When the South American Qualifiers to qualify for the 2026 World Cup begin, seven of the ten participating teams will have Argentine coaches. An absolute dominance. The agreement reached by Marcelo Bielsa with the Uruguayan Association for him to take charge of the Uruguayan team only accentuates the trend: Argentine coaches are the most sought following in the region.
The coaches chosen to lead the destiny of seven of the ten South American teams are the following: Lionel Scaloni (Argentina), Gustavo Costas (Bolivia), Eduardo Berizzo (Chile), Néstor Lorenzo (Colombia), Guillermo Barros Schelotto (Paraguay), Fernando Batista (Venezuela) and Marcelo Bielsa Uruguay).
Crazy. The idea of the Uruguayan Football Association is to resolve the arrival of Bielsa before the end of the month so that the DT is working in May and can lead the team on the FIFA date of June since in September the Celeste will begin its journey in the Qualifiers for the 2026 World Cup.
Bielsa and the AUF reached a sports agreement, although the economic part still remains to be agreed. From the Executive Committee they are looking for a way to cover the cost that hiring the Loco will report to the AUF, since he planned to invest in the celestial technical body a figure of more than 2 million dollars per year between variables and premiums. But Bielsa and his coaching staff cost twice as much.
On this level, Uruguay has an aspect in favor because in these months without Diego Alonso, who ended his contract following the World Cup in Qatar, the AUF saved some 700 thousand dollars that would allow it to improve the initial offer. In any case, he would still be far from the Argentine’s claims.
Bielsa would direct once more following more than a year. His last team was Leeds United of the Premier League, where he made history with promotion to England’s top flight in 2020 –following 16 years–, a club he left in February 2022.
You may also like