Marcelo Bielsa

Marcelo Bielsa is the most influential coach never to have won a major senior trophy. The 70-year-old Argentine took the Uruguay job on 15 May 2023, and three years later sits as one of the longest-tenured South American national managers in the world. He is also the coach Group H — and the tournament — are most curious about. If Bielsa is going to put a stamp on a World Cup, this is the cycle.

The Bielsa résumé is a story of influence that outran results. He managed Argentina from 1998–2004 (a Copa América final, an Olympic gold, a disastrous 2002 World Cup group exit). He managed Chile from 2007–2011 and dragged them through to the 2010 round of 16. He took Athletic Bilbao to two finals (Europa League and Copa del Rey) in 2012, losing both. He spent eight months at Marseille making them play the most exciting football in Ligue 1. He spent two days at Lazio before walking out. Then in 2018 he took a sleeping giant in Leeds United, promoted them to the Premier League after 16 years away, and earned permanent residency in English football folklore. He is the tactical godfather of Pep Guardiola (“the best coach in the world,” in Pep’s own words) and Mauricio Pochettino.

His Uruguay tenure has been classically Bielsa-shaped: brilliant peaks (1-0 over Brazil, 2-0 over Argentina), heavy lows (a USMNT thrashing in 2025 that triggered public criticism), and zero compromise on the approach. He still demands man-marking across the entire pitch. He still rotates inside forwards into half-spaces while wingers stretch the width. He still runs ferocious training sessions that have, historically, caught up with his teams in late-tournament fatigue. He has so far refused, even in his eighth decade, to soften.

For Group H, that means Uruguay will press Spain in their own half — something almost no one tries. They will man-mark Pedri and Rodri. They will hunt Saudi Arabia’s full-backs at 1 a.m. ET. They will press Cape Verde out of any building from the back. The risk is the one Bielsa has carried his entire career: when teams play this intensely for 90 minutes, with this much chaos in transition, the result is sometimes a 1-0 against Brazil, and sometimes a 5-1 to USMNT. The 2026 World Cup will be his fourth as a head coach. He has insisted in recent press conferences that it will likely be his last. Group H is the opening act of a Bielsa farewell.