Three Italian head coaches will be at the 2026 World Cup, but not Gattuso | OneFootball

There will still be an Italian presence at the 2026 World Cup, even if Gennaro Gattuso and the Nazionale failed to make it, as three former Azzurri players qualified as head coaches with other nations.

Italy crashed out at the World Cup play-off stage for the third tournament cycle in a row as Bosnia and Herzegovina beat the 10-man Azzurri on penalties in Zenica on Tuesday night.

Which head coaches from Italy will be at the 2026 World Cup?

epa12137464 Italian Carlo Ancelotti (L) and the president of the Brazilian Football Confederation (CBF), Samir Xaud, attend a press conference where Ancelotti was presented as new head coach of men’s Brazilian national soccer team, in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, 26 May 2025. EPA-EFE/ANDRE COELHO

Despite the shortcomings of Gattuso and his players, there are only three nations, Argentina (6), France (6), and Spain (4) that will have more head coaches at the World Cup than Italy (3).

That is because Carlo Ancelotti qualified as head coach of Brazil, Fabio Cannavaro as the head coach of Uzbekistan and Vincenzo Montella as head coach of Turkiye, who beat Kosovo in their World Cup play-off final at the same time as Bosnia vs. Italy on Tuesday evening.

TASHKENT, UZBEKISTAN – MARCH 30: Fabio Cannavaro, Head Coach of Uzbekistan, reacts during the international friendly match between Uzbekistan and Venezuela on March 30, 2026 in Tashkent, Uzbekistan. (Photo by Anvar Ilyasov/Getty Images)

The 48 competing teams at the 2026 World Cup will be led by head coaches from 25 different nations. Those nations include Argentina (6), France (6), Spain (4), Italy (3), Germany (3), England (2), the Netherlands (2), Australia (2), Bosnia and Herzegovina (2), Morocco (2).

Croatia, Norway, Czechia, Scotland, Switzerland, Egypt, Senegal, Cape Verde, South Korea, Japan, Iran and Mexico will all be led by head coaches from their own nations, while South Africa will be guided by the tournament’s only Belgian head coach in Hugo Broos and Canada by the only American head coach in Jesse Marsch.