In tears after the final, Scaloni doubts his Argentina future
Scaloni broke down in tears after the World Cup final and left the door open to leaving his role as Argentina coach.
Spain
Argentina- 120'Final score: Spain 1 - 0 Argentina
- 111'Yellow card: Alexis Mac Allister (Argentina)
- 106'⚽ Goal for Spain (Ferran Torres)
- 102'Substitution: ↑ Marcos Senesi / ↓ Julián Alvarez. (Argentina)
- 99'Substitution: ↑ Eric García / ↓ Aymeric Laporte. (Spain)
- 99'Substitution: ↑ Martín Zubimendi / ↓ Rodri. (Spain)
- 90'Red card: Second yellow card to Enzo Fernández (Argentina)
- 90'Yellow card: Cristian Romero (Argentina)
- 82'Yellow card: Enzo Fernández (Argentina)
- 75'Substitution: ↑ Mikel Merino / ↓ Dani Olmo. (Spain)
- 75'Substitution: ↑ Nico Williams / ↓ Álex Baena. (Spain)
- 70'Substitution: ↑ Giuliano Simeone / ↓ Rodrigo De Paul. (Argentina)
- 70'Substitution: ↑ Facundo Medina / ↓ Cristian Romero because of an injury. (Argentina)
- 62'Substitution: ↑ Pedri / ↓ Fabián Ruiz. (Spain)
- 62'Substitution: ↑ Ferran Torres / ↓ Mikel Oyarzabal. (Spain)
- 58'Substitution: ↑ Nahuel Molina / ↓ Gonzalo Montiel. (Argentina)
- 52'Yellow card: Leandro Paredes (Argentina)
- 45'Second half begins
- 45'Substitution: ↑ Leandro Paredes / ↓ Nico González. (Argentina)
- 45'Half-time
- 45'Half-time
- 44'Substitution: ↑ Nicolás Otamendi / ↓ Lisandro Martínez because of an injury. (Argentina)
- 41'Yellow card: Lisandro Martínez (Argentina)
- 0'Kick-off
- 0'Kick-off
After Argentina's 1-0 defeat to Spain in the 2026 World Cup final, Lionel Scaloni left doubt hanging over his future in charge of the Albiceleste, before breaking down in tears at his press conference.
"I don't know if we'll be able to do something as grand again"
Asked about what comes next, the Argentina coach didn't hide his need for reflection: "I feel the need to think, because I don't know if we'll be able to do something as grand as what we achieved." He added: "I'll talk with the president of the Argentine Football Association — I don't know if I have the energy to take this on again."
A group that won't come together again
Scaloni was candid about the scale of what a new cycle would demand: "To continue, a lot is needed, especially rebuilding everything from scratch, putting together a group like this one, which I don't think will happen again — and that hurts me deeply." His current contract runs until 31 December 2026.
An exceptional reign
Under Scaloni, Argentina were crowned world champions in 2022, before winning the Copa América in both 2021 and 2024. A golden era that goes a long way toward explaining the coach's emotion as he left the press conference room without finishing his remarks.
