Has World Cup winner Lionel Scaloni quit as Argentina manager?

Even before Argentina's World Cup win at the end of 2022, Lionel Scaloni's stock was sky-high with the public, who had dubbed their side 'La Scaloneta', and his players.

"If it's ten in the morning and Scaloni tells us good night, then it's night for us too," Atletico Madrid's Rodrigo de Paul revealed ahead of the global tournament.

As the reigning champion of South America and the world, Scaloni pushed his peak even higher by overseeing Argentina's 1-0 victory over Brazil at the Maracana, becoming the first ever opposition coach to inflict a home defeat on the Selecao in a World Cup qualifier.

Yet, a night that began with desperately troubling crowd problems ended with Scaloni's future as Argentina manager up in the air.

Here's everything you need to know about a resignation that the entirety of Argentina doesn't want to accept.

What has Lionel Scaloni said about quitting as Argentina manager?

In the aftermath of a historic victory, Scaloni uncorked his inner thoughts. "Argentina needs a coach who has all the energy possible and who is well," the 45-year-old said at the end of his post-match press conference, leaving no time for any follow-up questions.

"I need to stop the ball and start thinking, I have a lot of things to think about during this time. It's not goodbye or anything, but I need to think because the bar is very high and it's complicated to keep going and it's complicated to keep winning."

Scaloni added: "These guys are making it difficult, so I need to think about it for a while. I will talk to the AFA president and the players afterwards."

What have Argentina's players said about Lionel Scaloni quitting as manager?

Scaloni not only caught the public off-guard but his players were befuddled as well.

Leandro Paredes revealed that Scaloni had not breathed a word of his intentions in the dressing room. "We saw what Scaloni said but we didn't talk to him," the Roma midfielder said.

"We are sure and hope that Scaloni will continue," Argentina's Tottenham Hotspur centre-back Cristian Romero fired back when confronted with his manager's uncertain future immediately after the victory over Brazil.

"Let's see now he will have time to think," Romero concluded, "he didn't say anything in the dressing room about it. We will try to convince him."

Nicolas Otamendi pointed out that the squad was scattered after the victory, denying Scaloni a full audience in the changing room had he wanted to warn his players. "Receiving that news is a shock," the goalscorer conceded, "but we have to talk about it more calmly."

De Paul echoed the wider sentiment of the squad when saying: "We, from our side, want him to continue because he is a very important architect of everything we achieve."

Why would Lionel Scaloni quit as Argentina manager?

"With Chiqui, everything is fine." Understandably, that throwaway line got lost in Scaloni's previous statements but it could point to the underlining tension behind the manager's headline-grabbing quotes.

Claudio Tapia, known by his nickname 'Chiqui', has been president of the Argentinian Football Association (AFA) since 2017. Tapia had been turned down by a slew of high-profile coaches before eventually promoting Scaloni from the youth team on a temporary basis after the 2018 World Cup. The late Diego Maradona infamously wrote the AFA off as "mad".

Scaloni delivered the 2021 Copa America and the World Cup the following year but his relationship with Tapia supposedly cooled during negotiations over his new contract. Scaloni's deal expired at the end of December 2022 and Tapia assured fans that there was "no doubt" that the World Cup winner would remain in place after the tournament in Qatar. Yet, an agreement could not be announced until February 2023.

Several publications, spearheaded by Guido Bercovich's claims on the Argentine radio show De Aca en Mas, claim that Scaloni had also been worn down by Tapia's persistent requests for a team photo alongside presidential candidate Sergio Massa. The players refused before Sunday's election, which Massa lost to far-right outsider Javier Milei.

Has World Cup winner Lionel Scaloni quit as Argentina manager?

Scaloni's final words for the press were seismic but he only used one on social media. "ARGENTINA!!!!" the caption read underneath a picture of Scaloni arm-in-arm with his coaching staff on the Maracana pitch. While rounding up his colleagues, Scaloni was caught on film saying: "Let's take the last photo," according to the Argentine publication La Nacion.

Those reportedly testing negotiations with Tapia earned Scaloni a contract until after the 2026 World Cup and initial reports suggest that the manager has not officially stepped down just yet.

There will be a significant gap until Argentina's next fixtures in 2024, allowing Scaloni, Tapia and team captain Lionel Messi time to discuss the manager's next steps. Yet, by going public with his discomfort in the current setup, the immensely popular Scaloni has heaped pressure upon the AFA to bend to his will.

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