Lionel Scaloni Wins IFFHS World’s Best National Team Coach of the Year For 2023

Argentina’s World Cup-winning coach Lionel Scaloni is enjoying the laurels for his magnificent work in Qatar, last year. The International Federation of Football History and Statistics (IFFHS) has chosen Scaloni as the Best National Team Coach of the Year for 2023. This is Scaloni’s second consecutive IFFHS award win, as he received the honor last year, immediately after winning the FIFA World Cup.

Meanwhile, Scaloni’s rival in last year’s World Cup final, Didier Deschamps, the French boss finished second in the IFFHS list of best national team coaches. This is quite unsurprising as Argentina and France are ranked 1st and 2nd respectively in FIFA’s world rankings.

Lionel Scaloni carries his World Cup success forward with another prize

Lionel Scaloni won the IFFHS Best National Team Coach of the Year award with 185 points. Meanwhile, the second-best coach Didier Deschamps has managed to secure 112 points. It is indeed interesting to see how Scaloni and Deschamps have been dominating the IFFHS rankings in the last two years. Scaloni won the award in 2022 and 2023. Whereas Deschamps was the runners-up in two years. Lionel Messi‘s boss and Kylian Mbappe‘s boss are trailed by Cristiano Ronaldo’s boss, Roberto Martinez.

Thanks to Martinez’s undefeated run at the UEFA Euro qualifiers, he came close to the likes of the Argentine and French bosses. Starting 2023 fresh off the World Cup win, Scaloni’s Argentina did not see a defeat in eight-straight matches. These included outings at the 2026 FIFA World Cup qualifiers. Once, Scaloni and Messi’s Argentina fell short against Uruguay. That being the only defeat, the 45-year-old has been down nine out of 10 matches in this year. Now let’s see how Scaloni’s Albiceleste compares to Deschamps’ ‘Le Bleus.’

Scaloni vs Deschamps, who had the better year?

Just like Leo Messi’s Argentina, Mbappe’s France had also tasted defeat only once in 2023. However, they had to settle for a diminishing draw in one of their campaigns. So it is Scaloni who boasts more wins than Deschamps. However, when it comes to scoring goals, France clearly dominates Argentina. The Blues have tallied a whopping 34 goals in 10 matches to Argentina’s 21. Meanwhile, Argentina is the better defensive side. The team conceded only two goals this year, and it was during the losing match against Uruguay.

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A clean sheet in nine other matches is indeed a testament to Scaloni’s managerial prowess. Well, the man himself was a right back during his career. Therefore, it is easy for him to be a true sensei for the Albiceleste defenders. Interestingly, both Scaloni and Deschamps will have a shot at the next year’s IFFHs award as well. Argentina will feature at the 2024 Copa America tournament, and France will partake in the 2024 UEFA Euro. Both teams are favorites to win these respective competitions. If things go well, the Scaloni-Deschamps domination won’t anytime soon.

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