Roberto Mancini, 61, has been reappointed as head coach of the Italy men's national football team for a second spell, Italian Football Federation (FIGC) president Giovanni Malagò announced on July 28, 2026. Malagò said, "Mancini is the coach", explaining that the decision also involved appointing Claudio Ranieri as technical director to share oversight of coaching and talent development across all Italy national teams [1, 2].
Mancini previously managed Italy from 2018 to 2023, leading the team to victory in the 2020 European Championship and achieving a 37-game unbeaten streak. During his first spell, he coached Italy in 58 matches. This record made him the clear choice to restore the struggling national side after the disappointment of recent years [3, 4, 5].
Gattuso resigned in April 2026 after Italy failed to qualify for the FIFA World Cup for the third consecutive time, losing a playoff to Bosnia and Herzegovina. Malagò said he believed Mancini was the best person for the job, adding it was important to have a shared vision with the new technical director. Mancini signed a four-year contract at his reappointment and said he aimed to win "an important trophy, or even two" and hopefully continue beyond that [1, 6, 2, 7, 8].
Mancini publicly apologized for leaving the Italy job in 2023 to coach Saudi Arabia, saying, "I’m very sorry. It was like losing the woman of your life. ... I’m going to try to bring the national team back where it belongs." He told reporters his goal was to build a team that played so well fans would "fall in love with it, and perhaps forgive me" for his previous departure [3, 7, 4].
Ranieri’s appointment as technical director came after Andrea Pirlo withdrew from contention to replace Gattuso amid controversy involving ties to a Russian betting firm. The scandal also led to the resignations of Paolo Maldini and Leonardo from their FIGC technical roles in July 2026 [2, 4, 9]. Pep Guardiola was reportedly the FIGC’s first choice for head coach but declined the role earlier this year [2, 9].
Mancini’s first match back in charge will be a UEFA Nations League game against Belgium on September 25, 2026, at Rome’s Stadio Olimpico. Italy will face France, Belgium, and Turkey in their 2026-27 Nations League group [3, 8, 5].
