World Cup 2026: The secret to international football management

MOSCOW, RUSSIA - JULY 15: Didier Deschamps head coach / manager of France celebrates with the FIFA World Cup trophy he has now won the World Cup as both a player and manager during the 2018 FIFA World Cup Russia Final between France and Croatia at Luzhniki Stadium on July 15, 2018 in Moscow, Russia. (Photo by Robbie Jay Barratt - AMA/Getty Images) Getty Images There’s no such thing as time in international football. Coaches are asked to build greatness in fragments: a few days here, a few days there, brief windows snatched between club seasons.

In those scraps, they’re expected to build strategy, rhythm and belief, then step back and wait for the spotlight of the World Cup to expose every gap in front of the world. The job of an international manager may seem more pedestrian than the constant maelstrom of the club game. But while fewer games and training days across a campaign may look easier from the outside, the scarcity is what makes it such a pure test of leadership.

Bad defeats or decisions can linger for months, and a lack of regular contact with players makes the communication of ideas and culture so much harder. There’s a lack of control but no less pressure, like a Sunday driver suddenly being thrust into the cockpit of a Formula One car hurtling towards a high-speed chicane. Only coaches with a certain temperament can handle the challenge.

Even some of the world’s best club bosses find they can’t adapt to what is needed to succeed with a national team. Speaking with dozens of international managers, I’ve found the same theme regularly surfaces. Forget complex tactical plans and carefully choreographed sequences that are curated over months of training sessions, the job requires short, concise instructions that are consistent and can be put into action quickly.