[Saba Sports News] In the final of the 2026 FIFA World Cup co-hosted by the United States, Canada and Mexico, defending champions Argentina fought a gruelling 120-minute battle against Spain, ultimately falling 0-1. Argentina were completely dominated throughout the fixture and failed to register a single shot in regulation time. Ferran Torres scored the winning goal for Spain in extra time. Only after that did Argentina create several threatening attacking opportunities, yet they could not find an equaliser to alter the scoreline. After the match, Argentina head coach Lionel Scaloni spoke to reporters: “We are gutted not to bring the trophy back to Argentina, but the opponents deserve this victory. They played outstanding football, while we were hit with constant injuries that forced repeated substitutions. Almost every change we made was injury-enforced, rather than a tactical adjustment. Even so, we took the game all the way to extra time. I am immensely proud of every single player, because we fought until the very last second. I have no complaints about them whatsoever, and I only want to thank this squad. The only thing I ever asked of the players was to give their all until the final whistle, and they delivered brilliantly.”He choked up multiple times as he spoke, before covering his face and walking out of the press conference.
Though they failed to lift the FIFA World Cup Trophy, Argentine fans in the stadium still cheered their side after the final whistle. When asked about his own future, Scaloni stated he would take time to reflect thoroughly once his contract expires at the end of the year. Should he opt to stay on as head coach, he will have to reinvent himself and rebuild a squad with the same cohesion as the current group.