Black soccer managers to watch in the 2025-26 season

For many years in the most prominent soccer leagues in the world, there was a better chance at witnessing a goalkeeper score a goal in a match than there was seeing any Black person manage a team. 

Despite a large number of Black players either directly from African countries or having a heritage that descends from the motherland, for a long time the most-watched leagues had zero Black managers. There hasn’t been a concerted public effort by those leagues, the global soccer governing body FIFA, its European counterpart UEFA, or even in the Americas to directly advocate for Black manager representation.

In the past two seasons, however, there has been a small but peripheral presence of Black managers. It’s been a long-overdue sight that hopefully is the turning point Black people in soccer desperately needed.

Last summer, German powerhouse Bayern Munich, one of the world’s greatest clubs, was comfortable with choosing then-38-year-old Vincent Kompany as its first Black manager. After Bayern failed to win trophies in the 2023-24 season and suffered its lowest Bundesliga finish in 14 years, Kompany was far from the first option for the glamorous role. The former Manchester City center back and leader of the Belgium national team had just come off of a spirited but unsuccessful year in the Premier League with newly promoted Burnley FC being relegated back down to the Championship.

Despite being regarded as a coach on the rise for implementing an aggressive-possession style of offense, many thought Kompany would continue to grow as a manager at Burnley, a club partially owned by former NFL defensive lineman JJ Watt. Kompany’s future, however, would see a shocking turn of events.

Xabi Alonso spurned his former club’s pursuit of him to remain the manager of title winners Bayer Leverkusen. A whopping six other managers would also turn down Bayern Munich. For a club of Bayern’s stature, it was humiliating but resulted in Kompany.

Questions about Kompany’s lack of experience at managing an elite soccer club was coupled with the unexpected sight of seeing Bayern hire its first Black manager. Even if he were white, there was never going to be much grace given to Kompany for a slow start. Such is the standard at Bayern Munich, where a league title and competitive chance at winning the UEFA Champions League are mandatory.

That was the task for Kompany, and he succeeded in year one.

He became the first Black manager to win the Bundesliga title. Many believed Alonso had a tactical mastery of Bayern, but the Champions League round of 16 matchup between Bayern Munich and Bayer Leverkusen was a pivotal moment for Kompany. Kompany and Bayern Munich beat Leverkusen a combined 5-0 across two games. Those contests broke Leverkusen’s spirit to compete with Bayern Munich in the final weeks of the Bundesliga season and earned respect for Kompany.

Kompany’s solid first year at Bayern thankfully isn’t the only notable Black manager soccer story globally to savor now. Nuno Espirito Santo has shaken off the harsh, early firing at Tottenham he endured almost four years ago to be the current leader of Nottingham Forest’s most incredible period in the Premier League.

With Forest struggling at the beginning of their return season to the Premier League, Nuno was hired in November 2023 to prevent the Trees from an instant relegation back to the Championship. The São Tomé and Príncipe native and former goalkeeper made all of the difficult but successful lineup decisions for the remainder of the 2023-24 season, including replacing American No. 1 goalkeeper Matt Turner with Mats Sels, to keep Forest from being relegated. Many still figured that Nuno and Forest would inevitably succumb to their limitations.

Instead, Nuno coached Forest to their greatest season since the club’s 1970s peak. The team was in the top four of the Premier League for most of the 2024-25 campaign, meaning it was in the mix to secure a spot in next season’s Champions League. Unfortunately, as the season concluded, the team ran out of energy and finished seventh in the Premier League, just missing out on one of the automatic qualifying spots (top 5). The agonizing end of the season, however, doesn’t erase how incredible Nuno’s tenure has been with Nottingham Forest.

Another Black manager who gave the hush to his doubters was former France and Arsenal midfielder Patrick Vieira. After missing out on becoming the first Black manager of the United States’ men’s national team, Vieira wondered if he would be given another high-profile job following his dubious firings at English club Crystal Palace and French outlet Strasbourg.

But when Italian Serie A club Genoa fired Alberto Gilardino in the middle of the season, the club turned to Vieira to save it from relegation. Viera did more than keep Genoa in the Italian top division. He guided the team as high as ninth before finishing 13th and comfortably assuring another Serie A season. Viera rebuffed the interests of big clubs Inter Milan and Roma by signing a contract extension through June 2027.

Vieira’s replacement at Strasbourg was a rarity: It was a Black manager being replaced by another Black manager at a non-African club, especially a club in a UEFA Big Five league. That turned out to be former Premier League fullback Liam Rosenior, who has immediately become one of the world’s best young coaches.

After Vieira’s falling out last summer with the Chelsea BlueCo proprietors, who also own Strasbourg, Rosenior, 41, was given the job after his own issues with management at Hull City. With not much expected other than relegation, Rosenior orchestrated an exciting brand of soccer from his young squad to finish in seventh place and secure a UEFA Conference League qualifying place. With some Premier League clubs thirsting for the Englishman to return home, Rosenior’s exploits led to BlueCo wisely extending his contract for three years at the end of the season.

Rosenior isn’t the only Black managing success story currently in France’s top league, as fellow young manager Habib Beye’s rescued Rennes and veteran coach Antoine Kombouaré navigated Nantes through dramatic times.

The 47-year-old Beye is much appreciated by everyone around Rennes, including actress Salma Hayek — whose husband, billionaire heir Francois-Henri Pinault, owns Rennes. Pinault called on Beye’s services in January with Rennes deep in relegation danger — 16th place in the 18-team league.

Pinault had already fired two managers during the season. But Beye, the former Senegalese international center back, led Rennes to a strong end of the season and a 12th-place finish. Beye has carried that momentum into the 2025-26 season, leading Rennes to an impressive 1-0 win at home against powerhouse Marseille despite his team playing most of the match down to 10 men due to a red card.

Kombouaré successfully guided Nantes to another season in Ligue 1 with a few weeks to spare. A former Paris Saint Germain defender, Kombouaré accomplished this despite dealing with one of the most unpredictable owners in French football in Polish native Waldemar Kita. In his 18 years in charge of the Canaries, Kita has had a staggering 20 different managers. Kombouaré is one of two managers to serve twice under Kita.

The first time was in 2021, when the New Caledonia native steered Nantes away from relegation by winning a playoff match against his former club, Toulouse. After a memorable second season at Nantes, in which the team won its fourth French Cup, it seemed like Kombouaré would stay in the position for years. But Kita fired Kombouaré the very next season.

With Nantes facing relegation in March 2024, Kita rehired Kombouaré and saw him propel the club to another guaranteed season in Ligue 1. Unfortunately, despite once again preventing Nantes from going down to Ligue 2, Kombouaré was again relieved of his duties by Kita at the end of last season. Still, it would not shock anyone in France if Kita would desperately call for Kombouaré’s services a third time. That is, of course, if Kombouaré isn’t hired elsewhere.

The men’s game doesn’t have a monopoly on Black soccer managers.

For the first time in the 12-year history of the National Women’s Soccer League (NWSL), its reigning champion is managed by a Black man — Orlando Pride’s Seb Hines. The 37-year-old Englishman has gone from a reputable playing career, which included playing in the Premier League with Middlesborough, to an NWSL title-winning tactician.

With Hines in charge, legendary Brazilian forward Marta and the Pride won their first two trophies in the club’s history — the NWSL Shield for having the league’s best regular season, followed by the NWSL Championship.

Hines’ mark on the league follows the path set by Jamaican coach Lorne Donaldson, the NWSL’s first Black manager. In 2023, an American women’s professional soccer league had multiple Black managers for the first time. That was until Donaldson was fired by the Chicago Red Stars after just six games into this current season.

Though the recent firings of Kombouaré, Donaldson and South African manager Pitso Mosimane (Mosimane was fired from Iranian power Esteghal) have been unfortunate, the past year has brought an unprecedented level of opportunity and success for Black managers in soccer.

But FIFA and the other powerful organizations of the world’s most popular sport must emphasize continued diversity in the coaching ranks, and Black people being able to lead on the touch line as much as they lead on the pitch.