Oh Jürgen! Mixed fortunes for Nations League’s four new international bosses
On 29 September 2026, in the UEFA Nations League, Jürgen Klopp’s Germany, Zinedine Zidane’s France, Xavi Hernández’s Netherlands and Roberto Mancini’s Italy each experienced contrasting early results under their new international management roles.
This time last week Football Daily had flagged a possible continental renaissance with the arrivals of Klopp, Zidane and Xavi on the international scene and Roberto Mancini’s return to the Italy job three years after leaving to take up a contract in Saudi Arabia. Klopp opened his tenure by warning the national press not to intrude on his family’s privacy, then attracted attention for naming a 44-man squad intended to “speed up the process of opening the door for many new faces.”
Klopp’s start has been bumpy: his side drew his first match in charge against Xavi’s Netherlands and then suffered a historic first-ever defeat by Greece. Reflecting on those results he said, “There’s still plenty of room for improvement,” and later added, “The lineup, the formation, the many changes – that is all 100% down to me,” followed by, “Football, that’s how it is. I don’t think we deserved that, but here we are.” Germany sit third in their Nations League group and face a must(ish)-win match against Serbia to avoid possible relegation.
Xavi secured his first win as Netherlands coach in Belgrade, a 2-1 victory over Serbia in which AZ striker Mexx Meerdink scored both goals. The Dutch travel next to face the group-leading Greeks on Thursday, and Xavi conceded: “there were many moments when we needed to attack the spaces, but we didn’t do it”.
Mancini recorded his first win of his second spell after Italy beat Turkey, having lost to Belgium the previous week. Michael Kayode marked becoming the first Brentford player in history to represent Italy by scoring, and Mancini said the 22-year-old “will improve even more after another year in the Premier League”. After his reappointment Mancini apologised for leaving the Azzurri previously to take a Saudi contract, and when asked about claims of a “double contract” from his time at Manchester City he described the current scandal surrounding his former club as “not a problem that concerns me”.
Zidane is the only one of the four to begin with back-to-back wins, France claiming 1-0 victories in Turkey and in Belgium, the latter decided by a late solo effort from Michael Olise. Asked about his jubilant touchline reaction, Zidane said, “I saw the ball,” he giggled. “I was forced to shoot it, be a bit ridiculous but it doesn’t matter.”
Coverage of other fixtures will continue across the Nations League: Rob Smyth is scheduled to cover Czechia v England from 19:45 BST and Taha Hashim will provide goal updates on the rest of the night’s action. For the four managers highlighted here the immediate test is clear — Germany must win against Serbia to avoid potential relegation, the Netherlands visit Greece on Thursday, and Italy travel to Paris on Friday to face France.
