Football coaching is no longer the exclusive domain of grey-haired veterans with decades of playing experience behind them.
A new generation of tactically brilliant, data-driven, and fearlessly ambitious young coaches is reshaping the game from the dugout, and they are doing it at clubs in some of the biggest leagues on the planet.
These are not just promising young managers with potential. Many of them are already winning, already building legacies, and already rewriting the record books.
Here are the top 10 youngest football coaches in the world in 2026.
Top 10 Youngest Soccer Coaches In The World (2026)
In our list, we are focusing on coaches who have managed or are managing a senior professional team, not an academy side.
1. Carlos Cuesta — Parma, Serie A (30 years old)
Carlos Cuesta is the youngest manager in Europe’s top five leagues and the youngest head coach in Serie A history since 1939.
Born in Palma de Mallorca on July 29, 1995, Cuesta never played professionally, choosing to dedicate himself entirely to coaching at 18 years old after retiring from amateur football.
He started coaching in Atlético Madrid’s youth academy at just 14, moved to Juventus in 2018 to work with their U17 and U23 setups, and then joined Mikel Arteta’s backroom staff at Arsenal in August 2020, spending five years helping shape the most successful Arsenal period in over two decades including two Community Shield wins.
When Parma appointed him on June 19, 2025, he was still 29 years old, making him the only manager in the top five European leagues in his 20s at the time.
He guided Parma to 12th place in Serie A in his debut season, recording 11 wins and 12 draws and comfortably securing the club’s survival, with reports confirming the club was happy to continue into 2026/27.
Cuesta is multilingual, speaking six languages, holds his UEFA Pro Licence, and has been described by those who worked alongside him at Arsenal as one of the most forensically detailed tactical minds they have ever encountered.
He favours a 3-5-2 formation and has been credited with bringing the same defensive intensity and set-piece sophistication to Parma that Arteta built at Arsenal.
At 30 years old, he is just getting started.
2. Fabian Hürzeler — Brighton and Hove Albion, Premier League (33 years old)
No manager in Premier League history has ever been appointed younger than Fabian Hürzeler, and two seasons at Brighton have proven that Brighton were right to take the gamble.
Born in Houston, Texas on February 26, 1993, Hürzeler grew up in Munich and came through Bayern Munich’s youth system as a player before retiring at 22 due to knee injuries and immediately switching to coaching.
He built his reputation at FC St. Pauli, becoming the youngest manager in Germany’s second division and leading them to the Bundesliga in 2023/24 before Brighton appointed him in June 2024 at 31 years and 180 days old.
In his debut Premier League season he finished eighth, won a Manager of the Month award in August 2024, and beat Manchester United and Tottenham at home.
In 2025/26 he guided Brighton to eighth again, secured UEFA Conference League qualification for the first time in the club’s history, and extended his contract until 2029 on May 7, 2026.
He holds German, Swiss, and American citizenship, studied Sports Management at the Technical University of Munich, and wrote his thesis on modern pressing tactics.
Brighton’s chairman Tony Bloom described his appointment as “not a gamble at all,” and two outstanding Premier League seasons have proven him absolutely right.
3. Marie-Louise Eta — Union Berlin, Bundesliga (34 years old)
On April 12, 2026, football made history when Union Berlin appointed Marie-Louise Eta as interim head coach, making her the first woman ever to manage a men’s team in any of Europe’s top five professional football leagues.
Born on July 7, 1991, Eta retired from playing women’s Bundesliga football at just 26 years old and immediately moved into coaching, working with boys’ youth teams at Werder Bremen before completing her UEFA Pro Licence at the German FA academy in Frankfurt.
She joined Union Berlin’s coaching setup in 2023 as assistant to Marco Grote with the men’s U19s, becoming the first female assistant coach in men’s Bundesliga history and the first to work in the men’s Champions League.
When Union Berlin sacked Steffen Baumgart in April 2026 after only two wins in 14 games, Eta stepped up as interim head coach, a moment that made headlines across the world.
She won her final game in charge 4-0 against Augsburg before moving to take over Union Berlin’s women’s team for 2026/27, as had already been agreed before her stint with the men’s squad.
Eta faced sexist abuse on social media following her appointment which the club publicly condemned, but her performance in the dugout and the respect of her players spoke far louder than any of the critics.
She is one of the most groundbreaking figures in the history of football management and a name that will never be forgotten.
4. Will Still — RC Lens, Ligue 1 (34 years old)
Ask any teenager playing Football Manager in the mid-2000s if they ever imagined a coach could go from video game obsessive to setting Ligue 1 records and winning the Coupe de France, and Will Still is that story made real.
Born in 1991 to Belgian-English parents, Still revealed that playing Football Manager and Championship Manager as a teenager directly influenced his decision to pursue coaching rather than a playing career, and at 17 he made that switch permanent.
He worked his way through Sint-Truiden, Standard Liège, and Lierse in Belgium before joining Reims in Ligue 1 as an assistant in 2022.
When Óscar García was sacked in October 2022, Still stepped up as caretaker despite not yet holding his UEFA Pro Licence, which meant Reims were fined €25,000 for every match he managed until he enrolled on a monthly coaching course near Brussels.
The fines were worth it.
He set a Ligue 1 record by going 17 matches unbeaten with Reims, making him only the second manager ever to reach that mark in the top five European leagues in the 21st century after Tito Vilanova’s 18-game run with Barcelona in 2012/13.
He then moved to Southampton before joining RC Lens for 2025/26, where he guided the club to their first ever Coupe de France title on May 22, 2026, beating Nice 3-1 in the final, the greatest moment in Lens’ modern history and confirmation that Still is one of the most naturally gifted young coaching minds in European football.
5. Merlin Polzin — Hamburger SV, Bundesliga (35 years old)
Merlin Polzin is one of football’s most endearing stories. Merlin Polzin is a lifelong Hamburg fan who grew up playing amateur football in the city’s lower divisions and ended up managing the club he supported as a boy back into the Bundesliga after seven years away.
Born on November 7, 1990, Polzin retired from amateur football in 2011 at 21 years old and immediately joined HSV’s youth coaching setup, spending over a decade working his way up through the academy before becoming assistant to a succession of first-team managers.
When Steffen Baumgart was sacked in November 2024, Polzin stepped up as interim, won three of his first four games, and was made permanent manager on December 22, 2024.
He guided Hamburg to promotion from Bundesliga 2 in 2024/25, setting a second division record of 72 points and a goal difference of +35, delivering the moment every HSV supporter had been waiting for since the club’s historic relegation in 2018.
In 2025/26 his first Bundesliga season saw Hamburg reach ninth place, win a derby against St. Pauli, and establish themselves as one of the division’s most energetic pressing sides.
Borussia Dortmund were reportedly monitoring him during the season, which tells you everything about how rapidly his reputation has grown.
6. Francesco Farioli — FC Porto, Primeira Liga (36 years old)
Francesco Farioli is one of the most unlikely success stories in European management. He is a former goalkeeping coach who reinvented himself as one of the sharpest tactical minds in European football and won a league title in just his second season in a major role.
Born on April 10, 1989, Farioli studied philosophy and sports science at the University of Florence before beginning his coaching career as a goalkeeping coach at lower-division Italian clubs, then in Turkey and at Qatar’s Aspire Academy, where he first worked alongside Roberto De Zerbi.
He earned the Nice job in Ligue 1 and then was appointed Ajax head coach in May 2024, guiding them to Champions League qualification in his only season before citing internal political struggles as making it impossible to continue, leaving in May 2025.
Porto appointed him on July 6, 2025 on a two-year contract and he immediately delivered, winning the Primeira Liga Manager of the Month award for August 2025 after seven wins from seven matches, topping the table with 16 wins and one draw in his first 17 games, and ultimately winning the Primeira Liga title in 2025/26 to become one of the most exciting young managers in Europe.
He is a genuine contender for one of the biggest jobs in world football within the next two to three years, and his story from goalkeeping coach to league title winner is one of the most remarkable in modern football management.
7. Iñigo Pérez — Villarreal, La Liga (37 years old)
Iñigo Pérez turned Rayo Vallecano into one of La Liga’s most organised and difficult teams to beat before earning one of the most deserved promotions in Spanish football management, signing a three-year contract with Villarreal on June 1, 2026.
Born in Pamplona in 1988, Pérez played for Osasuna before retiring and joining Andoni Iraola’s coaching staff at Rayo in 2018, spending five years as assistant before being handed the head coach role in his own right on February 14, 2024, following Francisco’s dismissal.
He was supposed to follow Iraola to Bournemouth in the Premier League in the summer of 2023 but work permit issues prevented the move, and that frustration ultimately proved to be Rayo’s gain.
His first match in charge was a 1-1 draw at home to Real Madrid, an early statement of intent that told Spanish football exactly what kind of coach had just arrived at the Campo de Fútbol de Vallecas.
He avoided relegation in his first partial season, guided Rayo to seventh in La Liga in 2024/25 and European football for the first time in the club’s modern history, and then took them to the 2025/26 UEFA Conference League final, where they beat Strasbourg 2-0 on aggregate in the semi-finals before losing 1-0 to Crystal Palace in the final.
His 4-4-2 pressing system, described by Spanish media as the “Vallecano soul,” made Rayo one of the most physically demanding opponents in La Liga and one of the most exciting stories in European football this season.
Villarreal’s decision to appoint him on June 1, 2026 on a three-year contract confirms that Pérez is now firmly established as one of the most coveted young coaching talents in Spanish football.
8. Sandro Wagner — FC Augsburg, Bundesliga (37 years old)
Sandro Wagner is one of the most fascinating transitions in recent German football. Sandro Wagner is a former combative centre-forward who scored 13 goals in 13 Germany international appearances before reinventing himself as a thoughtful and tactically detailed young manager.
Born on November 1, 1987, Wagner played for Hertha Berlin, Bayern Munich, Hoffenheim, and Darmstadt during his career before moving into coaching and working as assistant at Bayern Munich under Julian Nagelsmann.
He was appointed Augsburg head coach ahead of the 2025/26 Bundesliga season at 37 years old, becoming one of the youngest managers in the division.
His playing experience at the highest level of German and European football gives him an immediate credibility with players that many young coaches struggle to establish, and his Bayern Munich coaching education provides a clear tactical philosophy.
Wagner is already one of the most recognisable young faces in German football management and confirmed by Score90’s official Bundesliga data as one of the five youngest managers in the division.
9. Claudio Giráldez — RC Celta Vigo, La Liga (38 years old)
His father is a fisherman from Galicia and Claudio Giráldez has always said that his working-class roots drive everything he does in football. Those roots powered one of the most impressive single-season turnarounds in recent La Liga history, rescuing Celta Vigo from near-certain relegation and guiding them to European qualification within just over a year of taking the job.
Born in O Porriño on February 24, 1988, Giráldez played in Spain’s lower divisions before retiring through injury and joining Celta’s coaching setup in 2016, spending eight years working through the Cadete, Juvenil, and B team levels.
When Rafa Benítez was sacked in March 2024, Celta turned to Giráldez despite him having no prior senior management experience, and his first match in charge was a 2-1 away win at Sevilla.
He guided Celta to safety in 2023/24 and then to a fifth-place La Liga finish in 2024/25, earning them Europa League football and marking the club’s best league campaign in years.
His father is a fisherman from Galicia and Giráldez has spoken openly about the working-class roots that drive his work ethic, saying that his years in the lower levels of the coaching pyramid taught him more than any coaching manual ever could.
He is one of the most authentic and compelling young coaches in world football.
10. Julian Nagelsmann — Free Agent (38 years old)
On July 3, 2026, Julian Nagelsmann sent a message to the DFB confirming his resignation as Germany head coach, making him the most coveted free agent in world football and bringing down the curtain on a managerial career that has already achieved more than most coaches manage in a lifetime.
Born on July 23, 1987, Nagelsmann’s playing career ended at 20 due to knee injuries before he joined Hoffenheim’s youth setup in 2010 and was appointed first-team manager in 2016 at just 28, becoming the youngest Bundesliga manager in history.
He guided Hoffenheim to the Champions League, took RB Leipzig to the Champions League semi-finals in 2020, and Bayern Munich paid a world-record managerial compensation fee of around €25 million to bring him to the Allianz Arena, where he won the Bundesliga in 2021/22.
Bayern sacked him controversially in March 2023 before Germany appointed him in September 2023, extending his deal through to Euro 2028 in January 2025.
Germany reached the Euro 2024 quarter-finals on home soil before losing to eventual champions Spain, topped their World Cup group in 2026, and then fell to Paraguay on penalties in the round of 32, Germany’s first ever penalty shootout defeat at a World Cup.
Nagelsmann resigned on July 3, 2026, and is now the most coveted free agent manager in world football, with Manchester United among the clubs who have been linked with him throughout the season.
Honourable Mentions: More Young Football Coaches Worth Watching
Several other young coaches are making their mark across football’s major leagues and deserve recognition alongside the top ten.
- Tom Cleverley (36), Watford, Championship: One of the youngest managers in English football, consistently challenging for promotion at Watford on a limited budget and earning respect as one of the most efficient young coaches in the EFL.
- Oliver Werner (38), RB Leipzig, Bundesliga: Confirmed as one of the five youngest managers in the Bundesliga for 2025/26 by Score90’s official data, managing one of the most demanding and scrutinised clubs in German football at just 38 years old.
- Vincent Kompany (38), Bayern Munich, Bundesliga: Won back-to-back Bundesliga titles in his first two seasons at Bayern, making him the most trophy-laden young manager in world football right now and one of the most respected coaches in Europe.
- Cesc Fàbregas (39), Como 1907, Serie A: The former Arsenal and Barcelona midfielder guided Como to Serie A survival in their debut season and European football in their second, establishing himself as one of the most exciting young managerial talents in Italy.
- Kieran McKenna (40), Free Agent: Guided Ipswich from League One to the Premier League in consecutive seasons before their relegation in 2025/26.
- Ruben Amorim (41), AC Milan: Won six trophies in Portugal including a historic Primeira Liga title with Sporting before a difficult spell at Manchester United. Currently the coach of AC Milan.
- Liam Rosenior (41), Free Agent: One of the most progressive and articulate young coaches in English and French football. He is one of the best black football coaches.
If you enjoyed this article, check out our list of the coaches who won the most trophies and our guide to the best up-and-coming managers in football right now.
