Argentina won their third World Cup in spectacular fashion at Qatar 2022. Though it was a very long wait for their fans, since that last title in Mexico 1986, Lionel Messi delivered performances for the ages and was the best player in the tournament.
The last two years have been extraordinary for Argentina hoisting the trophy in the 2021 Copa America in Brazil, the Finalissima against Italy in Wembley and the World Cup after a thrilling final with France. Emiliano Martinez, Julian Alvarez, Angel Di Maria, Nicolas Otamendi and many others were just sensational helping Messi to claim the only big trophy he was missing.
Of course, none of it would have been possible without the masterful work of coach Lionel Scaloni. Now, in a very surprising episode, he talked about the incredible strategy which gave them the victory in the World Cup final against a powerhouse like France.
World Cup 2022: Lionel Scaloni explains the tactics to beat France in the final
Exactly five months after winning the World Cup, Lionel Scaloni had an interview with FIFA about the tactics developed to beat a favorite like France led by a superstar such as Kylian Mbappe.
Lionel Scaloni only used numbers to translate the message for his players. “My handwriting is ugly. That’s why I like to explain it with numbers.” So, number by number, he picked the matchups for the final. For example, Nicolas Otamendi with Olivier Giroud, Alexis Mac Allister taking Antoine Griezmann or a two-player system of Nahuel Molina and Cristian Romero to ‘eliminate’ the threat of Kylian Mbappe.
Furthermore, Scaloni confirmed he always knew Angel Di Maria would play a key role to have success. “Since the moment France beat Morocco, we knew Di Maria was going to play on the left side. We didn’t tell the players until minutes before the game. That was crucial, because we didn’t want to give any advantage. Nowadays, everything is leaked and that could have played against us.”
The coach admitted that move had its reward with the second goal at Lusail Stadium. “It was a reflection of what we wanted to do. Retreat a bit when they had the ball, and, as expected, if we recovered it, we had to be able to finish on Di Maria’s side (left).”
During the interview, Lionel Scaloni emphasized a lot of times the strategy around Angel Di Maria. That’s why he had total freedom on the field. “We wanted to avoid Di Maria coming back to defend Dembele. First, because defending it’s not his thing and then because he had to be fresh to attack constantly (Jules) Kounde.”
Of course, the most important part of the plan was how to stop Kylian Mbappe. “The idea was that every time he received the ball, one or two players had to be close. A star player like him cannot have even a meter. The idea was to prevent him of getting the ball looking forward. As fast as he is, if he’s playing backward, we immediately had to pressure him because he had to turn around.”
In the end, it all worked out against Mbappe for Argentina. “He received the ball very few times looking towards the goal. When he did it, he made damage to us. However, the idea was always to pressure when he received backward.” A recipe which led to a World Cup title.
