Anticipation has reached fever pitch, with the 2026 World Cup less than two hours away from kicking off at the iconic Estadio Azteca in Mexico City.
The 23rd edition of football’s global showpiece begins with hosts Mexico facing South Africa, while also marking a historic shift as the tournament debuts its expanded 48-team format.
This new structure has opened the door for several emerging footballing nations, with Curacao, Cape Verde, Uzbekistan and Jordan all set to make their World Cup debuts.
While each of the 48 managers will be dreaming of a deep run and a place in the history books, some inevitably enter the tournament better equipped than others. Squad selection, tactical acumen and in-game management will prove decisive as the competition unfolds.
Here, Daily Mail Sport takes a closer look at all 48 head coaches, ranking them from the least likely to succeed to the very best…
The 23rd edition of football’s global showpiece begins tonight, while also marking a historic shift as the tournament debuts its expanded 48-team format (pictured above is DR Congo)
After a four-season spell at Real Madrid, ‘Don Carlo’ joined the Brazilian national team in May 2025 for his first taste of international football
Appointed in 2025 by the English FA, Tuchel has made quite the statement by leaving some of England’s most technically gifted players at home
48 – Sebastien Migne (Haiti)
Haiti’s head coach has led his side to their second ever FIFA World Cup after a 2-0 win over Nicaragua in November 2025. He has also coached Kenya, Togo, Congo and Equatorial Guinea.
47 – Sebastien Desabre (DR Congo)
After his appointment in 2022, Desabre took DR Congo to their first World Cup since 1974. He has managed in the Cameroonian League, Angolan league and the Tunisian league.
46 – Sergej Barbarez (Bosnia and Herzegovina)
Barbarez managed a Bosnia side that killed any hopes of the Italians qualifying for this summer’s tournament. He is yet to win a title in his managerial career.
45 – Darren Bazeley (New Zealand)
Bazeley has been in charge of the ‘All Whites’ for three years having previously managed the nation’s under-17’s team where he won the OFC Championship three times.
44 – Georgios Donis (Saudi Arabia)
Georgios Donis has only recently taken charge of Saudi Arabia ahead of the World Cup. Donis has also managed Panathinaikos and Al-Hilal.
43 – Bubista (Cape Verde)
The 56-year-old is the first man to take Cape Verde to a World Cup beating Cameroon to the top spot in their group during qualifying and losing just one of their ten group games.
Bubista (left) is the first man to take Cape Verde to a World Cup beating Cameroon
42 – Thomas Christiansen (Panama)
The former Leeds United manager has been in charge of Panama for almost six years. It’s just their second appearance at a World Cup after their debut in 2018.
41 – Jamal Sellami (Jordan)
Despite his Moroccan identity, Sellami will take charge of Jordan in their first ever global tournament. The 55-year-old has already made his mark, helping Jordan reach the final of the 2025 Arab Cup, narrowly losing to Morocco on penalties, and to this first World Cup.
40 – Sabri Lamouchi (Tunisia)
Frenchman Lamouchi was recently appointed for the Tunisia job, and has triumphed in just one of the four games he has managed for the nation.
39 – Miroslav Koubek (Czech Republic)
Koubek is the second oldest manager on this list. The 74-year-old masterminded a win in the playoffs against Denmark to ensure his side would be jetting off to North America.
38 – Gustavo Alfaro (Paraguay)
The Argentinian ensured Paraguay qualified for their first World Cup in 16 years finishing level on points with Brazil, Uruguay and Colombia in qualifying.
37 – Amir Ghalenoei (Iran)
The Iranian manager has won 31 of his 43 games in charge of the national side. He averages 2.3 points a game since taking charge of Iran.
Amir Ghalenoei (pictured) averages 2.3 points a game since taking charge of Iran
36 – Tony Popovic (Australia)
Popovic took over the ‘Socceroos’ in 2024, after stints at a number of A-League clubs including Melbourne Victory, Perth Glory and Western Sydney Wanderers.
35 – Mohamed Ouahbi (Morocco)
The 49-year-old is an expert in youth football, leading the under-20 Moroccan side to a World Cup championship as they beat Argentina in the final in 2025. This is his first experience of managing at senior level.
34 – Graham Arnold (Iraq)
The Australian born manager brings a wealth of experience to an Iraqi side featuring in just their second tournament ever. He managed Australia for 6 years between 2018 and 2024.
33 – Hong Myung-bo (South Korea)
The South Korean rejoined the national side after an impressive stint at K league 1 side Ulsan HD. He has won 14 of his 23 games in charge since 2024.
32 – Fabio Cannavaro (Uzbekistan)
Fabio Cannavaro won a title whilst managing Chinese side Guangzhou FC in the early days of his coaching career. He has only been in charge of Uzbekistan for eight games.
31 – Pape Thiaw (Senegal)
After leading Senegal to triumph in the 2023 African Cup of Nations as an interim boss, Thiaw was offered a permanent role and has coached his nation ever since.
After leading Senegal to triumph in the 2023 African Cup of Nations as an interim boss, Thiaw was offered a permanent role and has coached his nation ever since
30 – Hossam Hassan (Egypt)
Hassan has had a variety of jobs in the Egyptian Premier League. He joined the national side in 2024 and has lost just five times in 30 games.
29 – Vladimir Petkovic (Algeria)
Petkovic managed Switzerland for seven years before taking on his role as the Algerian boss. At club level, he won a Coppa Italia with Lazio in 2013
28 – Jesse Marsch (Canada)
The Canada boss will lead his team out in Toronto against Bosnia and Herzegovina on Friday, as they are one of the three nations to host this year’s World Cup. His time as a manager in the Premier League at Leeds United was short lived as he failed to win in 26 of the 37 games he took charge of.
27 – Dick Advocaat (Curacao)
The 78-year-old manager is the oldest on this list. He has helped Curacao become the smallest nation ever to play at World Cup championship. He has previously managed a host of countries including, the Netherlands, UAE, South Korea, Belgium, Russia, Serbia and Iraq.
26 – Steve Clarke (Scotland)
Steve Clarke masterminded a 4-2 win against Denmark in qualifiers to send Scotland to the World cup on what was an incredible night at Hampden Park. This is Scotland’s first appearance since 1998.
25 – Graham Potter (Sweden)
Despite turbulent seasons at West Ham and Chelsea, the Swedish FA appointed Potter in 2025. Despite finishing bottom of their group in the qualifiers, they proceeded to the play offs thanks to their strong performances in the Nations League. Viktor Gyokeres dispatched from close range against Poland to win the game 3-2 in the closing stages.
Despite turbulent seasons at West Ham and Chelsea, the Swedish FA appointed Potter in 2025 to salvage their faltering World Cup qualifying campaign – and delivered
24 – Nestor Lorenzo (Colombia)
Lorenzo spearheaded Colombia’s run to the 2024 Copa America final, where they were beat by a goal to nil against Lionel Messi’s Argentina.
23 – Emerse Fae (Ivory Coast)
Fae stepped in as Ivory Coast boss during the 2022 African Cup of Nations, and he won the competition after coaching a 2-1 victory over Nigeria. His Ivory Coast side beat France 2-1 in an international friendly seven days ago.
22 – Sebastian Beccacece (Ecuador)
Beccacece was appointed Ecuador boss in 2024 and is unbeaten in 19 games. He helped Ecuador to finish second in CONMEBOL World Cup qualifying and was praised for his side’s defensive resilience.
21 – Carlos Queiroz (Ghana)
Formerly Sir Alex Ferguson’s right-hand man at Manchester United, Queiroz takes charge of a Ghana side in need of a lift. Having won the Super Cup at Real Madrid and Sporting Lisbon, the Portuguese manager will be in charge of Ghana for just his second game, against Panama, in the first round of the World Cup.
20 – Hugo Broos (South Africa)
Born in Belgium, South Africa manager Broos previously won the African Cup of Nations with Cameroon in 2017. At Club level he won the Belgin first division three times, once with Anderlecht and twice with Club Brugge.
19 – Murat Yakin (Switzerland)
A much-adored figure in Switzerland, the nation’s head coach, Murat Yakin, has been in charge for almost 5 years. Before he became the manager of his country, he won back-to-back titles with FC Basel in 2013 and 2014.
A much-adored figure in Switzerland, Murat Yakin has been in charge for almost 5 years
18 – Vincenzo Montella (Turkey)
Vincenzo Montella has helped Turkey to qualify for just their third World Cup ever and their first in 24 years. He has also managed at some of the biggest clubs in Italy including Fiorentina, AC Milan and AS Roma. Montella won the Supercoppa Italiana with Milan in 2016.
17 – Julen Lopetegui (Qatar)
In a move that shocked a lot of the footballing world, Lopetegui joined Qatar after an unsuccessful tenure at West Ham. The former Porto, Real Madrid and Sevilla boss has won two youth championships with under-19 and under-21 Spanish sides as well as the 2019/20 Europa league.
16 – Javier Aguirre (Mexico)
The former head coach of Atletico Madrid rejoined the Mexico national team for the third time in his managerial career back in 2024. He guided Mexico to a CONCACAF Gold Cup win over the USA last summer.
15 – Rudi Garcia (Belgium)
After Napoli sacked him just 16 games into his role, Garcia was hired by Belgium ahead of their World Cup qualifying matches where they topped standings. In a group they should have made light work of, they drew to North Macedonia twice and Kazakhstan with Wales hot on their tails.
14 – Stale Solbakken (Norway)
Known for his success at FC Copenhagen, Solbakken has taken the reigns of the Norway national team as their ‘golden generation’ of players travel to the country’s first World Cup in 28 years. Solbakken is a flexible, intelligent manager whose Norway side have been tipped by many as dark horses in this tournament.
Solbakken is a flexible, intelligent manager whose Norway side have been tipped by many as dark horses in this tournament
13 – Marcelo Bielsa (Uruguay)
Bielsa began coaching Uruguay in 2023 after he was sacked by Leeds a year before. Labelled by Pep Guardiola as “the best-prepared manager” he’d seen in his life, Bielsa’s footballing philosophy has made his teams some of the most enjoyable to watch in the world.
12 – Zlatko Dalic (Croatia)
Since taking charge in 2017, Dalic has guided Croatia to a final and semi-final in consecutive global tournaments. The 59-year-old has taken Croatia further than any other manager has in the World Cup and given Croatians across the world the opportunity to dream.
11 – Hajime Moriyasu (Japan)
Moriyasu has been in charge of Japan for almost eight years. His side have won six of their last six international friendlies beating the likes of Brazil and England. He beat both Spain and Germany at the World Cup in 2022 as his side conquered ‘the group of death’. Japan are ones to watch at this tournament, and it is largely down to Moriyashu’s exciting style of play.
10 – Mauricio Pochettino (USA)
The former Tottenham, PSG and Chelsea boss will be looking to take host country USA further than any other coach has done at a World Cup campaign. Pochettino was in talks for a sensational return back to North London before the Tottenham appointed Roberto De Zerbi in March.
9 – Roberto Martinez (Portugal)
An FA Cup winner as the boss of Wigan Athletic, Martinez was knocked out of the World Cup in 2022 by Morocco. A golden opportunity wasted; however, Martinez believes Portugal can go all the way this campaign. Portugal have won 30 games of the 40 he has coached.
8 – Ralf Rangnick (Austria)
Nicknamed ‘The Professor’, Rangnick’s tenure at Manchester United ended in a way that put his managerial ability in a bad light. He won 1.92 and 1.94 points a game respectively at Leipzig in his two spells there and boasts the most impressive of these statistics with Austria, where he has won 1.98 points per game. His side topped a group that contained France and the Netherlands at the 2024 Euros.
Rangnick’s tenure at Man United ended in a way that put his managerial ability in bad light
7 – Ronald Koeman (Netherlands)
Ronald Koeman is in his second stint as Dutch boss. He will be hoping for a much happier end to a major tournament and not a repeat of the 2024 Euro Semifinal where Ollie Watkins came off the bench snatch a goal in the last minute of the game in the semifinal against England.
6 – Julian Nagelsmann (Germany)
The ex-Bayern Munich boss has confirmed that Manuel Neuer will come out of international retirement to feature for Germany as their first-choice goalkeeper in this competition. Germany have won nine of their last nine games under Nagelsmann. The young manager won the Bundesliga and two German Super Cups coaching Bayern Munich.
5 – Thomas Tuchel (England)
Appointed in 2025 by the English FA, Tuchel has made quite the statement by leaving some of England’s most technically gifted players at home. Cole Palmer, Phil Foden and Trent Alexander-Arnold were all out of the final squad. Tuchel has stressed that the World Cup is not solely about talent but about being a team.
4 – Lionel Scaloni (Argentina)
Scaloni was the man who guided Argentina to a World Cup win in 2024. A lot of the attention centred around superstar Lionel Messi as he finally got his hands on the trophy he had been chasing his whole career, but Scaloni’s role in returning glory to Argentina was huge. He will be hoping he can become the first man to defend a World Cup title since 1962.
3 – Didier Deschamps (France)
Deschamps and his French side are, as always, heavy favourites to win the World Cup. The former French midfielder will take charge of his fourth and final World Cup campaign as France manager before resigning from the role. He will want to finish his managerial career on a high, hoping to reach the heights he hit in 2018 when France destroyed Croatia 4-1 in the World Cup final.
2 – Luis de la Fuente (Spain)
Fresh from their triumph in 2024 when they won the Euros, Spain and Luis de la Fuente have their sights set firmly on the Jules Rimet trophy. The Spaniards have not tasted glory in this competition since 2010 when an Andres Iniesta goal in the final clinched victory against the Dutch. Between 2023 and 2025, Spain went on an 18-game unbeaten run under their boss.
1 – Carlo Ancelotti (Brazil)
After a four-season spell at Real Madrid, ‘Don Carlo’ joined the Brazilian national team in May 2025 for his first taste of international football. At club level he leaves in his trail five Champions League titles, three club World Cup titles, five super cups, one Bundesliga, one Premier League, one Serie A title, one French league title, two la Liga titles as well as many more accolades.
