Former Man City and Barça manager Josep Guardiola is not an obvious candidate to replace the Italian, as Carlo Ancelotti has approached him.
Published July 24, 2026
The Italian Football Federation (FIGC) has held talks with former Manchester City manager Josep Guardiola and Brazil national team manager Carlo Ancelotti about taking over the crisis-hit national team.
The Azzurri are still reeling from missing out on a third successive World Cup qualification, but Italy hope to announce a new manager within the week.
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Former Italy international and AC Milan defender Paolo Maldini was appointed as the federation’s new technical director earlier this month and attended Thursday’s meeting with Serie A clubs, along with new FIGC president Giovanni Malago and special adviser Leonardo.
Asked about Guardiola in a press conference after the meeting, Maldini said: “To be honest, I can’t give you any news about what’s going on. You have identified one of our targets.”
“I can’t hide the fact that before I spoke to Pep, I also spoke to Carlo Ancelotti. To be honest, it seemed right to start with the best teams in the world and check their general availability.”
Guardiola left Man City at the end of last season, ending a trophy-laden decade that established the club as a European powerhouse and changed the face of English football.
Guardiola, 55, won 35 major titles during his career as a manager, including with Barcelona and Bayern Munich.
Maldini and Leonardo recently spent three days in Barcelona, where they spoke with Guardiola about becoming Italy’s manager.
“It would be best to announce a new manager this week, but we have to wait even longer for the person we really want,” Maldini said. “So there’s an urgency, but there’s not a lot of urgency for some of us.”
Ancelotti signed a contract extension with Brazil in May until the 2030 World Cup, but the five-time world champion had just suffered his worst performance on soccer’s biggest stage, losing 2-1 to Norway and being eliminated from the last 16.
Ancelotti, 67, has won league titles in Italy, England, France, Spain and Germany. He is also the only manager to have won the Champions League five times.
Four-time champions Italy lost to Bosnia and Herzegovina in the play-offs in March, missing out on a third consecutive World Cup appearance, and FIGC president Gabriele Gravina and coach Gennaro Gattuso were forced to resign.
Coach Gattuso took over from coach Luciano Spalletti, who was fired in June of the previous year, but the team was already in a slump after losing to Norway in the opening qualifying round.
Former Italian national team coach Roberto Mancini, who led the Azzurri to the 2021 European Championship, and Antonio Conte are also candidates for national team manager. Andrea Pirlo, who helped Italy win the 2006 World Cup as a player, is also reportedly in contention.
