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Nov 5, 2026, 10:04 AM GMT
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There are many incredible managers in world football at the moment. A mixture of experienced coaches who've won everything and still looking to win the biggest trophies on the planet, mixed with a handful of rising managerial stars who have recently retired from playing, looking to make their own mark on the sport.
Managers of top clubs and international teams have a golden opportunity to enhance their legacies and status in the game throughout the 2026-27 campaign.
We're updating our manager rankings to reflect the recent performance level of the sport's elite bosses. The following factors have been taken into consideration when ranking the world's top 20 football managers right now:
Eyebrows were raised when Bournemouth made the decision to sack Gary O'Neil and replace him with a relatively unknown manager in Andoni Iraola. After remaining in the top flight, the Cherries' ownership showed ambition by adding several talented players to the squad to support their new coach - and their investment has paid dividends given the trajectory they enjoyed under the former Rayo Vallecano chief.
Following a shaky start and prolonged settling-in period, Iraola had Bournemouth purring on the pitch. A hard-working style of play, coupled with the belief he instilled in his players, was the recipe for success at the Vitality Stadium as the club reached their highest-ever points tally in the Premier League last time out - usurping the brilliance of former manager Eddie Howe to help them qualify for the Europa League. Whether he can make a similar impact at Liverpool still remains to be seen after a topsy-turvy start to life at Anfield.
Is Cesc Fabregas about to become football management's next true great? Liverpool legend Jamie Carragher recently suggested that could be the case, with Como producing some scintillating performances in the Champions League.
Como hammered Manchester United 4-1 in October before thrashing Lens 9-1 two weeks later as Fabregas further cemented his status as European football's best young coach. Having played under the likes of Pep Guardiola, Jose Mourinho and Arsene Wenger, the 39-year-old Spaniard is now making his own mark as a tactically-astute coach.
The work Xabi Alonso, a former midfielder during his playing days, did during his fantastic three-season stint at the helm of Bayer Leverkusen was nothing short of extraordinary. 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 with just one loss - annoyingly, it was that very Europa League final. Many clubs across the continent were linked with the best young manager in world football, but it was Real Madrid who ultimately won the battle for his signature. However, his spell at the Bernabeu was cut short, and he now prepares to start work at Chelsea next term.
After working his way up through the Spain youth teams, 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 64-year-old leading them to glory. Having beaten 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 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 ahead of this summer's World Cup conclusion.
Swapping the departed Pep Guardiola with former Chelsea boss, Enzo Maresca, is not a bad appointment at all for Manchester City. In the Italian, they have someone who boasts having won a Club World Cup and Europa Conference League in his last job, but whose unceremonious exit from West London leaves plenty of questions about his attitude.
A quick deterioration in his relationship with the club's hierarchy perhaps shows he's not one to sit in the same job for too long. But, then again, with his track record and that of Man City's ability to back their head coach indubitably, it could be a match made in heaven. If he can combine his tournament know-how with Premier League consistency in his first season, he could soar up these rankings.
As one of the 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, 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 a Real Madrid squad full of superstars and get them working hard for the badge is a difficult task in itself. The 67-year-old has won league titles in four of the top five European leagues – Spain, Germany, Italy, and France, while he's won the Champions League five times. His success in the latter means he is unquestionably the greatest manager in the competition's history.
Now in charge of the Brazilian national team, Ancelotti knows that he'll further cement his status as one of the game's greatest-ever managers if he can get the nation out of their rut. But for his now-occasional appearances in the dugout, and the fact there's doubt over whether he's still as good as he was in his prime, he'd be much higher up this list after Brazil failed to make it past the Round of 16.
Like Ancelotti, Jose Mourinho has won virtually everything there is to win in the beautiful game. From his beginnings in Portugal to trophy-laden spells with Chelsea, Manchester United and beyond, the cunning tactical mastermind will go down as one of the greatest managers ever to take a seat in the dugout.
But he, too, has been some way off his peak for several years now. Evidence of that can be seen in his recent stops at Fenerbahce and Benfica, before being handed a golden opportunity by Real Madrid in the summer to re-establish his status as one of the world's best managers. This is likely to be his last opportunity to get his hands on football's biggest trophies once more.
To be ranked above the likes of Hansi Flick, Xabi Alonso and Diego Simeone in 2025 was an incredible achievement and a testament to the work Simone Inzaghi did in Italy with Inter Milan, but with him now fleeing Europe's bright lights for the Middle East, he has since dropped down the rankings. 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 and 2024/25 seasons, narrowly losing in the final against Manchester City and then Paris Saint-Germain. The 5-0 thrashing against PSG saw Inzaghi switch Milan for Riyadh, and also they sprang a major surprise by dumping Man City out of last summer's Club World Cup. That failure to win a European title limits Inzaghi.
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 48-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 on the unforgiving 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. The big question now: can he still be successful with Argentina without Lionel Messi?
Despite failing to win Euro 2024 while being the hosts and one of the favourites, before then losing their first-ever penalty shootout in a World Cup Round of 32 defeat to Paraguay this summer, big things are still expected from Germany in the future and that's now down to former Liverpool manager to prove they have what it takes.
After two seasons away from management, 'The Normal One' is back in the dugout following Julian Nagelsmann's departure. During his time at Borussia Dortmund, and again at Anfield, Klopp showed an innate ability to get the best out of his teams without the luxury his rivals did, and it's that - alongside his charisma - that should serve well for the out-of-luck Die Mannschaft.
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