The “curse” of the selectors in the history of the World Cups
The World Cups provide a statistic that cannot be ignored. No team has won the World Cup with a foreign strategist
With almost 100 years of history, the Soccer World Cups have provided unique and sometimes inexplicable data. One of them is on the benches. No team has been able to win a World Cup with a foreign coach.
Records, positive and negative, are meant to be broken, but this one has not been able to have the first coach capable of achieving such a feat. In this edition of the World Cup, names like Carlo Ancelotti, Gustavo Alfaro and Roberto Martínez have said goodbye as part of the percentage supported by this statistic.
No foreign strategist has been able to lift the cup since the World Cup in Uruguay in 1930. In fact, only two coaches were able to reach the final by fulfilling this condition.
The first coach to fall short of the title was the Englishman Gerorge Raynor on the bench of the Sweden team. The Swedes were local in the 1958 World Cup and reached the final. But Raynor could not keep his team calm in the decisive match and they lost 5-2 against Brazil.
The second coach who was able to reach the final of a World Cup was the Austrian Ernst Happel. At the 1978 World Cup in Argentina, Happel led the Netherlands to the grand final. However, the Dutch lost against the Albiceleste 3-1 in extra time.
Since then, no other coach who meets those parameters has been able to reach a final. So far 22 trophies have been awarded and 22 teams have been led by coaches born in the same country.
2026 World Cup
In the 2026 World Cup there is only one coach in the race capable of breaking this record. German Thomas Tuchel has led England to the World Cup semi-finals.
This match will take place at Atlanta Stadium on Wednesday, July 15. The English will face Argentina. Thomas Tuchel has led the team up to this point with five wins and one draw.