Do we like them?

Do we like Lionel Scaloni?

Our score: 7 out of 10. Nothing harmful found in his own words or company, plus visible warmth, but the record we could check is thin and he had one clumsy press-conference line.

Scaloni grew up in Pujato, a town of about 3,700 people in Santa Fe, and left at 16 to try out at Newell's Old Boys. He went on to play in Spain, England and Italy, and was in Argentina's squad for the 2006 World Cup. Locals remember him as a cheeky kid.

He took the national job in 2018 after the Russia World Cup flop, with plenty of doubters because he had hardly coached before. Then he won the 2021 Copa América, Argentina's first title in 28 years. The 2022 World Cup came after that.

The 2026 tournament was the messy one. Rumours swirled that Argentina and Messi were being favoured by FIFA, and Scaloni's reply was to say the squad uses the criticism as fuel. Before the semi-final he also said he wouldn't mix football with politics, out of respect for the Falklands war.

The harm check comes up mostly clean. After the England semi-final, Argentine players posed with a Malvinas banner, which the Falkland Islands government called insensitive. The report does not say Scaloni was involved, and afterwards he said officials had told them nothing about it. We found no statements from him about LGBTQ+ people, women, migrants or the climate, good or bad, so that is a gap in the record.

One real wince: at that same press conference he said his players were “como indios, en el buen sentido de la palabra”. He added “Perdón por lo de indio” straight away and joked about his wife's reaction. It reads as a clumsy compliment rather than a campaign, but it's the sort of line some will find a bit much.

The good stuff is quieter. He posted a message of grief when two municipal workers died in his hometown, and his staff helped promote flood-relief donations for Bahía Blanca. After losing the final he wrote “I'm sorry I couldn't bring you another Cup” and thanked staff and fans.