Argentina is well represented at the 2026 World Cup by the Albiceleste with Lionel Messi and his teammates, but across the tournament plenty of other names are taking the colors of the flag high, with five Argentine coaches at the helm of other nations.

Counting Lionel Scaloni, it’s six Argentine tacticians at the World Cup 2026, with Marcelo Bielsa, Mauricio Pochettino, Gustavo Alfaro, Néstor Lorenzo and Sebastián Beccacece joining the Albiceleste boss for a record not just for the current tournament but in all of its history.

Let’s take a look at who these men are and how they got there.

Marcelo Bielsa

Arguably the most famous of the quintet, Marcelo El Loco Bielsa is one of the most important South American football coaches in history. Born in Rosario, Santa Fe province on July 21, 1955, Bielsa hails from one of the most affluent and important families in the city.

He showed passion for football from a young age, coming through the ranks at Newell’s Old Boys, but retired aged just 25 due to injuries. He soon started working as a coach, becoming Newell’s head coach in 1990. 

He went on to win two Argentine league titles and reach the Copa Libertadores final in 1992. He’d later win a further title with Vélez Sarsfield and have successful stints with the Chilean national team, Athletic Bilbao in Spain, Olympique Marseille in France, and Leeds United in England.

However, he’s perhaps best known in Argentina for the catastrophic 2002 World Cup, where the Albiceleste was ousted in the group stages under Bielsa’s watch.

Since 2023, he’s been at the helm of Uruguay. 

Mauricio Pochettino

From the master to the apprentice, Mauricio Pochettino was one of the players that Bielsa developed in that two-time champions Newell’s side. 

Hailing from Murphy, Santa Fe province, he went on to have a successful playing career with Espanyol in Spain, and Paris Saint-Germain and Girondins Bordeaux in France.

Pochettino took to coaching after retiring, with a couple of solid seasons at Espanyol before impressing with Southampton in England. That earned him a move to Tottenham Hotspur, with whom he reached a UEFA Champions League final in 2019.

After stints with PSG and Chelsea, he took over as head coach of the United States men’s national football team in 2024.

Gustavo Alfaro

A man with a long career in Argentine football, and the third Santa Fe native in this list, Alfaro made his debut at 18 with Atletico Rafaela in the city’s local league. When Atlético was promoted to the Primera Nacional, he dropped out of his studies and played as a pro for three years before hanging up his boots at age 28.

He immediately took over as head coach of Atletico Rafaela, going on to coach a myriad of Argentine teams and winning the Copa Sudamericana with Arsenal de Sarandí in 2007, and reaching the Copa Libertadores semifinals with Boca in 2019.

His first experience as an international manager came in 2020 with Ecuador, which he led back to the World Cup in 2022 after missing out in 2018.

Paraguay’s head coach since 2024, he’s repeated the miracle, helping the Albirroja to its first World Cup since 2010.

Néstor Lorenzo

Néstor Lorenzo was born on February 28, 1966, in Villa Celina, a working-class suburb in Buenos Aires Province. He came through the youth ranks of Argentinos Juniors, where he made his professional debut in 1985, and later played abroad in Italy and England. 

A central defender by trade, he earned 12 caps for the Argentine national team, most notably starting in the 1990 World Cup final, where the Albiceleste finished as runners-up. 

After retiring in 1998, Lorenzo worked as an assistant to José Pékerman’s 2001 Under-20 World Championship-winning Argentina team, and later followed him to the Colombian national team.

Lorenzo took his first step as a head coach in 2021 with Peru’s FBC Melgar, where he quickly impressed by winning the 2022 Apertura title and making a deep run in the Copa Sudamericana.

That solo success and his past as Pekerman’s assistant earned him the call to take over as Colombia’s head coach in June 2022, re-establishing Colombia as a dangerous international force and taking them to the 2024 Copa America final.

Sebastián Beccacece

Born in Rosario, Santa Fe province, on December 17, 1980, Sebastián Beccacece is the only one in our list who never played professional football. 

His big break came in 2003 at just 22, when he became an assistant to Jorge Sampaoli at Peruvian side Sport Boys. He forged a highly successful 13-year partnership with Sampaoli, culminating in the Chilean national team’s historic first Copa América title in 2015.

Beccacece later stepped into the spotlight as a head coach, first taking over Defensa y Justicia in 2016. He went on to coach major Argentine clubs such as Independiente and Racing Club, and had a stint in Spain with Elche.

In August 2024, the Ecuadorian Football Federation chose him to succeed Félix Sánchez Bas. Tasked with navigating the grueling South American qualifiers, Beccacece revitalized the squad with young talent, safely securing qualification for the 2026 World Cup and leading La Tri into the tournament’s knockout stages for the second time in its history.