List of FIFA World Cup winning managers
The FIFA World Cup is the world’s top football tournament. So far, eight nations have won the title across 22 tournaments. Brazil lead with five titles, followed by Germany and Italy with four each; Argentina has three; France and Uruguay have two each; and England and Spain have one each.
Managers pick the squad and decide the team’s tactics. Because winning the World Cup is so important, the job carries a lot of pressure, and managers have limited day-to-day contact with players between World Cups.
Alberto Suppici guided Uruguay to victory in the first tournament in 1930. Vittorio Pozzo is the only person to win the World Cup twice as a manager, doing so with Italy in 1934 and 1938. Twenty-one different managers have won the World Cup, and each won while leading his own country.
Five managers have won once and finished as runners-up once:
- Helmut Schön (West Germany): winner in 1974, runner-up in 1966
- Franz Beckenbauer (West Germany): winner in 1990, runner-up in 1986
- Carlos Bilardo (Argentina): winner in 1986, runner-up in 1990
- Mario Zagallo (Brazil): winner in 1970, runner-up in 1998
- Didier Deschamps (France): winner in 2018, runner-up in 2022
Carlos Alberto Parreira has the most World Cup final appearances as a manager, with six, across five different national teams. Schön coached the most World Cup matches (25) and won 16 with West Germany from 1966 to 1978.
Suppici was the youngest World Cup-winning manager at 31 in 1930. Zagallo and César Luis Menotti were also in their 30s when they won (Zagallo at 38 in 1970, Menotti at 39 in 1978). Vicente del Bosque is the oldest coach to win the tournament at 59 in 2010.
Three men have won the World Cup both as players and as managers: Zagallo, Beckenbauer, and Deschamps. Beckenbauer and Deschamps were captains when they won as players.
This page was last edited on 3 February 2026, at 07:17 (CET).