10 Youngest Football Coaches In the World (2023)

Will Still youngest football coaches in the world 2023 Head coach Will STILL of Reims after the Ligue 1 Uber Eats match between Nice and Reims at Allianz Riviera Stadium on February 18, 2023 in Nice, France.
(Photo by Sandra Ruhaut/Icon Sport via Getty Images)

Football coaches are important to any football team. Without them, a team would lack direction and strategy on how to overcome their opponents.

Coaches are usually thought of as old with grey hair and wrinkles on their brows gotten from years of learning and studying the beautiful game.

These days, a younger crop of managers are emerging on the scene, showing that all it requires to be a successful manager is a great tactical mind.

Here are some of the best young managers in football right now.

In our list of the top youngest coaches in football, we are focusing on coaches that have coached or are coaching a top football team, not an academy.

Also, this list of the top youngest coaches in football is based on those aged 40 years and below.

1. Will Still (Reims) – 30 years old

Will Still youngest football coaches in the world 2023 Head coach Will STILL of Reims after the Ligue 1 Uber Eats match between Nice and Reims at Allianz Riviera Stadium on February 18, 2023 in Nice, France.
(Photo by Sandra Ruhaut/Icon Sport via Getty Images)

Will Still is the youngest football coaches in Europe and the top five leagues.

Still only 30, the Belgian-born manager has already made a name for himself in the coaching world.

Will Still revealed that playing the Football Manager and Championship Manager video game series influenced his decision to shift his focus from playing football at age 17 and pursue coaching. He moved to England to study at Myerscough College in Preston, Lancashire.

He started his career at Sint-Truiden and Standard Liège before moving on to become a video analyst and assistant manager at Lierse.

In 2017, he was appointed as the club’s manager, and in 2021, he took on the role of managing Beerschot in Belgium.

Will’s talent and hard work led him to join Ligue 1 team Reims as an assistant under manager Óscar García in 2022.

When García was sacked on 13 October 2022, Still stepped up as caretaker manager and led the team to an undefeated stretch of five games.

Due to his lack of a UEFA Pro Licence, Reims was fined €25,000 for every match he managed until he started a monthly course at the National Football Centre near Brussels.

Despite this hurdle, Will’s impressive performance earned him the title of manager for the rest of the 2022/23 season, making him the youngest manager in Europe’s top five leagues at just 30 years old.

Will Still set a Ligue 1 record by going 17 matches unbeaten with Reims. He also became just the second manager ever to reach this mark in top-five European leagues in the 21st century, after former Barcelona manager Tito Vilanova did with 18 matches in the 2012/13 season.

2. Ryan Mason (Tottenham Hotspurs) – 32 years old 

Ryan Mason youngest football coaches

Following the surprising sack of former Tottenham Hotspur FC manager Jose Mourinho, Mason was put in  charge of the club until the end of the season temporarily.

At just 30 years of age, the former Spurs player became the youngest manager in English Premier League history.

Even after Antonio Conte was named as Head Coach of Tottenham, Mason was promoted to the role of First Team Coach after he impressed Antonio Conte during his handling of leading training all week.

He was acting head coach of Tottenham following Cristian Stellini’s sacking on April 2023. He was the coach forthe Spurs’ final six matches of the 2022/23 EPL  season, winning two, drawing one, and losing three games.

As of June 27, 2023, Ryan Mason was appointed as one of the assistant coaches to Tottenham’s new head coach Ange Postecoglou.

3. Julian Nagelsmann (free agent) – 36 years old

Julian Nagelsmann

At 36, Julian Nagelsmann is one of the youngest football managers in the game right now.

Despite his relatively young age, the German tactician has distinguished himself since his emergence in 2016, when he was appointed as 1899 Hoffenheim coach, at just 28 years of age, making him the youngest manager in German Bundesliga history.

Nagelsmann’s impressive work at Die Kraichgauer earned him a move to ambitious German side RB Leipzig where he guided them to an unlikely UEFA Champions League semifinal.

Julian has also helped to maintain their positions in the top Bundesliga echelons, finishing an impressive 3rd in his first season with RB Leipzig.

Nagelsmann made a huge step up in his managerial career, as it was announced that defending league champions Bayern Munich signed Julian to a five-year deal.

He won a Bundesliga and 2 DFL-Supercup titles with Bayern Munich before he was abruptly sacked by the club on March 2023.

At the time of this writing, Julian Nagelsmann is currently a free agent.

4. Wayne Rooney (DC United) – 37 years old

Wayne Rooney coach

Wayne Rooney is an English football legend who recently retired and became a football coach. He is also one of the youngest coaches in football.

He has the potential to become one of the top youngest coaches in football in a few years.

He was previously the head coach of EFL Championship club Derby County, after he previously served as interim player-manager.

However, since July 2022, Rooney has been coaching MLS side D.C. United.

5. Domenico Tedesco (Belgium) – 37 years old

Domenico Tedesco

Although he is aged only 37, Tedesco has managed a handful of clubs in Europe.

The young football manager has coached the likes of Erzgebirge Aue, Schalke 04, Spartak Moscow, RB Leipzig, and now Belgium.

The German-Italian football manager began coaching when he was 23 as the assistant coach of the Stuttgart under-17 team.

Domenico has since then managed Erzgebirge Aue, Schalke 04, Spartak Moscow, and was previously  the head coach of RB Leipzig.

After impressing at Leipzig, Tedesco was appointed as the coach of the Belgian national team on a contract through to UEFA Euro 2024.

6. Rúben Amorim (Sporting CP) — 38

Rúben Amorim up-and-coming football coaches
(Photo by Joao Rico/DeFodi Images via Getty Images)

The young coach has been impressive since he started his managerial career in 2020 with Portuguese side Braga.

This led to a big money move to Lisbon giants Sporting CP. With Sporting CP paying up to €10 million (£8.65 million) for Ruben Amorim and he has transformed the club’s fortunes since then.

In just his second season with Sporting Amorim led them to their first title in 19 years, winning the Portuguese Primeira Liga 2020-2021 trophy. 

Ruben also led them to this season’s UEFA Champions League group stages, where they finished 3rd, automatically qualifying for the knockout stages of the Europa League.

He is considered one of the most tactically-sound coaches in football, and at just 38, he is one of the top up-and-coming football coaches in Europe.

7. Carlos Corberán (West Bromwich Albion) — 40

carlos corberan youngest football coaches

Corberán started out as a fitness coach but later transitioned into football coaching.

He managed Doxa and Ermis in the Cypriot First Division before he made joined Leeds United, where he has held roles as first-team assistant coach and was the manager of their under-23s side.

In 2020, the 38-year-old was appointed as the head coach of EFL Championship club Huddersfield Town.

He resigned from Huddersfield Town in 2022 and briefly coached Olympiacos in Greece.

Nevertheless, West Bromwich Albion announced on October 25th, 2022 that Carlos Corberán would be returning to the English Championship as the club’s new head coach on a 2 and a half year contract.

8. Florian Kohfeldt (Eupen) – 40 years old

Florian Kohfeldt

Florian is the second German on this list. The Werder Bremen coach at just 40 years is one of the youngest coaches in the Bundesliga.

Kohfeldt helped them avoid relegation in the 2019/2020 season. However, he was sacked as coach of Werder Bremen on May 16th, 2021.

However, in October 2021, Kohfeldt was named as manager of VfL Wolfsburg, signing a two-year contract. Nonetheless, he was sacked in May 2022.

Now Florian Kohfeldt manages Belgian club, Eupen.

9. Luka Elsner (Le Havre) – 41 years old

Luka Elsner

The 41-year-old Slovenian football coach is currently the manager of the French team Le Havre.

He began coaching in 2013 and has gone on to manage seven football clubs since then.

Luka Elsner has managed Domžale, Olimpija Ljubljana, Pafos, Union Saint-Gilloise, Amiens, K.V. Kortrijk, Standard Liège, and Le Havre.

10. Steven Gerrard (Al-Ettifaq) – 43 years old

Steven Gerrard

The 43-year-old had a remarkable spell as coach of Rangers FC and has continued to build his reputation as one of the best young coaches in the game.

Gerrard, last season finally broke the Scottish Premier League monopoly toppling Celtic FC to win the league title.

Gerrard was formerly the head coach at Premier League club Aston Villa.

However, On 3 July 2023, Steven Gerrard was announced as the manager of Saudi Pro League club Al-Ettifaq.

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