Mancini set to return as Italy boss
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- Roberto Mancini will return as Italy head coach after Paolo Maldini and Leonardo quit their FIGC roles just 16 days into the job, having previously led the Azzurri to Euro 2020 before resigning in August 2023 to manage Saudi Arabia.
- Andrea Pirlo was ruled out as Italy's leading coaching candidate due to his role as global ambassador for Russian bookmaker Fonbet, a tie that drew objections from FIGC officials and politicians amid the ongoing war in Ukraine.
- Claudio Ranieri is set to replace Maldini as technical director, while Gennaro Gattuso had already vacated the head coach role before the FIGC's wider search began.
- Pep Guardiola was offered a sweeping 'Azzurro project' to overhaul Italian football across all national teams, not just the senior side, but declined for personal reasons beyond football after three days of meetings in Barcelona.
- Carlo Ancelotti was also contacted before Guardiola but is contracted to the Brazil national team, leaving Mancini as the choice after the FIGC's preferred candidates all fell through.
- The coaching saga follows Italy's failure to qualify for the expanded 2026 World Cup — a third consecutive tournament absence — and Mancini's own departure from Saudi Arabia after poor 2026 qualifying results.
Why it matters: Italy has cycled through Ancelotti, Guardiola, and Pirlo in a matter of weeks without landing any of them, reverting to a coach who resigned in 2023 and just flamed out in Saudi Arabia — a continuity hire at a federation that explicitly hired Maldini and Leonardo to deliver a bold overhaul, and all this while the Azzurri have missed three straight World Cups.
