Who Are The Best Managers In The World in 2025?

Football purists will argue that any given game is decided by the eleven players on the pitch - no coaches, no managers, no diet and fitness routines, simply who turns up on the day. But there are so many caveats to that statement.

For any given football game, the manager picks the team that takes to the pitch, and selects which players to bring off the bench in order to impact the game. He also decides which drills to focus on on training in the days leading up to a match, and has a significant say in the fitness and diet regimes that take place at the club, in a bid to get all of his/her players into the best shape possible for the season.

Managers are arguably the most crucial figures at any given football club - they answer to the media, take the fall for bad results, and can even be subjected to criticism from their own fans - very few are built to handle that type of pressure at the highest level. So, when a manager shows themselves to be up to every different challenge the footballing world can throw at them, people sit up and take notice.

There is no shortage of highly talented managers in 2025 - there could easily be 50, and perhaps even 100 entries in this list - so it is with our most sincere apologies that we must cut this down to five. Picking one manager from each league, let’s discuss the best managers in the world ahead of the 2025/26 season.

Premier League: Pep Guardiola - Manchester City

A footballing icon in his playing days, Guardiola’s legacy must now be reaching critical mass after his achievements as a manager. Starting at Barcelona, he shaped Lionel Messi into the world beating machine he showed himself to be throughout the 2010’s, and when he left, he would win seven trophies in just three years at Bayern Munich.

Pep Guardiola on the beach with his City players. 😎🌊

pic.twitter.com/iFAJliDCs6

— Football Tweet ⚽ (@Football__Tweet) June 26, 2025

Famed for his possession heavy, tiki-taka style, Guardiola has tasted huge success wherever he has gone, with his final move, and current role at Manchester City arguably the most successful. Winning 18 trophies since moving to England in 2016/17, Guardiola has become a thorn in the side of virtually every Premier League fan across the world - he crafted a team that was unplayable, unbreakable, and a lot of the time, unbeatable.

Across his 18 year managerial career, the Spaniard has accumulated 39 trophy lifts, averaging more than three a season. Amongst the silverware in his cabinet lie three Champions League trophies, six Premier League, three Bundesliga’s, three La Liga’s and 18 domestic cup titles. Debatably the greatest manager of all time, there is no doubt that the at times manic Spaniard should be on this list.

La Liga: Xabi Alonso - Real Madrid

While we could have gone for Barcelona’s Hansi Flick, Xabi Alonso’s arrival in the Spanish top flight deserves discussion. Always touted to return to his old club once he took up management, the ex Los Blancos midfielder showed German football what he was all about while at Bayer Leverkusen.

✨ @XabiAlonso ✨ pic.twitter.com/cpgs9yjCXT

— Real Madrid C.F. (@realmadrid) August 4, 2025

Taking over in 2022, Alonso needed just one season at the German club to bed himself in, allowing himself to grow familiar with the players, facilities and club culture. In 2023/24, he flipped the switch dramatically - from the outset, his side, containing the likes of Florain Wirtz, Patrik Schick, Jeremie Frimpong and Alejandro Grimaldo were aggressive, ruthless, and rock solid in defence. Alonso would guide them to an unbeaten domestic season, which saw them lift both the Bundesliga trophy and the DFB Pokal. Leverkusen were just one win away from an invincible treble, but their defeat in the Europa League finally snapped the streak.

Though Alonso couldn’t defend his title against a resurgent Bayern Munich last season, he had shown his hand as one of the finest managers around. An invincible season is enough to convince anyone of your talent, and once Carlo Ancelloti left the Santiago Bernabeu for the iconic Brazil job, Alonso was naturally next in line. With a ridiculously talented Barcelona side to topple off their perch, Alonso’s managerial mettle will be pushed to the brink this season as his side look to reclaim their crown.

Bundesliga: Vincent Kompany - Bayern Munich

Kompany’s ascension into the list of elite managers was a strange one. Not many coaches go from relegation from the Premier League with Burnley to title fighting with Germany’s most successful team.

Vincent Kompany and his staff: from Burnley to Bayern Munich. 🏆❤️ pic.twitter.com/3dL2WGg3rc

— EuroFoot (@eurofootcom) May 23, 2025

However, from his first day at Burnley, Kompany showed his intent - he implemented high intensity football, with a high press, quick movement of the ball, and heavy use of wingers to get the ball travelling in the right direction. At the time, Burnley simply did not have the squad or the funds to help Kompany’s vision click, but Bayern Munich saw potential, and snapped him up last summer. They have not looked back since.

Kompany’s tactic in particular favoured Harry Kane, who netted 26 times (five more than any other player) as Bayern romped to the Bundesliga title, avenging a poor showing the previous season which saw them finish third. 2024/25 may have been Kompany’s first season of competitive, top tier football, but it looks set to be just the start. If Kompany remains in Germany for the next five years or so, he will have a truckload of trophies to take to his next employer.

Serie A: Antonio Conte - Napoli

What is it about Antonio Conte? Every time he takes a new job, his side waltzes to the title, and last season was no different. Taking over a Napoli side who had finished a woeful 10th in a season when they were supposed to defend their title. Taking the wheel from Francesco Calzona, the former Chelsea boss immediately started weaving his magic.

Despite the departures of Victor Osimhen and Kvicha Kvaratskhelia, Antonio Conte delivered a Serie A title in his FIRST season as manager of Napoli.

From 10th last season, to 1st this season. One fantastic achievement. 🏆👏 pic.twitter.com/0QqqQavdw4

— EuroFoot (@eurofootcom) May 23, 2025

Known for his five at the back set up and no nonsense approach to play management and press conference, Conte is a formidable figure in the dugout - always animated on the touchline, and savage when he sees something he doesn’t like, Conte knows how to get the best out of his players, through the use of both ugly tactics and more measured, recognised approaches. Just ask Scott McTominay - the Man United reject arrived in Napoli as a squad player, but through Conte’s guidance, the Scotsman became the main man, netting 13 times, assisting four more, and winning the Serie A MVP award.

Conte loves the Serie A - he has now won it at three different clubs (the other two being Inter Milan and Juventus), and has 10 trophies to his name in total. Although not as decorated as his counterparts in other divisions, there is no doubting that Conte is a cut above any other manager in the Italian top flight.

Ligue 1: Luis Enrique - Paris St Germain

Yes, PSG are expected to win the French League title season after season after season, but former Barcelona boss Luis Enrique is building something truly special at the Parc Des Princes - leading the club to their first ever Champions League trophy, and lifting four trophies in all in 2024/25, the Parisians have gone nuclear under the Spaniard’s guidance.

Luis Enrique ten years later...

❤️💙🏆🏆 pic.twitter.com/E8iEDGQRS3

— UEFA Champions League (@ChampionsLeague) May 31, 2025

When Enrique took over in Paris, PSG was a squad of individuals and ego’s with the likes of Kylian Mbappe and Lionel Messi in the squad - undoubtedly gifted, special players, but when put in the team together, they lacked cohesion and chemistry, which hurt the clubs trophy chances. Enrique took the reins, and immediately reshaped the squad. Forcing out the old guard, he introduced exciting new talent, most significantly Bradley Barcola, Khvicha Khvaratskhelia, Willian Pacho and Joao Neves. Suddenly Paris St Germain were unrecognisable.

They dominated every game they played last season - they destroyed Inter Milan 5-0 in the Champions League final, beat every side in France at least one as they won the domestic treble, and even reached the Club World Cup final, before a superb counter-punching performance by Chelsea saw their five trophy season go up in flames. With more excellent transfer business being done this summer, Luis Enrique’s squad are the side to beat this season.