Lionel Scaloni reacts to Argentina’s World Cup final loss to Spain: ‘We have to be great in defeat too’
Argentina’s bid for back-to-back titles came up short on Sunday, falling to Spain in the 2026 World Cup final. In the aftermath, Lionel Scaloni faced the media not with excuses, but with a message of gratitude toward the group that carried Argentina all the way to the final.
The manager, who has now led Argentina to a World Cup title and a runner-up finish in consecutive editions, chose to focus on the effort his players put in rather than dwell on the result itself.
“Sadness, but knowing that we left everything out there. I have a lot of things I could say about how we got here, but it’s not worth it. I’m grateful to these boys for what they did to get us this far. We’re great in victory, and we have to show that we’re great in defeat too,” Scaloni said.
Despite the disappointment of falling short of a second consecutive title, the coach was adamant that the run to the final shouldn’t be diminished by the way it ended, framing the campaign as something for the country to be proud of regardless of the scoreline.
“We lost, but that doesn’t mean we’re going to stop remembering everything we did to get here. If you leave everything out there like they did today, it’s a great example for our people, for the country. I do remember the runners-up, because it’s incredibly hard just to get this far. Obviously we would have liked to win, but that’s how it is. When you leave everything out there like that, it’s very hard to reproach anything,” he added.
*Developing story
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