A unique duel on the bench Sunday in the 2026 World Cup final, as Spanish professor Luis de la Fuente (65) faces one of his former students, Argentina's Lionel Scaloni (48), who, like him, dispelled initial doubts and awakened the giant from its slumber.

The two coaches share one story and a similar path, and some personality traits as well, and here they face each other on the biggest stage in the world, at MetLife Stadium.

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Their first meeting point was Spain. Scaloni played there for nearly 10 years in Spain (Deportivo La Coruña, Racing Santander, and Real Mallorca), where he still lives with his Spanish wife Elisa Montero and their children. Also in Spain, he obtained his coaching certificates, and Luis de la Fuente was one of his teachers in 2017. The Argentine said smiling on Wednesday after the thrilling 2-1 win over England in the semifinal: 'Besides being my teacher during my coaching career, I had a special relationship with Luis, because frankly I appreciate his closeness and his way of dealing... Fate has willed that we meet today in the final.'

- Under Maradona's Fire -Despite his modest coaching resume, the former defender succeeded in turning the Argentine national team, which was suffering from low morale and accustomed to losing finals, into a winning machine (2022 World Cup, 2021 and 2024 Copa América). When he arrived in 2018, the former assistant to Jorge Sampaoli had no experience as a head coach at club level, and his appointment was temporary, sparking some doubts. Even the late football legend Diego Armando Maradona criticized his appointment as coach of the Albiceleste, saying at the time: 'He's a nice kid, but he can't even organize traffic.'

De la Fuente said jokingly during Euro 2024: 'At first, he faced a lot of criticism because he came, as some said, with limited experience, but he had the bad luck of becoming champion of America and world champion with Argentina.' He added: 'He is a great coach, a wonderful person, and an excellent manager of the group.' As with Scaloni, the Spaniard had to fight to dispel the doubts surrounding his appointment at the helm of La Roja after the 2022 World Cup and the departure of Luis Enrique.

- 'Sunday, Sorry...' -Although he was relatively unknown to the wider public, the Spanish Football Federation was fully aware of him. This friendly man, whose experience as a head coach consisted of only 11 matches (in the second division with Alavés in 2011), joined the Spanish federation structure in 2013, after coaching age-group teams at Sevilla and the reserve team of Athletic Bilbao. The officials judged well. Luis de la Fuente won the European Under-19 Championship in 2015, then the Under-21 European Championship in 2019. Many of the World Cup final players were part of that last team, such as Fabián Ruiz, Dani Olmo, Mikel Oyarzabal, and Mikel Merino. All of these players were also part of the Euro 2024-winning squad that La Roja defeated England in the final. Thus, De la Fuente is the coach who ended Spain's long trophy drought since the golden generation that achieved the historic treble: Euro 2008, 2010 World Cup, and Euro 2012.

The Spaniard, winner of the 2023 Nations League, will face Scaloni for the first time. The two coaches were scheduled to meet in the 'Finalissima' between the Copa América and Euro winners, in Doha in March, but the match was cancelled due to the war in the Middle East. Scaloni said on Wednesday, with his focus on the final: 'He has managed his national team wonderfully, and I am very happy for him.' He concluded: 'Everyone knows I live in Spain and have a Spanish family. But on Sunday, we will do our best to beat them!'