Lionel Scaloni‘s future as Argentina head coach appeared to be in doubt in the immediate aftermath of the World Cup final loss to Spain, when he told reporters in a somber tone, “I have a contract until December and after that I’ll probably step away… I still have to talk with the president about it“. Two months later, the outlook has shifted considerably.
According to Fabrizio Romano, the Argentine Football Association (AFA) has offered Scaloni a new long-term deal running until July 2030. The federation is reportedly open to structuring the extension through the 2028 Copa América with an option to continue all the way to the 2030 World Cup, with the final decision left in Scaloni’s hands.
Accepting that offer would allow Scaloni to lead Argentina into a third World Cup, following Qatar 2022 and this year’s tournament in North America, closing out what would become one of the longest managerial tenures in the national team’s history.
The report lines up with comments Scaloni made in a separate interview with the Asian broadcaster MiGu, in which he spoke about giving opportunities to the next generation of players without ruling himself out of the process, remarks that, taken together with Romano’s reporting, point toward the coach staying on to oversee that transition himself.
Scaloni makes room for Argentina’s next generation
Lionel Messi’s international retirement leaves Argentina facing its first real generational shift since Scaloni took over in 2018, with the team’s greatest player no longer walking through the door.
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His farewell match is set for October 6 against Benin at the Monumental, for which he’ll wear a specially made jersey, closing out that chapter and forcing a new cycle regardless of who ends up coaching it, exactly the kind of shift Scaloni addressed when asked about the younger players beginning to break into the squad.
Speaking to MiGu about the new faces entering the squad, Scaloni made clear he sees himself guiding that generation forward. “It’s very important for the new kids to be able to join our style of play. We’ve always done that, and now a nice parenthesis will probably open,” he said, adding that “an era to trust these kids knocking on the door” was beginning, regardless of age, “as long as they perform for their clubs”.
That description fits several of the newer names called up for this window, among them Franco Mastantuono, Nico Paz, Gianluca Prestianni, Matías Soulé, Santiago Castro, Valentín Gómez, Santiago Simón, and Román Vega, all of whom will get their chance to make an impression as Argentina begins building toward its next cycle.
