He spent most of his professional career in Spain, mainly at Deportivo de La Coruña, where he won the 1999–2000 Spanish league title and the 2001–02 Copa del Rey.

Born in the small town of Pujato in Santa Fe Province,[7] with Italian origins from Ascoli Piceno, Marche,[8][9] Scaloni began his career in the Argentine Primera División with local club Newell's Old Boys and then Estudiantes de La Plata, before joining Spain's Deportivo de La Coruña in December 1997 for 405 million pesetas.

[11][12] Due to a knee injury, he appeared in only 14 La Liga matches as Depor won the title for the first time.

[13] After falling out with manager Joaquín Caparrós, Scaloni joined Premier League side West Ham United on loan on 31 January 2006, the final day of the transfer window, in an attempt to increase his chance of selection for the upcoming World Cup.

[14] He took the number 2 shirt from the departed Tomáš Řepka, and made his league debut for the East Londoners against Sunderland, on 4 February;[15] he also helped the team to reach the FA Cup final, a penalty shootout loss to Liverpool.

However, due to the fact there were no limitations for free agents, two weeks later Scaloni signed a one-year contract at Racing de Santander,[19] The Cantabrians subsequently finished in mid table.

[27] After making his debut for Argentina on 30 April 2003 in a friendly game with Libya,[28] Scaloni was a surprise selection for the 2006 FIFA World Cup, taking the place of veteran Javier Zanetti who also played as a right wing-back.

[32] After Argentina's failure at the World Cup in Russia, Scaloni and Pablo Aimar were named caretaker managers until the end of the year.

[38] In the 2019 Copa América, he led the side to third place in Brazil, but not in the style fans expected as Argentina struggled to advance further in the tournament.

[41] Scaloni led Argentina to the 2021 Copa América title after defeating Brazil who were once again the hosts (1–0), helping them to win their first trophy in 28 years.

[51] He then led Argentina to their third FIFA World Cup title in the final against France, with the Argentine team winning via a 4–2 penalty shoot-out after the match had ended in 3–3 after extra time.

[55] Scaloni was recognised as the best men's national coach in the world in 2022 by the International Federation of Football History & Statistics (IFFHS).

[58] He later guided his country to their record 16th title in Copa América in the 2024 tournament, defeating Colombia 1–0 after extra time in the final.