Argentina and Spain are feverishly preparing for the 2026 World Cup final, and Lionel Scaloni is laying out his plans on how the Albiceleste will play.

Speaking to the media a few hours before the final, Argentina’s head coach was asked to comment on how Lamine Yamal might be contained, and his response combined humor with recognition of the player’s talent.

“How do you stop Yamal? If only we could lock him in his room!” Scaloni quipped, adding: “He’s amazing, a true gem. He’s still so young and has so much more to offer. He’s done so much for Spain. We hope not on Sunday, but just like Messi, he’s very hard to stop.”

In addition, Scaloni discussed how his team will approach the match against Spain:

“We analyzed Spain because we were supposed to face them in March, but since December we’ve also been studying every possible opponent in the World Cup. In the end, we didn’t analyze Spain any more than any other national team. When you look at the path through the World Cup, you study every team that could potentially reach that stage, and there were many opponents we did that with.

Of course, overanalyzing isn’t a good thing either. We know how Spain plays, and everyone is aware of their strengths. We’ll try to contain them, while at the same time seeking to impose our own rhythm and exploit the areas where we believe they might struggle.”

*photo source: AP