Mancini Returns as Italy Head Coach in Azzurri Reset

Roberto Mancini is back in charge of Italy. Again, the Azzurri turn to the man who once dragged them from crisis to a European crown.

FIGC president Giovanni Malagò confirmed on Tuesday that Mancini has agreed to return as head coach, with Claudio Ranieri stepping in as technical director in a sweeping reshuffle at the top of Italian football.

“Mancini is the coach,” Malagò said, making the decision sound as simple as it was symbolic. “I believed that the best person to become head coach was Roberto Mancini.”

From Wembley Glory to World Cup Heartache

Mancini replaces Gennaro Gattuso, who walked away in April after Italy’s latest humiliation: a third successive failure to qualify for the World Cup. For a nation that once measured itself by how deep it went into tournaments, missing three in a row has cut deep.

So Italy turns back to the man who last made the country believe.

Between 2018 and 2023, Mancini rebuilt a broken squad into a slick, confident side that conquered Europe. His greatest night came at Wembley in 2021, when Italy outlasted England in a penalty shootout to win the European Championship. It felt like the start of a new era.

Then came the crash. Italy missed out on the 2022 World Cup, a wound that has never quite healed, and stumbled into Euro 2024 qualifying with a sluggish start that cost Mancini his job the first time around.

Even so, his record carries weight. Mancini oversaw 58 matches in his first spell with the national team, and his club résumé remains one of the strongest of his generation: Inter, Fiorentina, and Manchester City, where he delivered the club’s first Premier League title in 2011-12 and changed their trajectory.

Now he returns to a very different Italy, but with the same expectation: fix it. Fast.

Ranieri Steps In, Maldini Walks Out

The appointment of Claudio Ranieri as technical director adds another experienced figure to the new structure. Ranieri’s presence suggests Italy wants calm hands and seasoned eyes at the controls after years of turbulence.

The cost of that reset has already been felt inside the federation.

Former FIGC technical director Paolo Maldini and his adviser, Leonardo, resigned on Monday. Their departure followed a flashpoint: Andrea Pirlo’s proposed appointment as head coach was blocked because of his ties to a Russian betting firm. That decision effectively ended Maldini’s project and cleared the way for a new power axis with Mancini and Ranieri at its core.

Italy’s search for a head coach had started with an even bigger name. Pep Guardiola was the FIGC’s first choice but turned the job down last month, forcing the federation to look elsewhere. In the end, it circled back to a familiar face.

A Second Act Under Fierce Scrutiny

Mancini’s return is not a romantic reunion. It is a high-stakes gamble on a coach who has already tasted both the summit and the abyss with this team.

He knows the terrain. He knows the pressure. He also knows that this time, there will be far less patience.

Italy has already paid dearly for its failures on the world stage. With Ranieri alongside him and Maldini gone, Mancini walks back into Coverciano with one clear mandate: make sure the Azzurri do not spend another generation watching the biggest tournaments on television.