Lionel Scaloni’s future at the helm of Argentina has become a subject of growing uncertainty just months after guiding the team to the 2026 World Cup final. With Lionel Messi having already confirmed his retirement from the national team, the prospect of starting a new cycle without the sport’s biggest star appears to be weighing heavily on the World Cup-winning coach as his contract nears its expiration at the end of the year.
According to ESPN journalist Gustavo Yarroch, a renewal reportedly agreed upon verbally through 2030 has yet to be formalized, and the negotiation has grown complicated in recent days despite an optimistic outlook from AFA officials just a week earlier. Yarroch cautioned that no final decision has been made, but described the current climate as tense.
Compounding matters further, longtime assistant Walter Samuel is reportedly set to leave the coaching staff to pursue his own path as a head coach, which would force any renewal to also address a reshuffling of Scaloni‘s inner circle.
Scaloni himself hinted at his own doubts in the aftermath of the World Cup final loss to Spain, telling reporters he needed time to think things over. “I feel the need to think, because I no longer know if something this big can be done again. To continue, you need a lot of things, above all resetting yourself and rebuilding a group like this one, which is hard to put together again,” he said, adding that he would honor his 2026 commitments before deciding on what comes next.
Lionel Messi and Lionel Scaloni during the 2022 World Cup. (Getty Images)
The three reasons behind the uncertainty
Yarroch broke down three central factors clouding the renewal. The first concerns Scaloni’s own doubts about whether, after eight years in the job, he still has the energy and motivation to rebuild the team from scratch, a rebuild that becomes even more daunting with Messi no longer part of the equation.
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The second involves money, as the AFA reportedly owes players and staff a significant amount in unpaid bonuses, a sticking point that has generated frustration given the federation is currently earning more revenue than ever before.
The third reason centers on the organization of Argentina‘s friendlies. Scaloni has long pushed for tougher opposition, a frustration reflected in this year’s own preparation schedule: a mooted friendly against France for the March window fell through after the finalissima against Spain was scrapped, and the AFA instead lined up matches against Guatemala, Venezuela, Mauritania and Angola, before closing out the send-off with a 5-0 win over Zambia and further tests against Honduras and Iceland in June.
That pattern appears set to continue, with Burkina Faso, Benin and Bolivia reportedly among the likely rivals for the next international window. Compounding the issue, the federation has reportedly missed its own self-imposed deadlines to officially confirm those matches, adding to Scaloni’s frustration even as the AFA continues to push for him to sign a new deal.
