Roberto Mancini has been recently confirmed as one of three finalists for the Best Coach awards at the 2025/26 QFA Awards, the ceremony for which is scheduled to be held on Monday, May 11, 2026.
The nomination marks a remarkable debut season in Qatar for the 61-year-old, in which he has led Al Sadd to winning the Qatar Stars League title for a third season running.
The end of this season marks three years since Mancini left European football. He left his role as head coach of the Italy men’s national team in 2023, after which an 18-game stint followed in the same capacity with Saudi Arabia before the switch to Al Sadd.
While stints away from Europe usually imply that a manager or player is past their prime and are off chasing opportunities elsewhere, it is not necessarily always the case. Players who moved particularly to the Arabian Peninsula for contracts they would not find in Europe are showing recently that there is a landing spot back in a European top-flight league for them
Roberto Mancini has been recently confirmed as one of three finalists for the Best Coach awards at the 2025/26 QFA Awards, the ceremony for which is scheduled to be held on Monday, May 11, 2026.
The nomination marks a remarkable debut season in Qatar for the 61-year-old, in which he has led Al Sadd to winning the Qatar Stars League title for a third season running.
The end of this season marks three years since Mancini left European football. He left his role as head coach of the Italy men’s national team in 2023, after which an 18-game stint followed in the same capacity with Saudi Arabia before the switch to Al Sadd.
While stints away from Europe usually imply that a manager or player is past their prime and are off chasing opportunities elsewhere, it is not necessarily always the case. Players who moved particularly to the Arabian Peninsula for contracts they would not find in Europe are showing recently that there is a landing spot back in a European top-flight league for them, though the same is true for managers to an even more considerable degree.
Cases in point, Rudi Garcia returned from Al Nassr in 2023 before having an ill-fated stint at Napoli. Currently, he’s leading Belgium’s men’s national team. Carlos Carvalhal has had stints at Celtic, Olympiacos, and Braga after spending some time in the UAE with Al Wahda.
Most notably, however, Portuguese coaches Vítor Pereira and Nuno Espírito Santo have earned multiple opportunities in the Premier League, showcasing that coaching acumen is still being regarded highly even if the coaches ply their trade away from Europe.
Still 61, Mancini is far from a retirement age when it comes to management. However fringe Qatar may be contextually from the European football summit, his recent title win again brings to fore his exploits from the past, which includes league glory in Italy ad England.
Mancini himself was keen to make a case for European relevance when his side sealed the league title. After Al Sadd’s win, he was seen holding up an Italian flag with “Euro 2020” etched onto it. Last month, he was at Coverciano to receive an award from the Italian Union of the Sports Press, where he flatly batted away a question regarding a potential return to the national team set-up. What’s more, he has been linked recently with the Napoli job as well, as reported by Il Mattino, via TuttoMercatoWeb.
He may be away, but Mancini continues collecting silverware. It’s only a matter of time before he returns to Europe, though it remains to be seen whether joins a national team or returns to European club football for the first time since 2018.
Anshuman Joshi I GIFN
