The eight European national team managers shaping international football

Didier Deschamps, France

Deschamps has been in charge of France longer than most managers last at a single club. He won the World Cup with them in 2018, making him one of the rare figures to have won the tournament both as a player and as a manager. His approach is often criticised for being too conservative given the talent available, but the results have been hard to argue with for most of his tenure. France remain among the strongest squads in world football, and Deschamps has shown he knows how to navigate a tournament without burning the group out early.

Gareth Southgate, England

Southgate left the England job after the 2024 European Championship final, having reached two major tournament finals and a semi-final during his eight years in charge. That record had not been matched by any England manager in the modern era. His successor takes on a squad with genuine quality but also a dressing room that has grown used to a particular style of management.

Luis de la Fuente, Spain

De la Fuente took over from Luis Enrique and immediately won the European Championship with Spain in 2024, which is about as clean a debut as a national team manager can have. Spain played some of the most fluid, direct football of the tournament, built around a young core that had come through the youth system he previously managed. The continuity of that pipeline is the real story.

Julian Nagelsmann, Germany

Nagelsmann came into the Germany job with a point to prove after his exit from Bayern Munich. He had limited time before a home European Championship, and Germany reached the quarter-finals before going out to Spain. For a host nation that had endured a miserable 2022 World Cup, that felt like meaningful progress. He is young for the role and has a clear tactical identity, which Germany had been missing for a while.

Luciano Spalletti, Italy

Spalletti inherited an Italy side still carrying the psychological weight of missing two consecutive World Cups. He had just won Serie A with Napoli in historic fashion before taking the national job. The transition to international football is never straightforward, and Italy's Euro 2024 campaign was a disappointment. Rebuilding a squad while managing expectations is the challenge now.

Ronald Koeman, Netherlands

Koeman is on his second stint with the Dutch, having previously managed them before taking club jobs in Spain and England. The Netherlands reached the semi-finals of Euro 2024, losing to England, which represented a solid if not spectacular return. The squad has genuine attacking talent and Koeman has the experience to know what international tournaments actually demand.

Roberto Martínez, Portugal

Martínez replaced Fernando Santos after Portugal's 2022 World Cup exit and has been building a side that can function beyond the Cristiano Ronaldo era, even while Ronaldo remains part of it. His record at international level with Belgium was long and ultimately fell short of a major trophy, but he kept a golden generation competitive across multiple tournaments. Portugal have the players; the question is whether they can peak at the right moment.

Sébastien Pocognoli, Scotland

Pocognoli is the newest name on this list. Scotland appointed the 39-year-old Belgian, most recently at Monaco, on 16 August, making him only the second foreign manager in the history of the Scottish men's national team. He steps into a role that has historically been filled by Scots, which makes the appointment notable in itself. Scotland have the players to qualify for major tournaments and have done so in recent years after a long drought. What Pocognoli brings is a fresh perspective from outside the Scottish football culture, and whether that turns out to be an asset or a friction point will become clear quickly.