Ranking the 20 Best Managers in World Football Right Now

Summary

• There are many incredible managers in world football right now, with both experienced and young managers catching the eye.
• Pep Guardiola, Carlo Ancelotti and Xabi Alonso are among the best-performing managers around.
• The 20 best managers on the planet have been ranked based on trophies, success and longevity.

There are many incredible managers in world football at the moment, with some experienced veterans in the game enduring a wonderful 2024, while younger bosses are emerging to stake their claim as the best around.

Both the 2023/24 campaign and international summer tournaments have concluded, with some masterminds lifting league titles and domestic cup silverware, enhancing their reputations in the process. But with the 2024/25 season firmly underway, there is plenty of time for coaches to stake a claim that they are deserving of a higher spot among other leading tacticians.

With all that said, below is a list of the 20 best managers in football currently, and the following factors have been taken into consideration when trying to order them.

Ranking factors

• Trophies.
• Recent success (Honours won).
• Longevity.
• Performance compared to expectations.
• International managers and out of work bosses are ranked lower due to a lack of recent games.

In pictures: The world’s best football managers right now

Current team: Manchester United

Ruben Amorim, just 39 years old, has established himself as one of the most talented young managers in world football over the past few years. After short but successful spells with Casa Pisa and Braga, Amorim was appointed Sporting CP’s manager in 2020 and he excelled during his time with the Lisbon-based club, guiding them to Primeira Liga titles in 2021 and 2024.

The Portuguese coach has since joined Manchester United and has the unenviable task of guiding the Red Devils back to the peak of English football for the first time since Sir Alex Ferguson retired in 2013. The talented young manager will need time and while it hasn’t been the most promising start to life at Old Trafford, his arrival still offers optimism.

19Enzo Maresca

Current team: Chelsea

There were eyebrows raised when Chelsea decided to replace Mauricio Pochettino with Enzo Maresca at the end of the 2023/24 campaign. They were getting rid of a manager with vast experience at the top of European football, with a Champions League final appearance under his belt, and replacing him with someone whose biggest achievement was guiding Leicester City to the Championship trophy.

Several months later, the decision has been more than vindicated and Maresca has proven himself as one of the best managers in the world. He’s settled in very nicely at Stamford Bridge and the Blues are playing some of their best football in years under his tutelage. It’s been a disastrous few years for Chelsea, but Maresca’s arrival has seen the tide start to turn in their favour.

18Luis de la Fuente

Current team: Spain

After working his way up through the Spain youth team, Luis de la Fuente was handed a chance with the nation’s senior team in 2022 and he hasn’t looked back since. Euro 2024 marked a dominant campaign for his team, with the 63-year-old leading them to glory. Having beat England 2-1 in the Euro 2024 final, Spain became the first team ever to win all seven of their games in the major tournament.

After a disappointing few years, the manager has turned things around quickly and Spain dominated their opposition in style during the European Championship. With such a talented, young squad at his disposal, it might be wise to start getting used to the idea of the former left-back and his men dominating international football.

17Thiago Motta

Current team: Juventus

Bologna secured Champions League qualification for the first time in their history due to the fantastic job Thiago Motta did after arriving in 2022. The Italian side were often in the lower half of the top flight but are now be rubbing shoulders with Europe’s elite in the newly formatted competition in 2024/25.

Motta’s revolutionary 2-7-2 formation transformed the way the team played and improved results followed. It wasn’t long before the 42-year-old caught the attention of Juventus and he made the switch to the Old Lady this summer. Now in charge of one of Serie A’s biggest clubs, the pressure is on for Motta to return the team to its former glory, but if anyone can do it, it’s him.

16Luciano Spalletti

Current team: Italy

Italy have found qualification for international tournaments to be hard to come by at times in their recent history, but Luciano Spalletti has managed to turn the tide a little, guiding them to Euro 2024. It was ultimately a disappointing outing, though, with the nation crashing out in the round of 16 following a 2-0 loss to Switzerland.

The former Inter Milan boss took charge of the national side in 2023 after leaving Napoli. During his time in Naples, Spalletti proved he was capable of getting his team to work hard as he guided the club to a first Serie A title in over 30 years. This is the biggest triumph of his managerial career to date. That could change, though, if he manages to lead his nation to glory in a major tournament somewhere down the line.

15Julian Nagelsmann

Current team: Germany

Despite failing to win Euro 2024 while being the hosts and one of the favourites, big things are still expected from Germany in the future and that’s largely due to the revolutionary ideas of Julian Nagelsmann. Eyebrows were raised when Bayern Munich dismissed the German, as the 37-year-old was doing a commendable job at the time.

Nagelsmann has since been hired by the national team and has won 11 of his first 19 games in charge of Die Mannschaft, including an impressive dominant victory over France. He has some of the most exciting young players in the world at his disposal, such as Florian Wirtz and Jamal Musiala, and the young boss’ stock will rise significantly if he helps his country to another major honour.

14Thomas Tuchel

Current team: England

Thomas Tuchel might have left Bayern Munich under a cloud after he was beaten to the Bundesliga title by Bayer Leverkusen, but that has not wrecked his reputation as a top-tier manager. Man United were in talks over potentially appointing him as Erik ten Hag’s replacement until the German pulled out of discussions.

Despite his domestic troubles in the hot seat, Tuchel has a solid track record in Europe and guided the Bavarian outfit into the Champions League semi-final. They were eliminated by Real Madrid, but considering their pedigree in the European competition, it’s hard to hold that loss against Tuchel. The 51-year-old has now been appointed England’s new manager and will be tasked with ending their long, long wait for a major trophy.

13Didier Deschamps

Current team: France

When adding all of his medals as a player to those in his managerial career, Didier Deschamps must be one of the most successful people in football history. The Frenchman is the definition of a serial winner and proved that at the 2018 World Cup.

Some fans have been known to get impatient with the lack of success in recent international tournaments, but the France manager was a penalty shootout away from retaining the biggest prize in world football in 2022. They did underperform at Euro 2024, but still made it to the semi-finals. No matter what, France always stand a chance in major tournaments because they have one of the best managers working in international football right now.

12Luis Enrique

Current team: Paris Saint-Germain

Luis Enrique’s managerial skills could soon be put to the test as the Spaniard has been tasked with steering Paris Saint-Germain through the post-Kylian Mbappe era. The Frenchman has now joined Real Madrid and Enrique has to find a way to succeed without him in the team.

However, his record in management speaks for itself and the ex-Barcelona boss is one of the few men on this list who will feel extremely confident he can make a success of the situation. He’s already won a domestic trophy and a Ligue 1 title in his first year occupying the dugout. Having overseen the likes of Lionel Messi, Neymar and Luis Suarez at Barca, Enrique has no problem working with big-name players and often gets the best out of them.

11Lionel Scaloni

Current team: Argentina

Everyone knows the biggest achievement of Lionel Scaloni’s stint as a football manager. He will forever be known as the man who helped Lionel Messi complete football by winning the World Cup in 2022. Of course, that doesn’t do enough justice to the overall work he’s done to transform the nation from almost a sleeping giant for many years into a side competing for all the major honours on offer.

The 46-year-old was also at the helm when Argentina defeated Brazil in the Copa America 2021 final and when they beat Colombia in the Copa America 2024 final. He’s been in the job since 2018, taking the role before he hit the age of 40. To have achieved the success he has as such a young manager is worthy of a relatively high place on this list.

10Unai Emery

Current team: Aston Villa

Before the 2023/24 campaign kicked off, very few would have given Aston Villa a chance of securing a Champions League spot, but Unai Emery ensured that the West Midlands outfit finished in the top four. Comparing the state of the Villans now to when the ex-Arsenal boss took over from Steven Gerrard shows just how remarkable this achievement is.

He has been highly regarded as a brilliant tactician after winning multiple European trophies in his career with Sevilla, and Emery nearly added the Europa Conference League to his extensive list of honours before Villa were dismantled by Olympiacos. Nevertheless, he has elevated the likes of John McGinn, Ollie Watkins and Ezri Konsa to heights that previously looked impossible, which proves the Spaniard is a brilliant man-manager and his side are in the middle of a very exciting season in the Champions League.

9Hansi Flick

Current team: Barcelona

While his reputation took a hit after an ill-fated spell in charge of the Germany national team, Hansi Flick has reminded the world just how good a manager he is now that he’s at Barcelona. The former Bayern Munich coach settled in nicely at Camp Nou and had the Catalan giants flying at the top of the table.

A recent slump has seen the club surrender their lead at the top of La Liga and with stars like Lamine Yamal now sidelined with injury, things might only get tougher. Slick has proved himself to be an intelligent manager, though, and is the man for the job at Barcelona.

8Jurgen Klopp

Current team: Unattached

Jurgen Klopp is currently unemployed, having left Liverpool at the end of the 2023/24 season. However, he will be fondly remembered as one of the best managers in Premier League history after rebuilding the Reds from a mid-table side into regular title challengers.

At the start of 2024, it looked like there was a strong possibility that the 57-year-old would be sent off in the greatest way possible. Liverpool were actively competing in four competitions and looked almost unstoppable in the wake of Klopp’s announcement. Unfortunately, the most successful manager the Merseyside club has had in the Premier League era bowed out with only a League Cup triumph in his final campaign.

7Diego Simeone

Current team: Atletico Madrid

One of the longest-serving managers in Europe’s top five leagues, Diego Simeone has hovered among the best coaches in the world for quite some time. In the 2023/24 season, Atletico Madrid enjoyed another successful term as they qualified for the Champions League yet again.

The disappointment will come with the lack of silverware collected as the Spanish club were knocked out of the Champions League in the quarter-finals despite being drawn on the favourable side of the brackets. Simeone is perhaps the best manager around when it comes to taking a pragmatic and solid approach, which is why he’s paid mega-money. With the addition of the likes of Conor Gallagher and Julian Alvarez, this season is shaping up to be a promising one.

6Mikel Arteta

Current team: Arsenal

Arsenal fans would back their boss as the best on the planet as Mikel Arteta has transformed the club’s fortunes in recent years and had them in contention to win the Premier League title for a second successive season. If the North London side had become champions of England for the first time in 20 years, the Spaniard would have been praised as a hero.

However, all four of the managers above him on this list won a trophy in the 2023/24 season. The Gunners were knocked out of both domestic competitions in the early stages and exited the Champions League in the quarter-finals. Arteta has done a phenomenal job to have the supporters of the club dreaming of success in the near future after enduring a disappointing spell before he arrived.

5Xabi Alonso

Current team: Bayer Leverkusen

The work Xabi Alonso has done during his two seasons at Bayer Leverkusen is incredible. His team went on the longest unbeaten run in Europe’s top 10 leagues and knocked Bayern Munich off their Bundesliga perch for the first time in over a decade.

Alonso lifted the German league title and added the 2024 DFB Pokal to Leverkusen’s trophy cabinet, but he ultimately came up short in Europe in what was otherwise a tremendous season. Many clubs across the continent have been linked with the best young manager in world football, but the 42-year-old has pledged his future to Bayer Leverkusen, much to the delight of the side that have benefitted greatly from his tactical intelligence.

4Simone Inzaghi

Current team: Inter Milan

To be ranked above the likes of Klopp, Alonso and Arteta in 2024 is an incredible achievement and testament to the work Simone Inzaghi has done at Inter Milan. The Serie A title returned to the Italian giants after they secured the trophy in the best way possible; against fierce rivals AC Milan at the San Siro.

He also came so close to being the first Inter boss to bring the Champions League back to Italy in the 2022/23 season, narrowly losing in the final against Manchester City. Inzaghi could even be in with a chance of making it into the top two if his team continue blowing their Serie A competition away in the second half of 2024. His genius was on full display as his side held City to a goalless draw at the Etihad this season.

3Arne Slot

Current team: Liverpool

After a solid run with Feyenoord, Arne Slot was chosen to replace Jurgen Klopp at Liverpool last summer. He arrived with gargantuan sized boots to fill. Considering the legacy that the former coach left behind at Anfield, Slot had a lot to live up to and it would have been easy for the pressure to get to him quickly. Instead, he’s taken the Reds and shot them straight to the top of the Premier League.

He’s enjoyed the best start of any manager in Liverpool’s history and is showing no signs of slowing down right now. The Reds have nailed finding Klopp’s successor and then some with the Dutch genius. He’s shot up the rankings of the best managers in the world so far this season and he might not be done yet.

2Carlo Ancelotti

Current team: Real Madrid

As one of few people to have won the European Cup as both a player and manager, Carlo Ancelotti will leave an ever-lasting legacy. The Italian first dipped his toe in the world of management in 1995 and, almost three decades later, he’s still among the best around.

Ancelotti has an aura around him that helps him gain respect from players. Being able to take control of the Real Madrid squad full of superstars and get them working hard for the badge is a difficult task in itself. The 65-year-old has won league titles in four of the top five European leagues – Spain, Germany, Italy, and France – and most recently secured a Spanish league and Champions League double. His success in the latter means he is unquestionably the greatest manager in the competition’s history.

1Pep Guardiola

Current team: Manchester City

Pep Guardiola still has enough credit in the bank to be regarded as the best manager in world football. Manchester City won a fourth consecutive Premier League title under the former Barcelona man, and yet 2023/24 still felt like a slightly underwhelming campaign. Those are the high standards set by the Catalan genius.

GIVEMSPORT Key Statistic: Pep Guardiola’s Manchester City are the first English side ever to win four consecutive Premier League titles.

Having secured the Citizens’ first-ever European trophy as part of a historic treble in the 2022/23 season, Guardiola has cemented himself as one of the greatest managers of all time. While his side have struggled as of late, there’s no doubt that the former Barcelona man is still the best manager in the world. Considering he recently signed a two-year extension to remain at the Etihad, there’s still plenty of time for the 53-year-old to threaten to overtake the legacy left in the Premier League by Sir Alex Ferguson, which nobody thought possible when the legendary Scot retired in 2013. His 39 career trophies make him the second-most decorated manager in football history.

With all that said, the recent struggles that City have gone through have been disastrous and if things don’t turn around soon, Guardiola is dangerously close to losing his status as the best manager in the world.

All statistics per Transfermarkt. Correct as of 22/12/2024.