Argentina head coach Lionel Scaloni expressed his pride in his players despite their World Cup final defeat to Spain.

La Albiceleste were unable to retain their World Cup title after suffering a 1-0 defeat to Spain in the final.

A 105th minute goal by Ferran Torres was enough to crown Spain as the new World champions.

Scaloni urged his team to take pride in reaching another World Cup final and stressing the importance of accepting defeat with dignity after a memorable campaign.

“[I feel] sadness but knowing that we left everything out there. I have a lot of things to say about how we got here but it’s not worth it.

“I want to thank these guys eternally for giving us another World Cup final and for competing until the end. They [Spain] were better, that’s the truth.

“But I’ll hold on to an enormous memory of what they’ve done, of what it’s worth to get this far. We have to give it huge value because it takes a lot to get here.

“We’re big in victory and we have to be big in defeat. Today we’re showing that we know how to lose.

“We lost the match and we’re owning it. But that doesn’t mean we’ll stop remembering everything we did to get here.”