The foreign coach curse: no overseas manager has ever won the World Cup
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The foreign coach curse: no overseas manager has ever won the World Cup.
England’s semi-final exit has once again upheld one of the World Cup’s most enduring trends: no nation has ever lifted the trophy with a foreign manager in charge.
Only two foreign managers have reached the final
The furthest any overseas coach has gone is the final, and it has happened only twice.
The first was George Raynor, the Englishman who led Sweden to the 1958 final before losing to Pelé’s Brazil.
The second was Austria’s Ernst Happel, who took the Netherlands to the 1978 World Cup final, where the Oranje were beaten 3-1 by Argentina.
The 2026 edition will keep that pattern intact, with both finalists led by domestic coaches: Luis de la Fuente for Spain and Lionel Scaloni for Argentina.
An intriguing piece of background on the AC Milan job has emerged from Il Giornale. According to the newspaper, the Rossoneri sounded out Luis de la Fuente in spring 2024, when they were searching for a successor to Stefano Pioli.
De la Fuente, now the Spain head coach...
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Real Madrid’s new head coach José Mourinho, speaking to Adebayo Akinfenwa on the Beast Mode On podcast, made it clear that there will be no major departures from the squad.
“I wanted to make one thing clear: I have read some comments around the place...
