. Spain produces the most successful football managers in the world, with Pep Guardiola leading the Spanish charge
. Italy comes in second place, with Italian managers securing the highest number of league wins abroad
. Portugal produces the third most successful football managers, with the highest number of unique league winners
Spain produces the most successful football managers in the world, a new study has found.
Sport betting specialists Sports Pub analysed data from the top ten club leagues in the world, looking at the nationality of the managers who have won the league title, the Champions League, Europa League and the Club World Cup since 2010. A points-based system was used to score the nationalities, with higher weighting for managers who have won the league outside their home country.
Spain ranked as producing the best football managers of the past decade, with a total of ten European tournament wins, alongside eight league wins outside of their home country. Six Spanish managers have won a league title or European trophy winning since 2010, led by Pep Guardiola, who was won eight league titles in three different countries in the last 12 seasons.
Luis Enrique’s success with Barcelona, Unai Emery’s league title with PSG and multiple Europa League victories, all contribute to Spain’s position at the top of the list.
Italy came in second place, boasting the highest number of managers to win a league title outside of their home country, with the Premier League alone seeing Carlo Ancelotti, Roberto Mancini, Claudio Ranieri and Antonio Conte all top the table since 2010.
Italian managers have a combined total of 20 league wins in the past decade – 11 in Serie A and nine outside of Italy – however the country’s performance on the European stage is less impressive. Three managers – Ancelotti, Robert Di Matteo, and Maurizio Sarri, have enjoyed Champions League or Europa League success.
Portugal closes out the top three for the countries producing the most successful managers in the world. Portuguese managers have secured a total of 22 league, European or Club World Cup trophies in the past ten years. José Mourinho has contributed six of those titles, while the likes of Andre Villas-Boas, Leonardo Jardim and Jorge Jesus have also enjoyed success.
Interestingly, Germany sits in fourth place, despite several major Premier League clubs currently employing German managers. The country can claim only four different league winners in the past decade, behind Portugal’s nine, Italy’s eight and six each for Spain and France. In addition, Jürgen Klopp and Thomas Tuchel are the only German managers to have won one of the top ten football leagues outside the Bundesliga.
Coming in fifth place is France. The country has produced six different league winning managers in the past decade, and six European or Club World Cup wins, all delivered by Zinedine Zidane, who won three consecutive Champions Leagues with Real Madrid.
Countries producing the best football managers in the world:
Country | Producing best managers | International tournament wins | Home country league wins | Non-home country league wins | Unique league winners |
Spain | 1 | 10 | 7 | 8 | 6 |
Italy | 2 | 4 | 11 | 9 | 8 |
Portugal | 3 | 5 | 12 | 5 | 9 |
Germany | 4 | 7 | 6 | 3 | 4 |
France | 5 | 6 | 7 | 2 | 6 |
Brazil | 6 | 1 | 11 | 3 | 7 |
Netherlands | 7 | 0 | 10 | 1 | 5 |
Argentina | 8 | 2 | 0 | 2 | 2 |
Mexico | 9 | 0 | 6 | 0 | 5 |
Scotland | 10 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 1 |
Commenting on the study, a spokesperson from Sports Pub said: “It is very interesting to see how each nation stacks up when it comes to the strength and depth of management talent. Many of the managers with league wins under their belt are common household names, but to look beyond single names and see which countries have produced the most successful managers of this past decade is a fascinating exercise and will no doubt lead to plenty of debate among fans.”
The analysis was conducted by sports betting experts Sports Pub, which provides insight and analysis into major sports betting.
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