How De la Fuente and Scaloni outperformed Tuchel and Ancelotti

Sunday's World Cup final will be a meeting of stars but the two managers overseeing Lionel Messi, Lamine Yamal and the rest do not share the high-profile status of many of their players.

Lionel Scaloni and Luis de la Fuente haven't managed a top-level club game between them. One fell into the job as a caretaker. The other was promoted from the U21s. And yet they have already transformed the fortunes of Argentina and Spain respectively.

Argentina hadn't won a major tournament in a quarter of a century when Scaloni took over from Jorge Sampaoli, for whom he was assistant, in 2018. He now has them on the brink of a fourth in a row having won the Copa America either side of the last World Cup.

De la Fuente, meanwhile, is aiming to add a World Cup to Spain's European Championship triumph in 2024, having kicked off a winning era for the country by clinching the Nations League only six months after replacing Luis Enrique in 2023.

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Their success, as coaches with modest, or, in Scaloni's case, non-existent, club experience, differentiates them from most other managers to have won international tournaments in recent years.

The 2020 European Championship-winning coach was former Manchester City and Inter boss Roberto Mancini with Italy. The 2018 World Cup-winning coach Didier Deschamps managed Monaco, Juventus and Marseille before taking the France job.

Many nations went down the route of making big-name appointments ahead of this year's World Cup, in spite of Argentina and Spain's success under Scaloni and De la Fuente.

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Thomas Tuchel, formerly of Borussia Dortmund, Paris Saint-Germain, Chelsea and Bayern Munich, was heralded as the elite tactician to finally get England over the line but instead finds himself being held responsible for their semi-final elimination.

Former Hoffenheim, RB Leipzig and Bayern boss Julian Nagelsmann brought pedigree to the Germany job but has left the role following their round of 32 exit to Paraguay, having only made the quarter-finals at the European Championship two years ago.

Five-time Champions League winner Carlo Ancelotti, hired at considerable expense by Brazil, did not get past the last 16 of the World Cup. Mauricio Pochettino's USA were eliminated at the same stage. And then there's Marcelo Bielsa, who said he "left nothing" to Uruguayan football after their group-stage exit.

Their collective travails at the tournament raise questions. What actually makes a good international manager in the modern era? What do reputations forged at club level really count for when the conditions and nuances of international jobs are so vastly different?

Tuchel, Ancelotti and Pochettino may yet bring the success England, Brazil and USA crave, of course. But Argentina and Spain have already cracked it with Scaloni and De la Fuente.

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Carlo Ancelotti was named Brazil head coach after leaving Real Madrid last year

Their appointments were met with scepticism. But they have built the success of their projects on togetherness, by fostering trust and nurturing strong relationships with and between their players.

"Some time ago, we began to emphasise a word that gave us a great deal of security, confidence and strength - family," said De la Fuente, who is helped by having known many of his players from his decade-long spell coaching Spain's U19s and U21s.

"That's where he began to build everything we see now," said Rodri, now their captain, who was part of De la Fuente's European Championship-winning U19 team in 2015.

De la Fuente's players highlight the importance of his approach to building team spirit. "He's an amazing leader," said Dani Caravajal after their European Championship triumph two years ago. "He has managed to get us all pulling in the same direction."

Scaloni, like De la Fuente, spent time working in his country's youth ranks, albeit more fleetingly, as U20s coach for a period of a few months in 2018. He even counted the Spain boss as one of his mentors when studying for his pro licence in Madrid.

His remit differs from De la Fuente's in that his team has been built to platform one star player in Lionel Messi. His task will become harder once the great man calls time on his international career. But Argentina's collective spirit is similarly striking.

The bond between Scaloni and Messi is key for Argentina

"The most important thing about Scaloni is that he treats us all equally," said Nicolas Otamendi. Emi Martinez has also talked up the importance of his man-management skills. "I think his biggest strength is that his players would give their lives for him."

Tuchel has of course put unity at the heart of his England project, omitting any potentially disruptive influences from his squad and asking his players to form a brotherhood. But his confrontational nature came out with his comments after the Norway and Argentina games and now threatens to undermine his tenure.

England, of course, appointed Tuchel having gone down the alternative route by promoting Gareth Southgate from the U21s. Getting everyone to pull together is not enough on its own. Crucially, Scaloni and De la Fuente have also demonstrated a level of tactical acumen Southgate was seen to lack.

Scaloni is known for his tactical flexibility and his ability to read games and react accordingly. "He always knows what game we have to play," said Alexis Mac Allister. "He has a very clear idea but knows how to adapt to each opponent," said Javier Mascherano.

Argentina have ridden their luck at different points in the tournament but their ability to adapt to different circumstances, to defend deep, dominate the ball or play on the break, has become a feature of they approach during Scaloni's reign.

De la Fuente, meanwhile, provided ample evidence of his tactical expertise in Spain's semi-final. Spain are defined by their passing game but their passage to the final was secured by stifling France's attack thanks to the manager's out-of-possession set-up.

"The team played sensationally well, I'd say even better without the ball than with it," said Rodri. "We stopped them from playing with our pressing, our working. It was a very complete game by everyone."

Only one of Scaloni and De la Fuente will lift the trophy on Sunday. But they have already outperformed Tuchel, Ancelotti and the rest, their success a reminder that club-level pedigree offers no guarantees when it comes to international management.

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