Top 10 Football Coaches With The Most Trophies In History

Pep Guardiola football coaches with the most trophies in history
(Photo by Alex Livesey – Danehouse/Getty Images)

In competitive football, it’s not just enough to have the best players to win trophies. To be successful, you also need a great coach who can mold a group of talented individuals into a title-winning team.

A few coaches have distinguished themselves as the best above the rest over the years.

Winners who have consistently coached their various teams to title successes. However, there are certain coaches who have won the a lot trophies in football.

Here are the top coaches with the most trophies in football history.

1. Sir Alex Ferguson – 49 Trophies

Sir Alex Ferguson

The great Scot is arguably the greatest manager in football history, having won over 49 titles across various competitions.

These include domestic leagues, cups, and international triumphs during his coaching career in Scotland and England.

During his time in Scotland, Sir Alex successfully broke the duopoly of Celtic FC and Glasgow Rangers FC, helping Aberdeen FC win multiple Scottish League and Cup titles.

However, It was his time with Manchester United that catapulted him to legendary status.

Alex Ferguson won a humongous 37 titles with the Red Devils, to help establish them as one of the best teams in England, and himself as one of the greatest coaches to manage in the beautiful game.

He was able to manage some of the greatest players to play for Manchester United.

2. Josep Guardiola – 37 Trophies

Pep Guardiola football coaches with the most trophies in history
(Photo by Alex Livesey – Danehouse/Getty Images)

Pep as he is popularly known is one of the best football coaches and most successful managers in the modern game.

The former Spanish and Barcelona FC midfielder has transitioned seamlessly from player to successful manager. Pep has so far won 34 titles coaching some of the best teams in the world like Barcelona, Bayern Munich FC, and Manchester City FC.

The array of trophies he has won is equally intimidating, from domestic leagues and cups to Champions League trophies and World Club cup successes.

In the 2022/23 season, Pep Guardiola won the Premier League, FA Cup, and the UEFA Champions League. This was also second treble as a coach after having won it with Barcelona in 2009.

Having won so many titles in such a short span, many will not bet against Pep adding to his trophy collection with a good chunk of his career still ahead of him.

His last two trophies were the 2023 FIFA Club World Cup and 2023 UEFA Super Cup.

2. Mircea Lucescu – 36 Trophies

Mircea Lucescu

The Romanian is one of the most successful coaches in the history of the game.

His coaching career spans various countries from his native Romania to Turkey, Ukraine, Italy to mention a few.

Over a career that has spanned 41 years and counting, the 76-year-old has been able to win about 36 titles as manager.

He is currently managing one of Ukraine’s best club sides Dynamo Kyiv so don’t rule him out from adding more trophies to his haul.

He is one of the few coaches to have managed over 100 UEFA Champions League games

4. Valeriy Lobanovskyi – 33 Trophies

Valeriy Lobanovskyi

Valeriy Lobanovskyi was one of the most successful coaches with the most trophies won. He was а Soviet and Ukrainian football player and manager.

As a coach, he managed 7 teams, including United Arab Emirates, Kuwait, Dynamo Kyiv, Ukraine and the Soviet Union. Lobanovskyi’s Dynamo Kyiv team became the first side from the Soviet Union to win a major European trophy in 1975, when they defeated Hungarian side Ferencváros in the final of the Cup Winners’ Cup.

Throughout his managerial career Valeriy Lobanovskyi won 33 official trophies, making him the one of the most decorated manager of all time.

5. Luis Felipe Scolari — 27 Trophies

Luis Felipe Scolari

The 73-year-old Brazilian tactician has had quite a good career, to put it lightly. Scolari has managed many teams across various continents, from South America to Europe and the Middle East.

He has won over 26 major titles as a coach. The most famous of which a World Cup triumph with his native Brazil in 2002.

6. Carlo Ancelotti — 27 trophies

Carlo Ancelotti football coaches with the most trophies Real Madrid's Italian coach Carlo Ancelotti celebrates their victory with the trophy at the end of the UEFA Champions League Final Real Madrid vs Atletico de Madrid at Luz stadium in Lisbon, on May 24, 2014. Real Madrid won 4-1. AFP PHOTO/ FRANCK FIFE (Photo by Franck FIFE / AFP)
(Photo by FRANCK FIFE/AFP via Getty Images)

Carlo Ancelotti might have had an impressive career as a player, but his coaching career is nothing short of phenomenal.

The Italian manager is the only manager to have won the league title in all of Europe’s top five leagues, which is a beyond astonishing feat.

The current Madrid coach has also won 4 Champions League titles, 4 UEFA Super Cups, one English Super Cup, 2 German Super Cups, 2 FIFA Club World Cups and multiple other trophies.

Real Madrid defeated FC Barcelona 4-1  in the 2023 Supercopa de España to hand Carlo Ancelotti his 27th price of silverware in his long and successful career.

7. Jock Stein — 26 trophies

Jock Stein

Jock Stein was a phenomenal centre-half for Celtic as a player, but his managerial career for the Hoops is what he will be remembered for. He began his managerial career in 1960 with Dunfermline.

Jock Stein was the first manager of a British side to win the European Cup, with Celtic.

He also lead Celtic to nine consecutive Scottish League championships between 1966 and 1974 while winning the Scottish League Cup six successive times.

8. Jose Mourinho — 26 trophies

Jose Mourinho Coaches with most trophies in football history

The Portuguese manager is not just one of the coaches with the most trophies in football history but also one of the highest-paid football coaches.

Mourinho has won a total of 26 trophies in his managerial career; that is if you exclude the trophies he won as an assistant coach at Barcelona and FC Porto. 

He is currently the head coach of AS Roma and won his first title with the Giallorossi when his team clinched the 2022 UEFA Europa Conference League. 

With that feat, Jose Mourinho became the first coach to achieve the UEFA treble by winning the Champions League, UEFA Cup/Europa League, and Europa Conference League (which replaced the UEFA Cup Winners’ Cup).

9. Ottmar Hitzfeld — 25 trophies

Ottmar Hitzfeld

The 72-year-old former Switzerland manager is one of the best coaches Germany has ever produced. He was nicknamedder general’ because of his commanding presence.

During his 31-year coaching career, Hitzfeld won an impressive 25 titles primarily with German sides Borussia Dortmund and Bayern Munich.

Ottmar won domestic leagues and cups, as well as a Champions League title. He also clinched a World Club cup title before his retirement in 2014.

10. Giovanni Trapattoni — 23 trophies

Giovanni Trapattoni best soccer coaches of all time
(Photo by Michael Regan – The FA/The FA via Getty Images)

Giovanni Trapattoni is an Italian football manager and former player who is considered one of the most successful club coaches in Italian football history.

As a manager, he began his career at Milan as a youth team coach before becoming caretaker coach.

He then went on to manage several top clubs in Italy, including Juventus, Inter Milan, and AC Milan, as well as clubs in Germany, Austria, Portugal, and the Republic of Ireland national team.

Trapattoni won numerous trophies throughout his managerial career, including seven Serie A titles, two Bundesliga titles, and one Portuguese Primeira Liga title.

He also won the UEFA Cup, the European Cup Winners’ Cup, and the UEFA Super Cup. Additionally, he managed the Italian national team from 2000 to 2004, leading them to the quarter-finals of the 2002 World Cup and the group stage of Euro 2004.

11. Arsene Wenger — 21 trophies

Arsene Wenger top soccer coaches with the most trophies in history
(Photo by Catherine Ivill/Getty Images)

Arsene Wenger is famous for leading the invincibles team of Arsenal to an unbeaten Premier League win. However, the Frenchman is also one of the coaches with the most trophies in football history.

Wenger began his managerial career in France, where he managed Nancy and AS Monaco. There he won the Ligue 1 title and Coupe de France.

He also cliched two titles for Nagoya Grampus in Japan.

In 1996, Wenger was appointed as the manager of Arsenal, where he went on to spend 22 years in charge. During his time at Arsenal, Wenger won three Premier League titles, seven FA Cups, and seven Community Shields. He also led the team to the UEFA Champions League final in 2006, where they were defeated by Barcelona.

12. Ernst Happel — 20 trophies 

Ernst Happel football coaches with the most trophies in history
(Photo by Bob Thomas Sports Photography via Getty Images)

Although he is famous, former Austrian manager Ernst Happel was widely considered to be one of the greatest managers of all time.

He began his managerial career in the Netherlands, where he won two Eredivisie titles and the UEFA Cup with Feyenoord.

Ernst Happel then moved on to manage several other top clubs in Europe, including Club Brugge, Hamburger SV, and Standard Liege, winning numerous domestic league titles and cups along the way.

He led the Netherlands to a runners-up medal at the 1978 FIFA World Cup.

Happel’s greatest achievement as a manager came in 1983 when he led Hamburger SV to victory in the European Cup, becoming the first and only Austrian manager to win the competition.

He also won the UEFA Cup twice, as well as domestic league titles and cups in Austria, Belgium, Germany, and the Netherlands.

This article was updated on April 8, 2024.

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