Across the continent and beyond, the first international window after Spain’s World Cup triumph opens with an unusually restless set of dugouts. Two months on from the tournament, 20 of its 48 participating nations—41 per cent—have changed head coach, bringing figures such as Jürgen Klopp, Xavi Hernández, Zinedine Zidane and Diego Forlán into new international roles.
Key takeaways
- Germany, the Netherlands, Portugal, Croatia, Belgium, Uruguay and Mexico all begin the next cycle under new leadership.
- Jürgen Klopp succeeds Julian Nagelsmann with Germany, while Xavi Hernández takes over the Netherlands after Ronald Koeman’s resignation.
- Spain’s coaching influence extends to four new appointments: Xavi, Robert Moreno, Santi Denia and Haiti coach David Badía.
- France turn to Zinedine Zidane following Didier Deschamps’ departure at the end of his contract.
- Spain, Brazil, England, Argentina and the United States retain their World Cup coaches, with several having agreed long extensions.
A changing international map
Berlin begins the new stretch with Klopp replacing Nagelsmann, who stepped down from the Germany post. In Belgium, Rudi Garcia agreed not to extend his deal and Mark van Bommel has arrived, while Portugal have appointed Jorge Jesus after Roberto Martínez’s contract expired.
Croatia’s long Zlatko Dalic era has ended with Slaven Bilic taking charge. Dalic has since moved to the United Arab Emirates national side. Uruguay, meanwhile, have named former forward Diego Forlán as interim coach after Marcelo Bielsa resigned.
Mexico have followed the planned succession from Javier Aguirre to his assistant Rafa Márquez. Aguirre signed for Valencia on Wednesday. Elsewhere in South America, Sebastián Beccacece’s Ecuador contract ran out and Marcelo Gallardo has taken over.
France have installed Zidane in place of Deschamps, while Scotland have selected Sébastien Pocognoli following Steve Clarke’s resignation. Senegal have replaced the dismissed Pape Thiaw with Patrick Vieira, and South Africa have brought in Pitso Mosimane after Hugo Broos chose not to continue.
In North Africa, Vladimir Petkovic ended his Algeria contract and has been succeeded by Brahim Hemdani. Tunisia replaced Hervé Renard with Moïn Chaabani, before Renard returned to the Ivory Coast job following Emerson Faé’s decision not to renew.
There are further changes across Africa and Asia. Cape Verde assistant Humberto Bettencourt steps up after Bubista joined Moroccan club Berkane. Jordan dismissed Jamal Sellami and appointed Zaki Badou. South Korea have put Robert Moreno in temporary charge after Hong Myung-bo was removed.
The Czech Republic have handed their team to Santi Denia after Miroslav Koubek’s dismissal. Haiti have appointed 52-year-old Catalan coach David Badía, a La Masia graduate with previous experience in Turkey, Cyprus and Poland, after Sébastien Migné departed for Gabon.
Continuity among the established powers
Not every World Cup participant has reset. Luis de la Fuente has extended his Spain agreement through 2032, Carlo Ancelotti had already renewed with Brazil until 2030 before the World Cup, and Mauricio Pochettino has signed a further four-year United States deal running to 2030. Lionel Scaloni is close to a new Argentina contract, while Thomas Tuchel remains in charge of England.
Several other national associations have similarly opted for stability. Tony Popovic will remain with Australia until 2027; Néstor Lorenzo has renewed with Colombia through 2030; Dick Advocaat stays with Curaçao to 2027; and Hossam Hassan’s Egypt term now runs until 2030. Graham Arnold has extended with Iraq until the 2027 Asian Cup, as have Hajime Moriyasu with Japan, while Thomas Christiansen and Gustavo Alfaro are contracted to Panama and Paraguay respectively until 2030.
Morocco have confirmed Mohamed Ouahbi, Turkey have retained Vincenzo Montella, and Carlos Queiroz returned to Ghana in September after leaving the role. The remaining familiar faces include Georgios Donis with Saudi Arabia, Ralf Rangnick with Austria, Sergej Barbarez in Bosnia, Jesse Marsch with Canada, Amir Ghalenoei in Iran, Darren Bazeley in New Zealand, Stale Solbakken in Norway, Julen Lopetegui in Qatar, Sébastien Desabre with DR Congo, Graham Potter in Sweden, Murat Yakin in Switzerland and Paolo Cannavaro in Uzbekistan.
