Especially after Pékerman left in 2006, we went through years of disappointment, missed opportunities, and even struggles to qualify for World Cups.
Those who complain about us now should remember where we came from. That difficult period shows how far Argentina has come. Scaloni gave us a new life, and whoever replaces him will inherit a much stronger team than the one he had to rebuild.
Personally, I was a constant member here from 2010 to 2022. But after finally achieving the dream of winning the World Cup, something changed. The hunger, the desperation, and the need to hope were not the same anymore. Maybe winning gives us everything we wanted, but sometimes we also lose the emotions that came with the struggle.
Now, maybe this new disappointment can bring back that fire. Sometimes losing can recreate the passion and remind us why we fell in love with this journey in the first place.
I have to admit, we have a few genuinely unsporting, mean spirited players.
Paredes always seems to create unnecessary drama. He did it against the Netherlands by blasting the ball into their bench, and today he assaulted Gavi. A lot of Barcelona fans were supporting Argentina because of Messi, and incidents like this only damage that goodwill. Then Roberto ayala went and slapped Olmo in the chest and he is supposed to be one of candidates for our coach lol
Otamendi is no different. He’s constantly looking for toxic and needless fights. The way they behaved today was embarrassing, and it ultimately contributed to Enzo’s red card. If paredes and otamendi didn’t act so disgracefully Infront of referee earlier. He probably wouldn’t give enzo the first yellow. Referee clearly lost his cool cause we had terrible attitude throughout.
It’s frustrating because the majority of our squad are true professionals and gentlemen. Yet because of two or three players, the entire team becomes a laughing stock and our reputation takes a hit.
For me, this kind of behavior after the match brought far more shame to our flag than failing to register a shot on target for 90 minutes.
It’s time to move on from Otamendi, Paredes, and remove Enzo for few months. Argentina should represent class, respect, and sportsmanship. Losing is part of football, but acting like sore losers is unacceptable.
Fully agree. These players tarnish the reputation of the team and country.
In several European countries there are statements being made that Argentina should be banned from the next WC.
Not just because of the kicking, pushing and shoving, the fights but also because the whole team and staff turned their back on Spain during the award ceremony.
Someone said it best
Victory shows what you can do,
Defeat shows who you are.
rgentina had 0 shots in 90 minutes, that is the worst performance by any team at this World Cup. Even Cabo Verde and Saudi managed more against Spain
Spain had over 72% possession against us. The most by any team against any opponent in this WC.
Spain had over 800 passes, again a World Cup record. Argentina had just over a 100, the least by any team at this World Cup.
Argentina used all 8 of his defenders in this match. It has never ever happened in WC match.
Yet the Argentine media is defending this performance and Scaloni.
Cucurella and a few other players have come out saying that they were wishing they would meet Argentina in the final and had planned their celebrations in Spain even before the final started.
Then go support Cabo verde man.. enough of this toxicity… yes we did not play a good game. But dont forget that on a bad day brazil lost 7-1 and on our worst day we lost 1-0. Fuck the euro centric media.. look at the fans in Argentina, look at most of the fans around the world. Read the room and for once dont throw all your frustrations on the team. Having said all these, having the worst match.. we still defended valiantly.. desparate defending yes.. but if we kept that for another 15 mins.. we would be world champions again in the shoot out. Spain is the deserved champion but its a wc final and on a bad day also you desperately cling on to it. Thats exactly what the dutch did in 2010, no one blames them so much.
Throughout the World Cup, Scaloni enforced an extreme information blackout toward the outside world, but now details have gradually started to emerge:
To keep the squad united, Scaloni publicly maintained that his future wasn’t in doubt. In reality, he had already fallen out with the federation back in April and May because they failed to prevent Paz, Julián, and several others from playing through injuries for their clubs in the months leading up to the World Cup.
Because of that, his relationship with Simeone (the coach) deteriorated significantly. At the end of the club season, Álvarez also reportedly clashed with Cholo over the same issue.
During the short preparation period, it became clear that several players either weren’t fully fit or simply weren’t physically capable of playing 90 minutes. As a result, the team couldn’t even conduct proper full-intensity training sessions. Scaloni reportedly took this extremely hard and is said to have literally broken down in tears during training.
Scaloni seriously considered sending home five or six players because of serious injury or fitness concerns (including Paredes, Montiel, and Tagliafico), but at the last moment they decided not to break up the core group that had delivered so much success.
He recalled Senesi after Balerdi’s injury, even though he doesn’t fully trust him because he feels Senesi doesn’t give everything when wearing the national team shirt.
Dibu broke a finger before the tournament. They reportedly strapped it tightly before every match so he wouldn’t feel the pain.
Julián, Paredes, Montiel, and Romero all played through the tournament on painkillers.
Paz couldn’t even be used properly despite treatment.
Lisandro, Lautaro, and Romero never managed to regain full 90-minute match fitness after their previous injuries.
Romero and Lisandro were essentially forced to play extended minutes regardless.
Messi repeatedly told the players in the tunnel before matches to stay calm and focus only on the ball.
At halftime of the final, Dibu shouted in the dressing room that they were playing too timidly out from the back, “like the English.”
Enzo was crying in the dressing room before the final.
This has fueled a lot of speculation that Dibu wasn’t happy with Enzo and De Paul’s largely ineffective performances on the flanks. He never made it personal, but from the group stage onward Dibu repeatedly told the squad in the dressing room that it would be nice if everyone remembered where the goal was. One of the reasons Paredes ended up taking on such an important role despite playing with a fractured rib was that he gave the team much better ball progression.
Throughout the knockout stage, Scaloni constantly experimented with different starting lineups in training. Before the match against England, he had reportedly reached the point where he was planning to drop Enzo, but in the end it was De Paul who was left out instead. Before the final, almost everyone expected Paredes and Simeone to start, but to everyone’s surprise Scaloni went with De Paul and Nico instead—even though that wasn’t the lineup the team had been practicing before the match.
Scaloni reportedly felt trapped because the physical condition of the squad meant he couldn’t switch formations during matches, forcing the team to lean heavily toward an Atlético Madrid-style 4-4-2 setup.
It’s probably no coincidence that Argentina only really came alive once their opponents began to fall apart. As the game became more chaotic, they were finally able to break away from that sterile 4-4-2 structure and return to the more fluid, situational football that had defined them in previous years.
Had they somehow won the tournament, both Scaloni and Messi would reportedly have announced they were staying. Instead—largely because of how the team had been playing—Messi declined to speak to the media, while Scaloni all but confirmed through his comments that he intended to step down.
Another fundamental difference compared to four years earlier was the overall atmosphere. Back then, the players genuinely enjoyed their football and relished chasing opponents all over the pitch. This time, despite scoring plenty of goals, many players repeatedly complained that they were suffering on the field, describing the experience as physical torture rather than something they enjoyed. That’s also why training sessions were shorter and there were more team barbecues—they simply didn’t have anything left physically.
Even if it is true these are lame excuses from the management. If he says he thought about dropping 6 players but decided to stick with despite knowing they were not fit is criminal. If Álvarez was not fit why torture him even more by playing him all alone just chasing shadows. Criminal tactics. We gave it on a platter to Spain. Because this Spain team is mediocre they took so Long to finish us off.
I feel there is something more sinister than we all know. The fans all around the world got backstabbed.
Interesting hmmm… where is this information being leaked from now? Who’s the source out of curiosity?
If Argentina can regain their composure after this painful defeat, a rematch against Spain (Finalissma in November) could still be a fascinating contest.
But if the squad remains emotionally drained, and if Scaloni is already halfway out the door, agreeing to this match could invite another humiliation. The timing matters as much as the opponent.
Argentina should play this game only if the players and the coaching staff are mentally ready to compete. And if we do, it should also mark the beginning of a new cycle. Fresh faces deserve opportunities in place of Molina, De Paul, Nico González, and perhaps Paredes—who may be unavailable anyway.
This wouldn’t just be a rematch. It would be the first step towards rebuilding.
History offers an interesting parallel.
On 3 September 2014, less than two months after losing the World Cup final, Argentina travelled to Düsseldorf and defeated the newly crowned world champions Germany 4–2. Ángel Di María produced one of the finest performances of his international career, assisting the first three goals before scoring the fourth himself. Germany were without several World Cup heroes—Philipp Lahm, Miroslav Klose and Bastian Schweinsteiger—but Argentina’s display was a reminder of what they were capable of at full strength.
That night also reignited an old question among Argentine supporters. Had Di María been fit enough to play the 2014 World Cup final, would history have unfolded differently?
We’ll never know.
What we do know is that he repeatedly proved himself to be Argentina’s ultimate big-game player. And performances like that 4–2 victory only deepened the belief that, with Di María on the pitch, Argentina’s long wait for a World Cup might have ended long before 2022.
Wow guys if these were true that much injured players and reaching final is unbelievable… Before the start i know many was under injury but once it started i thiught all are fit..
The so called chemistry we all were hoping wasnt seen much more during the tournament like we used to last wc…
Scaloni could have eassily replaced injured players with fit players…
Almost all our players were in red hot form 6-8months before the tournament
I cannot imagine that Spain would like to play against us again.
Certainly not after what happened after the match. The lack of respect and unnecessary fighting will probably lead to a refusal to play the finalissima.
A lot of respect for Tagli. He is a warrior, always show up, always is reliable! A legend!
What happend before kickoff? There are some rumours that players were in off mood before the match starts?
Plz someone explain me
Why we can’t produce fast & quality wingers & wing back,
Argentina always have quality of good midfielders, strikeer , defender
But
Why not wingers & wing back
Perhaps the youth development philosophy rewards the center midfielders more than wingers. However, I remember under Bielsa’s era, we always played with converted wingers, namely: Mariano Gonzalez, Mauro Rosales, Cesar Delgado, and before that, Killy Gonzalez. None of them was world class (well, Killy might be), but they played pretty well in El Loco’s system.
What happend before kickoff? There are some rumours that players were in off mood before the match starts.
Sorin zanetti Molina taglefico dimaria caniggia Lopez Killy Gonzales
What are you smoking
This bad defensive tactics & Scaloni untrust on young player not only ruined our world cup winning chance
But also ruined our some young player transfers,
The big club will thinks 2 time to invest on our future star,
What has scslonis defenses got to do with the price of Argentinian beef
Forums disending into lala land
Does anybody think that it was strange Argentina could not complete 3 passes and 0 shot on target within 90 minuets?
May be there are some other reasons.
Fitness is the biggest suspect. The team were exhausted physically and mentally after the roller coaster wins in KO matches, especially against England.
Health the team had injuries cbs were already injured before the game players were carrying injuries tired scaling plan if he had subbed in his late attackers likely would have worked
We lost two subs in the cbs
Sensi missed the goal
By a inch
Thank you Tagliafico 🙏🏼 We love you ❤️ and thank God that you are Argentinian 🇦🇷
My favourite player after Julian Alvarez and Messi.
He played with heart. And mac, de paul enzo were disgraceful. Paredes did criminal offence.
Be fair with Lea, the entire event started when a few Spanish players run over Molina and had some words that trigger him. Watch the video on TyCSport or La Nacion, you will see the entire picture.
Well, the pain is too immense and deep and sure it won’t heal as time passes as months and years. We have to live with this pain all our lives and maybe in our coming lives too. Anyhow few things to share.
1. Scaloni should leave. Immediately. Period. We are eternally thankful to him for 2022. But, Come on guys. Let be brutally honest. From 2021 copa, we won everything with our good football and bad football. We are consistently fouling opponents to disrupt the rhythm with our bad football and after succeeding that we play really good football to win matches. Do you really think a coach like Guardiola or Klopp or even Ancelotti will follow this way. Am not saying Scaloni is encouraging our dark arts but he is soft enough to unable to stop that. From very beginning we should have stopped that. Scaloni failed. But in the world of chaos, we got rewards for our way too. Without the dark arts of Emi Martinez, we won’t be gifted with that third star. But atleast at some point, we should have converted to full ethical tactical technical approach like Spain and France. We didn’t.
2. It’s not about the loss, the way we lost is what making the suffering unbearable. The lowest low in our all time history. Every credited newspapers around the world mention that we played UFC and WWF rather than football and at some point it becomes valid. We can’t deny Enzo deserved a red card against Eliott Anderson at the third minute of the match. Being from India, you are not sure how much Argentina is adored. Even from my non-football town, nearly 1000 people watched in groups. Many women. Really they don’t understand why we are involved in such a fight after the game. Few of our players totally tarnished the image of Messi, that’s the most unbearable one.
3. Under Pekerman, we played great football. We only believed only in our football. Brawls and fights happened only after the game. Players believed the system under Pekerman. Like that Scaloni failed to develop a football system. Scaloni is a decent player and decent coach. But he’s never going to be a Guardiola or Klopp. Really he had no clue what’s Spain is doing technically and tactically. Absolutely he don’t have answers because not even he understood the question.
4. The way Valentin Barco exploded near Bellingahm to insult him is one example. He’s just 21. But already looks like toxicated, corrupted. It gets expanded with time. In this world cup Enzo Paredes Romero even Mcalister looked like they are playing with infinite grudge. Very strange especially after winning a World cup. Worst of all, Roberto Ayala punch on Dani Olmo. The worst day of Argentina fan. Never our loss coupled with humiliation of this magnitude.
We need a good coach. Brutally top and disciplined coach. A coach that brings more discipline as well as a clear system and patterns. But considering the greed of Tapia, not sure how much far we go. A combination of Aimar Beccaceece and Heinze will be great. But not someone like Ayala or someone behaving like Ayala. Still shocking. To see our beloveds behaving like this.
Really no other option. Need to fall in the abyss of silence and loneliness endlessly. It takes really lot n lot of time to come in terms.
Sorry if you felt too negative but the pain is really too much to handle..
You don’t understand Argentina football. It’s a lot about determination and grits. It’s always on the fence of being bad and good. No, we don’t want Pep style, it’s not Argentinian. Let alone Ancelotti. What a joke he did with Brazil.
My friend, you should definitely follow Spain. Nothing wrong about that, just Argentina is not your thing.
We need to find and build a solid DM pardees will be old in 2030
Expected alot from Federico Redondo we were in high hope against him few years ago in this form
I hope he will be reignited
I hope everyone is doing well and in good spirits 24 plus hrs since the disappointment but things will get better.
I was off from work this past month just to watch the world cup and today was my first day back, I can basically wear whatever I want to work so decided to wear my favorite ARGENTINA jersey, the 1986 El Diego, tomorrow it will be Messi’s 2018 WC jersey, the day after it will be the 2022 with the WC winner golden crest, the one after will be Messi away 2011 jersey…so on and so forth….I have 9 different ones and I intend to wear them all.
You gotta represent more so in defeat than victory and let the haters close and far stick it.
I am still broken bro.. The fact that we were so close to some elite records and the fsct that messi got ignored from all awards is hurting
That emi martinez tagifico show deserved a winner
Come now friend, we’ve experienced heart break and endured disappointments for many years until it finally happened and how unbelievably satisfying and beautiful that COPA AMERICA win was and what came next was sweeter.
What doesn’t kill you only makes you stronger, what ARGENTINA and Messi accomplished in this WC was amazing but the fight continues.
Don’t let the clueless stupid and the downright hate mongering crowds get you down because that’s what they feed on.
They never had a Messi and they never will and all these pitiful and pathetic characters are envious of what the Albiceleste have accomplished….what did the fox say about the grapes when it couldn’t reach them, “they’re probably sour anyway”.
He was a monster
He clocked the highest sprint speeds
He was super professional
If we had his luck performance from others we would be over the line
Robot like boring stone faced pro I loved him for that.
Top 5 players of the Scaloni era. The most consistent, reliable, classy, and professional. He was solid in every tournament and rarely put a foot wrong. Forever a legend in my eyes.
The greatest left back in Argentina’s history….
He should be El Capitano if that’s not Messi. An exemplar leader!
Thank you. You were legend on the field.
I’m a big fan of Tagliafico, such class.