Luis de la Fuente once taught Lionel Scaloni before their World Cup final reunion | OneFootball

Luis de la Fuente once taught Lionel Scaloni inside Spain’s federation, and the pair now face off as national coaches in the World Cup final. Their touchline meeting adds an extra layer to a contest billed as a clash of ideas.

Back in 2017, with De la Fuente leading Spain’s under-19s since 2013, he was also delivering coaching courses for aspiring managers at the RFEF. Among the attendees was Scaloni.

“Professor Luis de la Fuente was the one who taught my coaching classes. Luis helped all the youngsters who took that course. He is a wonderful person. I like his way of expressing himself, his attitude, and the devotion his players show him,” he told The Athletic.

De la Fuente also tutored Montserrat Tomé, Xavi Hernandez, Xabi Alonso, Raúl, Victor Valdés and Albert Riera. Tomé led Spain to the Euro 2025 final, Xavi won La Liga in 2023, and Alonso took Leverkusen to the 2024 Bundesliga title.

“It would be easy now to say Scaloni stood out, though some did have something a little different,” De la Fuente told the Guardian in June. “He had that restlessness, that way of challenging you, ‘I do not see it like that’. Scaloni debated everything, discussed everything.”

The former pupil, already a World Cup winner, has the chance to outstrip his old mentor. Kick-off is at 21:00 on Sunday.

Source: L'Équipe