Fabio Cannavaro’s World Cup return at the helm of Uzbekistan | OneFootball

Appointed in October, Fabio Cannavaro leads Uzbekistan into his first World Cup as a head coach. They face Colombia in the early hours of Thursday, kick-off at four am, a stage he sees as a chance to reboot a stop-start career.

According to L'Équipe, Cannavaro left the 2010 World Cup on a low as Italy finished bottom after 1-1 draws with Paraguay and New Zealand and a 2-3 defeat by Slovakia. Twenty years after lifting the trophy in 2006, his return is not with Italy, absent for a third straight edition, but with Uzbekistan.

Federation officials, including vice-president Ravchan Irmatov, travelled to Italy last September to persuade him. They wanted a foreign coach with a strong reputation and, if possible, a big name.

Coaching since 2014, he has rarely convinced. Short spells at Al-Nassr, Benevento, Udinese, where he kept them up in 2024, and Dinamo Zagreb, which ended in April 2025, all finished before 20 matches. His most sustained success came in China with Tianjin Quanjian and Guangzhou Evergrande, though a brief 2019 stint in charge of China ended after two defeats.

He signed on six October on roughly four million euros a year, more than Didier Deschamps with France, and inherited a World Cup berth secured by predecessor Timour Kapadze, now coaching Navbahor Namangan, third in the national league.

Cannavaro is backed by 12 Italian staff, including his brother Paolo and former Juventus and Roma keeper Antonio Chimenti as goalkeeper coach, plus a chef with pizza after matches. He still hopes to plant roots in Serie A, maybe even the Nazionale, and knows performances here, starting against Colombia, could shape what follows.

Source: L'Équipe