After their Qatar FIFA World Cup loss, at least seven coaches have either faced elimination or have exited their respective teams. Other losing nations were still thinking of giving the boot to their head coaches.
Competing in the prestigious football tournament is a great honor for qualifying countries. Sometimes, the humiliation was so great that managers voluntarily resigned or were fired from their teams.
So far, Mexico, Belgium, Ghana, South Korea, Spain, Brazil, Netherlands, and Portugal will have new head coaches by the next World Cup.
Here are the seven managers who were either booted or fired after the FIFA World Cup elimination:
Gerardo Martino
Martino was the first to leave his post following the devastating loss of Mexica during the tournament’s first round. The country had a poor performance in all three of their matches, finishing 1-1-1.
Mexico’s former coach, the sixth-highest-paid manager at the World Cup, immediately resigned after their humiliating loss. Moreover, the “mistreatment” he suffered for the past few months solidified his decision to stop coaching the Mexican team.
Now that he is no longer coaching, countries like Peru and Ecuador seem interested in acquiring his services. On the other hand, Martino said he is still open to coaching another South American team in the coming World Cup.
Roberto Martínez
With the expiration of his coaching contract with Belgium and the team’s elimination by Croatia in the knock-out stage, Martínez left the country he had served since 2016.
“My situation is very clear. This is the end for me,” he said in an interview. “Whatever the result of this tournament, I took the decision before the World Cup. It’s all about [the] long term. Since 2018, I could have taken many jobs. I don’t resign; it’s just ending like this.”
Meanwhile, Belgium released a statement confirming that they have let go of Marc Wilmots’ successor.
“We thank Roberto Martínez for everything he achieved with this Golden Generation as a coach as well as a technical director: four consecutive years number one on the FIFA ranking, a bronze medal at the 2018 World Cup, qualification for the UEFA 2021 Euros, the 2021 UEFA Nations League Final Four and the 2022 World Cup,” said Royal Belgian FA (RBFA) CEO Peter Bossaert.
Belgium had a disappointing performance against Croatia, missing numerous opportunities to score a goal. Having scored only once in their three matches, the Europeans were eliminated.
Otto Addo
Ghana’s Black Stars are looking for a new head coach now that Addo resigned from his post after their FIFA World Cup elimination. Uruguay sealed its fate during the Round 16 of the tournament.
In an interview, Addo clarified that he would leave the national team whether they win or lose in the tournament.
“Yes, I said it before when I started as [an] assistant coach in October last year. It was clear I would stop after the World Cup. At the moment, me and my family see our future in Germany, and I like my role at Dortmund, and we are very happy there,” clarified the 47-year-old coach.
Paulo Bento
South Korea had tough opponents in its stage group, facing off against Portugal, Uruguay, and Ghana. Their final matchup was against Brazil, which beat them 4-1.
After their World Cup exit, Bento said that he would not stay with South Korea and thus leave his position as its team’s head coach.
“Now I need to think about the future, but I will not be with the Korea team. I am going to rest and then see,” he said.
“I have just told the players and the president of the national federation. This is a decision that] I took in September. It was set in stone, and today I confirmed it. I have to thank them and am very proud to have been their manager,” the 53-year-old former Portugal coach added.
Luis Enrique
Spain let Enrique go after its embarrassing performance against countries like Germany, Japan, and Morocco.
After their outstanding performance against Costa Rica, 7-0, the Germans put Spain in a 1-1 draw, while Japan defeated them 2-1. Their final match was against Morocco. It was described as a “lifeless match,” with the Spaniards allowing the Moroccans to beat them through a penalty shootout, 3-0.
The 52-year-old coach was replaced by Luis de la Fuentes.
Adenor Leonardo “Tite” Bacchi
The 61-year-old coach stepped down as Brazil’s head coach after losing to Croatia via penalty kicks during the FIFA World Cup quarterfinals.
Tite fulfilled his promise that this year’s tournament would be his last, announcing his resignation after their exit.
“The cycle ended, and I said that one and a half years ago. I needed to have the full cycle, and now I have the full cycle and have followed the moments.”
In the meantime, candidates like Carlo Ancelotti and Pep Guardiola are the leading prospects to succeed Tite.
Louis van Gaal
Van Gaal has said that he will rescind being Netherlands’ team coach after Argentina defeated them on penalties.
“First and foremost, I won’t be continuing. I only did it for this period of time. This was my very last match of my third term as head coach,” stated the 71-year-old coach during the post-match conference.
Fernando Santos
After eight years of managing Portugal, Santos finally stepped down after their loss to Morocco during the quarterfinals of the tournament.
It was a shock to football fans, especially with Cristiano Ronaldo thirsting for that World Cup trophy.
“I’m leaving with the feeling of enormous gratitude,” said the coach in a video on the team’s official website.
In his last World Cup with Portugal, Santos was heavily criticized for his decisions. He was responsible for benching Ronaldo, his star player, for 51 minutes of the game versus Morocco.
Meanwhile, Jose Mourinho is believed to be the replacement for Santos.
Félix Sánchez (Qatar), Rob Page (Wales), Kasper Hjulmand (Denmark), Diego Alonso (Uruguay), and Dragan Stojković (Serbia) are also rumored to be in danger of getting sacked from their respective national teams.
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