Scaloni 2028: Chiqui Tapia's plan to safeguard Argentina national team project

Argentina's national team has returned to the Lionel Andrés Messi training complex in Ezeiza, on the outskirts of Buenos Aires, where the squad has begun preparing for a landmark FIFA international window. 

The return to action has prompted fresh contacts between the leadership of the Argentine Football Association (AFA) and Lionel Scaloni's coaching staff.

The window has two key aims for Argentina: captain Lionel Messi's final farewell from international football and securing the continuity of Scaloni – whose current contract runs until December 2026 – as coach.

Talks have advanced towards a flexible ‘2+2’ proposal, with an initial guaranteed contract period running until the end of the 2028 Copa América and an extension clause tied to objectives ahead of the 2030 World Cup. The Pujato-born coach has reportedly accepted the structure put forward by the leadership, though financial aspects are still to be ironed out.

AFA chief Claudio ‘Chiqui’ Tapia's strategy is to keep the senior national team stable in the midst of a transition. With Messi's retirement now confirmed and imminent, AFA is leaning on the coaching staff's leadership to oversee the restructuring of a squad that will also lose vice-captain Nicolás Otamendi. Several other senior players have also left the door open to ending their international careers.

Keeping Scaloni also means preserving the coordinated work of the youth national teams, with the head coach playing a decisive role through constant contact with the other trainers in the youth setup.

Tapia 2028

The success of the national teams is the strongest pillar of Tapia's administration. Winning the World Cup in Qatar, reaching the final of North America World Cup this summer and the Copa América and Finalissima titles have consolidated one of the most glorious spells in the entire history of the senior national team.

Yet the contrast is total when it comes to the organisation of domestic competitions. AFA’s constant year-on-year changes to local tournament rules, the suspension of relegation in previous seasons and an overblown 30-team top flight continue to draw harsh criticism from fans and clubs alike.

"A two-speed model, in which the global excellence of its national team masks the structural and organisational disorder of its domestic league," wrote the French daily L'Équipe in a recent article. 

Though there is no need to look far afield to see it. Refereeing, another constant source of controversy, seems stuck in a mire from which Argentine football appears unlikely to emerge any time soon.

Retaining Scaloni amounts to maintaining a technical buffer against questions over the management of the Liga Profesional de Fútbol, Argentina’s top-flight division. With more than robust backing from AFA’s leadership, the Tapia administration will once again put itself to a vote in 2028, when his term as president is up.

Announcement likely?

Scaloni, 48, has remained cautious in his latest public statements since the end of the 2026 World Cup. 

During a press conference after the final, played on July 19 in New Jersey, the coach said: "I'm going to speak to the president. I have an idea of what to do. My contract runs out in December and then I'll see."

Scaloni will hold the first press conference of the FIFA window on Tuesday, September 29, and a question about his future is guaranteed. 

With another international window scheduled for November, the announcement of his renewal is expected to come before then.