The instructor versus the pupil.

Spain manager Luis de la Fuente and Argentina boss Lionel Scaloni will meet in the World Cup final after reaching New Jersey through separate paths - yet they share a lasting link from their past.

In 2017, during a career pause after his playing days, Scaloni joined a Spanish federation program to earn his Uefa Pro Licence, the top coaching credential in Europe.

That is where he encountered De la Fuente, who led the technique sessions while also guiding Spain's Under-19 side.

Scaloni earned top marks on the course and later credited De la Fuente with providing significant support to him and fellow students.

The connection between the two has endured through the years.

De la Fuente emerged from an established system, while Scaloni developed within the distinctive culture of Argentine club football. Still, their paths align in key ways.

Each took charge of a national team after periods of being sidelined by the sport, and both have created squads that operate like close-knit families grounded in values drawn from sport and their shared Catholic faith.

De la Fuente aims to claim both a World Cup and European title, while Scaloni stands 90 minutes from retaining his world crown.

Quite an achievement for two coaches without any top-flight club experience between them.

De la Fuente was raised in Haro, within the wine country of La Rioja, site of the annual Batalla del Vino festival where crowds in white attire soak one another with red wine.

Following his retirement as a player in 1994, he spent 15 years in varied positions across several clubs, including lower-league management, youth development and assistant coaching roles.

After being dismissed from second-tier Deportivo Alaves in 2011, where his playing career had concluded, he spent the next 18 months without work and increasingly removed from the game.

His federation journey started with a leap of faith after spotting a newspaper notice seeking a youth coach for Spain.

He contacted former Spain manager Inaki Saez, who recommended De la Fuente to the federation. The initial three-month contract covered taking Spain's Under-19s to the European Championship in Lithuania.

They fell to France in the semi-finals yet performed well enough to secure an extension. He then led Rodri, Unai Simon and Mikel Merino to victory in the next Under-19 Euros, with further success following.

De la Fuente became Spain's senior team head coach in 2022 after overseeing most of the current squad from their teenage years through under-19, under-21 and Olympic levels, collecting trophies throughout.

He has known Dani Olmo, Martin Zubimendi, Pedri, Mikel Oyarzabal and Marc Cucurella - along with their families - for a decade.

His approach centers on fostering respect for opponents and the process while emphasizing patience and composure.

His career rests on sacrifice, humility and shared responsibility - principles that mirror his religious convictions.

This appears in everyday actions. Half an hour before the Euro 2024 final, as the stadium filled, he phoned to confirm his family had arrived safely.

It appeared again during this World Cup when De la Fuente, 65, drew the federation photographer into a group hug with the squad after learning mid-match of the man's mother's passing.

It surfaced once more, more emotionally, ahead of the semi-final against France when a query about his late brother - who passed three years earlier - left him visibly moved at the pre-match press conference.

Family remains central for De la Fuente, the bedrock of his world. His son Alberto serves on Spain's coaching staff.

By comparison, Scaloni's learning occurred not in federation classrooms but inside Argentine dressing rooms governed by unwritten codes and hierarchies that supersede individuals, where veteran players hold sway that coaches must acknowledge.

He was raised in Pujato, the modest town near Rosario where his family continues to cultivate maize, wheat and soy, and on the pitches where his father Angel brought him and brother Mauro for training and matches.

Scaloni featured in Argentina's Under-20 World Cup win in 1997 in Malaysia alongside Walter Samuel and Pablo Aimar - now both assistants beside him.

He returned with the trophy and also a fear of flying stemming from an emergency landing.

During Deportivo La Coruna's travels across Spain he would depart with teammates but return home separately by car with his father - 600km to Madrid, 1,000km to Barcelona.

He recorded more than 200 appearances for Deportivo, contributing to their La Liga title, before spells at various clubs including a 2006 loan at West Ham United.

Retirement in 2014-15 proved tougher than anticipated. He and wife Elisa Montero had settled in Mallorca, her hometown, with two young children, and Scaloni struggled with the adjustment.

He coached a group of 14-year-olds at Son Caliu, a modest club ten minutes from home, enduring cold mornings on the sideline yet feeling content for the first time since quitting playing.

He has since suggested every club should employ a psychologist to ready players for that transition: the vacant mornings.

Scaloni's coaching resume lacks the club volume of De la Fuente's.

He joined Sevilla as assistant in 2016 under fellow Argentine Jorge Sampaoli, and the pair later took the Argentina job a year afterward.

Following Sampaoli's dismissal in 2018 after a poor World Cup in Russia, Scaloni was appointed successor and, despite initial doubts over his inexperience, has remained in post.

His strength lies less in tactics. His current staff consists largely of ex-players who grasp instinctively what international players require: fewer tactical talks and more shared experiences.

The barbecues, karaoke evenings and intentional blending of stardom with everyday moments define the Argentina squad environment.

Scaloni began consulting a psychologist after leading Argentina to Copa America and World Cup successes.

Once the rush subsided and the weight of events hit him, worsened by his parents' health issues at the time, therapy and extended bike rides helped him cope.

Both coaches have assembled teams whose core strength stems not from any star but from the trust cultivated within a well-led group.

Former Spanish Football Federation director Fernando Hierro's portrayal of De la Fuente as an expert in Spanish football's raw talent who has created an enjoyable family atmosphere applies almost verbatim to Scaloni's Argentina.

They are coaches driven by collective power. Both favor stability over upheaval.

De la Fuente retained belief in a generation he had mentored since their teens; Scaloni maintained faith in Messi's supporting cast even after the 2019 Copa America semi-final loss to Brazil, and it paid off within two years at the Maracana with Messi's first national-team trophy.

And both, notably, express the same sentiment when describing what national-team success signifies.

De la Fuente speaks of the honor of seeing his country's people celebrate once more. Scaloni repeatedly references those in the stands who travel to support the team and those watching back home.

On Sunday the student and teacher meet again. They will recall and perhaps note that defeat forms part of sport.

Yet victory will render it even more remarkable that two men once excluded from football have inscribed themselves into its central narrative.