After nearly nine decades of having only one holder, a special record at the World Cup is on the verge of being equaled. Lionel Scaloni will have the opportunity to rewrite history if he and Argentina overcome Spain in the final match.
Lionel Scaloni is moving very close to a milestone of historical significance for world football. Ahead of the 2026 World Cup final against Spain at the New York New Jersey stadium, the 48-year-old coach is not only aiming for a second consecutive championship with Argentina, but also stands before the opportunity to write his name into the ranks of the greatest strategists in the tournament’s history.
According to the sports website Worldsoccertalk, as long as he defeats Spain, Scaloni will equal the 88-year-old record of legend Vittorio Pozzo with two World Cup titles. This is an achievement that a series of famous coaches have come very close to but were all powerless to reach. Therefore, the upcoming final match will not only decide the World Cup crown but could also open a new chapter in the history of world football.
Currently, Vittorio Pozzo remains the only coach to have won the World Cup twice. He helped Italy be crowned right on home soil in the 1934 tournament after overcoming Spain in a quarterfinal replay, then defeating Czechoslovakia in the final. Four years later on French soil, Pozzo continued to lead Italy past Brazil in the semi-finals before subduing Hungary to successfully defend the championship.
Since Pozzo’s second championship in 1938, no manager has ever replicated this achievement. Scaloni currently possesses one World Cup title with Argentina following the triumph in Qatar in 2022 and is now just one victory away from the historical milestone. If successful, he will become the second coach in history to win two World Cup championships.
Quite a few legendary strategists have come close to the feat but all missed out. Mario Zagallo helped Brazil win the championship in 1970 before failing in the 1998 World Cup final. Carlos Bilardo led Argentina to the throne in 1986 but only secured the runner-up spot at Italy 1990. Helmut Schön also experienced a similar journey, losing the final in 1966 before winning the championship with West Germany in 1974.
Franz Beckenbauer after that could also only come close to Pozzo’s milestone when he won the runner-up spot with West Germany in 1986 before being crowned in 1990. Most recently is Didier Deschamps, the person who helped France win the 2018 World Cup but failed against Argentina itself on penalties in the 2022 final. Therefore, if Scaloni defeats Spain in the upcoming final match, he will not only successfully defend the crown with Argentina but also end the 88-year period in which Vittorio Pozzo was the sole holder of this special record.
