Argentina has secured its coach for the next cycle just as it begins a new chapter without Lionel Messi. The Argentine Football Association (AFA) confirmed on Thursday that Lionel Scaloni will continue at the helm of the national team through 2030.
The announcement was made by AFA president Claudio Tapia during a press conference in Ezeiza, alongside the coach himself. “It’s a very special day for the Argentine national team and Argentine soccer. We’re going to officially announce the renewal of Lionel Scaloni for the period 2027 to 2030,” Tapia told reporters.
The coach said his motivation is the same as when he took charge in 2018. “We have the same hope and desire as the first day, otherwise it would be impossible to be here,” Scaloni explained. He also said that this will be a new era after Messi’s departure, in which new players will emerge. “A new era begins, we will give a chance to kids who are pushing from behind,” he added.
The extension is a reward for a cycle that has brought four official titles since his arrival: the 2021 Copa America, the 2022 Finalissima, the 2022 World Cup, and the 2024 Copa America.
Across 107 matches, Scaloni has recorded 79 wins, 18 draws, and 10 losses, and his first test of this new stage will come right away, in the friendlies against Uruguay on Friday at La Bombonera and Costa Rica next Tuesday in Cordoba.
Walter Samuel leaves Scaloni’s coaching staff
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The renewal comes with one change in the coach’s team, as Walter Samuel will leave the national team’s staff after eight years by Scaloni’s side. The coach himself made it official at the press conference: “Walter Samuel, as I had already advanced, will start his career alone. Eternal gratitude to a friend, I wish him the best because he was an important part of our staff and it’s fair that he can begin his path”.
Samuel will still be on the bench for both of those matches, which will be his last. The former Real Madrid defender had been part of the staff since the beginning of the cycle in 2018, alongside Pablo Aimar, and his specific role was set pieces and the defensive side of the team.
The coach also made clear that, for now, there will be no replacement for Samuel. “In principle we won’t add anyone. We believe we can continue like this and that’s what we’re going to try. We stay as we are,” Scaloni said, although he did not rule out changes later on: “In any case, we have people in youth who could give us a hand, and that would be in the future”.
With Samuel’s departure and a new generation knocking at the door, Scaloni begins this new cycle with the same group of collaborators but a very different roster. Argentina’s next challenge will be to show that the project can keep winning without Messi, starting with the Uruguay friendly on Friday.
