Italy coaching candidates: Who could replace Luciano Spalletti with World Cup hopes looking shaky once again?

Italian manager Luciano Spalletti has announced he was sacked by the Italian FA following a 3-0 defeat against Norway in the opening match of the Azzurri's 2026 World Cup qualifiers. Spalletti has announced the decision of the federation during the prematch press conference of the game against Moldova that will take place on Monday and where he will also be coaching the team, knowing he will be sacked right after the match as he announced himself.

"The FA president Gabriele Gravina informed me that I will be relieved of my role as head coach of the national team after the match against Moldova. I'm sorry, I would have preferred to stay and try to change things. I have an excellent relationship with Gravina, but I accept the dismissal due to the negative results," he said.

Spalletti took charge of the Italian national team in August 2023 following the decision of former head coach Roberto Mancini to step down from his role and led the team to the disappointing Euro 2024 tournament, where Italy were knocked out by Switzerland in the round of 16. Spalletti remained in charge of the Azzurri, but the performances didn't improve as Italy lost three of the last four matches, including the 3-0 defeat against Norway in their first match of the 2026 World Cup qualifiers.

Before leaving the press conference after being asked if he felt betrayed by someone, Spalletti said, "Keep saying that I haven't found a connection with the players, tell me with whom. Name names. Given what has happened lately, I think we need to work on the sense of belonging to this nationa team. Given my character, I think I've actually been too soft. If any player has told you something over the phone, I'd like to know."

Who will replace Spalletti?

According to the reports, there are two main candidates to replace Spalletti -- former Milan coach Stefano Pioli and legendary club coach Claudio Ranieri, who won the Premier League with Leicester City nearly a decade ago in one of the most incredibly surprising achievements in modern soccer history. Pioli, the current Al-Nassr manager, is expected to leave the Saudi club as Fiorentina were also interested in appointing him after the departure of former coach Raffaele Palladino, and Ranieri ended his managerial career at AS Roma at the end of the 2024-25 season and he's current the senior advisor to ownership, the American businessman Dan Friedkin. As things stand, these are the two names considered by the FA to replace Spalletti, hoping to turn things around and avoid missing another World Cup, after Italy failed to qualify for the 2018 and 2022 World Cups.