A tearful Lionel Scaloni admitted uncertainty about his future after his 10-man Argentina side fell short of becoming the first back-to-back World Cup winners since 1958-62, losing 1-0 to Spain in the 2026 final.
The 48-year-old was appointed manager after Argentina crashed out of the 2018 World Cup in the round of 16 amid skepticism about his lack of head coaching experience and only brief time as an assistant.
If he does move on after his contract expires in December, he will leave as the most decorated manager in the country's history. Sunday's loss followed a run to the title in the 2022 tournament, and he also guided Argentina to Copa America crowns in 2021 and 2024.
“I will talk to the president of the federation,” Scaloni said through an interpreter. “I have an idea of what I would like to do. I will see out my contract, and I feel the need to think, as I don't know if something as big can be done [again] and maybe we need to speak this through.”
Scaloni is only the second Argentinian manager to reach consecutive World Cup finals and only the fifth of any nationality. Carlos Bilardo guided the Albiceleste to the 1986 title and the 1990 final, but did not match Scaloni's Copa America feats.
Should Scaloni continue, it would likely be with a group that looks considerably different from the one he has managed for nearly a decade. Lionel Messi is 39 years old, and while he still had an exceptional tournament with eight goals and four assists, the eight-time Ballon d'Or winner's participation in 2030 feels extremely unlikely.
“I would have never imagined, we would have never imagined, including my staff, that we would be in this place,” Scaloni said through tears. “So in order to continue, you need a great deal of things, especially resetting your mind, rebooting. Creating a group like this again, that is very difficult.”
Earlier, Scaloni said he had no complaints with the result of the final, which Spain dominated in possession and shots but won by the slim margin of Ferran Torres' 106th-minute winner. “They deserved the victory. That's reality. We need to accept it.”
Source: www.aljazeera.com