Published July 20, 2026
After watching his 10-a-side side fall just short of becoming the first side to win back-to-back World Cups since 1958-1962, Lionel Scaloni tearfully admitted he didn’t know what lay ahead.
The 48-year-old was appointed as Argentina’s manager after they crashed out of the last 16 of the 2018 World Cup amid skepticism over his lack of head coaching experience and only a short stint as an assistant.
If he moves after his contract expires in December, he will step down as the country’s most decorated manager in history. After losing 1-0 to Spain in the World Cup final on Sunday, he helped Argentina win the title in 2022 and led Argentina to Copa America crowns in 2021 and 2024.
“I’m going to talk to the president” of the federation, Scaloni said through an interpreter. “I have an idea of what I want to do. I’ll look at the contract, but I don’t know if I’ll be able to do something this big (again), so I feel like we need to think about it and maybe we need to talk about this.”
“I’m grateful to the president for giving me the opportunity to be where I am. This is a dream place for everyone at the moment, and the staff and players have given their all until the last moment. I believe it’s only natural that I have time to reflect on this.”
Scaloni is the second Argentine coach to reach back-to-back World Cup finals, and the fifth Argentine coach to reach consecutive World Cup finals. Carlos Bilardo led Albiceleste to the 1986 championship and the 1990 final, but he could not match Scaloni’s Copa America feat.
If Scaloni stays on, it will likely be with a much different group than the one he has managed for nearly a decade.
Lionel Messi is 39 years old and, although he still had a great tournament with eight goals and four assists, it feels very unlikely that the eight-time Ballon d’Or winner will feature in 2030.
A total of eight Argentine players have started in both the 2022 and 2026 finals, and there will almost certainly be significant turnover as well as the most well-known stars.
“Neither the staff nor I could have ever imagined that we would be standing in a place like this,” Scaloni said through tears.
“So it takes a lot of things to keep going, especially to reset your mind and restart. It’s very difficult to form a group like this again, but we could do it again. And it really hurts. I’m so sorry.”
At that point, Mr. Scaloni stepped out to the right and ended the press conference, receiving thunderous applause from the assembled press.
Scaloni began his remarks by saying he had no complaints about the result of the final, which Spain dominated in possession and shooting, but won by a narrow margin thanks to Ferran Torres’ 106th-minute winning goal.
“Thank you so much to all the fans and everyone for bringing the energy that we were missing,” Scaloni said.
“We managed to go all the way to the end in a very open game, but we couldn’t go all the way. They deserved to win. That’s the reality. We have to accept that. But to be honest, we were close. I would like to thank the players (and) who helped us so much to reach another World Cup final.”
A member of Newell’s Old Boys, the same team that Messi played in his childhood, Scaloni played for 20 years in Argentina, Spain, Italy and briefly in England.
However, the right-sided midfielder and defender only appeared in seven matches for the national team. His best moment with Albiceleste came in 2006 when he started and played the full game in the 2-1 win over Mexico in the Round of 16 of the World Cup.
