Half an hour before kick-off at MetLife Stadium, Argentina's final puzzle was still being put together. Lionel Scaloni had made three changes to the starting line-up, and the most significant of them was Rodrigo De Paul returning to the XI for the World Cup final. In a match this large, that was not a minor personnel tweak. It was a decision that shaped how Argentina would try to control the game, and how much space they might leave behind if they could not do it.
The wider context matters here. This was a World Cup final with a familiar feel in more ways than one, because so many players involved knew each other from La Liga encounters, and 24 of the 52 squad members had played for Spanish clubs. That shared background can make a final look more like a chess match than a surprise. But the bigger issue for Argentina was structural. Their midfield setup was described as lacking a specialist holding midfielder, which meant the balance between control and protection was always going to be under scrutiny.
That is where De Paul matters. Alongside the other changes, his return gave Argentina another trusted option in midfield, but it also reinforced the idea that Scaloni was building around familiarity and flexibility rather than a pure defensive anchor. In a final, that can work if the team is compact, sharp in transition and disciplined without the ball. It can also become a problem if the opponent can turn one open passing lane into a direct attack.
A familiar stage, but a delicate midfield balance
The absence of a specialist holding midfielder was the obvious tactical concern. Argentina could still compete for possession, and they could still press in spells, but the question was what happened when the first wave of pressure was beaten. If the midfield cannot slow the game after turnovers, then the team can be stretched quickly, especially against elite attackers.
That is why the names around the match mattered so much. Lionel Messi became the oldest outfield player to appear in a World Cup final, while Kylian Mbappe was again part of the tournament’s individual conversation after winning the Golden Boot in 2022. In a final with that much talent on the pitch, a small gap in midfield can become a decisive one. The team that controls those spaces usually controls the match.
There was also a broader reminder of how connected this tournament cycle has been. Lionel Messi left Barca in 2021, and the game carried echoes of all the club-level familiarity that had built up over years of La Liga meetings. Even Nicolas Gonzalez's earlier Argentina breakthrough in 2020, when he played at left-back, speaks to the kind of adaptability this squad has demanded. Scaloni, in this sense, was not just picking a team for a final. He was choosing which version of Argentina would be most reliable under maximum pressure.
And yet that same flexibility comes with a cost. A lineup built on trust can still leave open questions if the balance is not quite right. Argentina had the experience, the talent and the emotional weight of a World Cup final. What they did not have, at least by the source’s description, was a specialist screen in front of the defense. In a game like this, that is exactly the kind of detail that can decide whether a plan looks elegant or exposed.
So the storyline around Molina Argentina is not simply that Scaloni made three changes. It is that one of them, De Paul’s return, helped define how Argentina would try to survive the most demanding match on the calendar. If the midfield held, the decision would look measured and smart. If it did not, the same choice could be remembered as the place where the risk first became visible.
