Lionel Scaloni, Argentina's World Cup-winning coach, will stay until 2026.

According to the Argentine football federation, Argentina's World Cup-winning coach Lionel Scaloni has signed a new contract until the 2026 World Cup.

Scaloni, who took over the role in 2018 and led Lionel Messi's team to victory in Qatar in December, agreed to the new contract while in Paris for the FIFA Best awards.

Argentine football chief "Claudio Tapia and Lionel Scaloni met to finalize the extension of his contract until 2026," a statement from the federation read under the headline "Continuity assured".

Scaloni, 44, led Argentina to the Copa America title in 2021, the Albiceleste's first since 1993.

He then oversaw the South Americans' third World Cup victory, a penalty shootout victory over France in Doha.

He took over as coach from Jorge Sampaoli after a last-16 exit at the 2018 World Cup in Russia, initially on an interim basis before making the job his own.

Only some people welcomed the arrival of the understated Scaloni as national team coach at the time.

The late Diego Maradona, a former Argentina manager, gave Scaloni a particularly harsh assessment, praising his character but telling the Clarin newspaper, "He's not even capable of directing traffic."

Scaloni had no previous head coaching experience and was only supposed to be in charge for two months while the federation looked for Sampaoli's replacement.

He took over a squad that had been scarred by a string of near-misses, including the 2014 World Cup final defeat.

His vision for the team impressed Messi, who was disillusioned with international football after Argentina's exit from the 2018 World Cup.

Scaloni led Argentina to a 36-match unbeaten streak before last year's World Cup, the highlight of which was the 2021 Copa America victory in Brazil, which ended a 28-year trophy drought.

Then, in Qatar, he engineered a trophy-winning run to complete a Copa America and World Cup double after a shock-opening loss to Saudi Arabia.

Argentina will defend its world title under Scaloni in a World Cup co-hosted by Mexico, the United States, and Canada in 2026.

Scaloni is competing for FIFA's Best Coach award alongside Real Madrid's Carlo Ancelotti and Manchester City's Pep Guardiola.