The FIFA World Cup is considered the most prestigious association football tournament in the world.[1][2] The twenty-two World Cup tournaments have been won by eight national teams. Brazil have won five times, followed by Germany and Italy with four titles each; Argentina with three titles, France and Uruguay, with two titles each; and England and Spain, with one title each.[3] The role of the manager is to select the squad for the World Cup and develop the tactics of the team. Pressure is attached to the role due to the significance of winning a World Cup and the lack of day-to-day contact with players during the regular club season aside from international breaks.[4]
Carlos Alberto Parreira holds the record for managing at the most FIFA World Cup final tournaments with six appearances while managing five different national teams.[9][10] Schön, who led West Germany to victory in the 1974 World Cup, has managed the most matches in the tournament at 25,[11] and won a record 16 matches during his spell as West Germany manager from 1966 to the 1978 FIFA World Cup.[12] Suppici is the youngest manager to win the World Cup, being 31 in 1930.[13] Zagallo and César Luis Menotti were also in their 30s when they won the World Cup. Zagallo was 38 years old in 1970 and Menotti was 39 years old in 1978.[14]Vicente del Bosque is the oldest coach to win the World Cup at 59 in 2010.[15]
Three men have won the tournament both as a player and as a manager; Zagallo (as a player in 1958 and 1962, as a manager in 1970), Beckenbauer (as a player in 1974, as a manager in 1990) and Didier Deschamps (as a player in 1998, as a manager in 2018).[16][17] Both Beckenbauer and Deschamps were also the captain of their respective teams while winning the World Cup as a player.[18]
Winning managers
Mário Zagallo of Brazil (left), Franz Beckenbauer of Germany (middle) and Didier Deschamps of France (right), have won the World Cup as a player and a manager for their respective countries.
Lisi, Clemente A. (2022). The FIFA World Cup: A History of the Planet's Biggest Sporting Event. Rowman & Littlefield. ISBN978-1-5381-5643-8.
Marshall, Anne (1997). Guinness Book of Knowledge. Guinness Publishing. ISBN978-0-85112-046-1.
McColl, Graham (2010). How to Win the World Cup. Transworld Publishers. ISBN978-0-593-06622-5.
Radnedge, Keir (2022). World Soccer Records. Welbeck Publishing Group. ISBN978-1-80279-356-7.
References
^Clift, Jeremy (March 2010). "Prize or Penalty". Finance and Development. Vol. 47, no. 1. IMF. Archived from the original on 25 September 2022. Retrieved 28 September 2022.
^Stokkermans, Karel (22 December 2022). "World Cup 1930–2022". Rec. Sport. Soccer Statistics Foundation. Archived from the original on 13 December 2022. Retrieved 23 December 2022.
^ abOwsianski, Jaroslaw; DiMaggio, Roberto (16 August 2018). "World Cup 1930–2022 — Info on Coaches". Rec. Sport. Soccer Statistics Foundation. Archived from the original on 8 June 2023. Retrieved 10 September 2022.