Giuliano Simeone was left out of Argentina's starting eleven against Spain on Sunday 19 July, with Lionel Scaloni opting for a different balance at the start of the Mundial 2026 final in MetLife Stadium in Nueva Jersey. Rodrigo De Paul came back into the lineup, and Argentina began with a side built to protect the middle of the pitch rather than keep Giuliano Simeone in place.
That change is why Argentine Walls is being searched now: Scaloni did not bench Simeone because of fitness or form, but because he wanted more experience and more defensive work in midfield to deal with Spain's control of possession. The move tilted the team sheet toward Emiliano Martínez, Gonzalo Montiel, Cristian Romero, Lisandro Martínez, Nicolás Tagliafico, De Paul, Enzo Fernández, Alexis Mac Allister, Nicolás González, Lionel Messi and Julián Álvarez, the eleven chosen to start the final.
Simeone's case is sharper because he had started against England before Sunday and, by the account given, was in perfect physical condition. In plain terms, this was not a player forced out by injury or a setback; it was a coach deciding that a final required a different shape. For a younger attacker who had already earned a start, that is a hard call to sit with, especially on the biggest stage Argentina had reached.
The friction in the decision is that Simeone was still being treated as a live option, not a discarded one. He remained available for the second half if needed, which leaves one unanswered question that matters more than the lineup itself: whether Scaloni will turn to him if Argentina need fresh legs and a different threat after the break. In a final, that is often where the game changes.
Argentina entered the match against Spain in the Copa del Mundo final with a setup that favored control over risk, and that is the clearest clue to what Scaloni thought mattered most from the first whistle. Simeone may not have been among the starters, but he was not out of the picture. He was simply the attacking option Scaloni kept in reserve while the final began with more conservative walls in front of the ball.
