Italy coach Mancini returns as Ranieri joins FIGC reset

Italy coach Roberto Mancini is back in charge of the Azzurri after FIGC moved quickly to reset its national-team leadership setup.

FIGC president Giovanni Malagò announced the decision on Tuesday, presenting Mancini as the federation’s preferred answer to a narrowing search. Malagò said the timing left little room for delay, telling a news conference: "Time was running out and I felt that Roberto Mancini was the right person for the job as manager, for a whole list of reasons."

The leadership change does not stop with the bench. Claudio Ranieri is set to become technical director, taking the role one day after Paolo Maldini stepped down only 16 days into the job.

Mancini returns after 2023 exit

Mancini, 61, brings the strongest recent tournament memory attached to Italy’s national team. He led the Azzurri to the European Championship title in 2021, a success that made his later departure one of the more abrupt turns in modern Italian football.

His last spell ended in August 2023, when he resigned from the Italy post. Two weeks later, he took charge of Saudi Arabia’s national team, a move that sharpened debate around both timing and succession planning at FIGC.

The source account also described Mancini’s return as coming four years after a previous dismissal, while separately noting the August 2023 resignation. That timeline leaves one point unclear, but the central fact is that FIGC has now gone back to a coach already associated with Italy’s most recent continental title.

Pirlo candidacy fades quickly

Andrea Pirlo, part of Italy’s 2006 World Cup-winning side, had been viewed as the leading candidate before Mancini’s appointment. His candidacy emerged after Carlo Ancelotti and Pep Guardiola were reported to have declined the opportunity.

That sequence matters because it shows the federation was balancing prestige, availability and timing. Ancelotti and Guardiola would have represented elite club-management profiles, while Pirlo would have offered a younger Italian option with deep national-team credibility.

Mancini gives FIGC a different kind of solution: familiarity. He knows the demands of the job, the weight of public expectation and the symbolism of coaching a side whose identity is tied to major-tournament performance.

Ranieri adds technical weight

Ranieri’s move into the technical director post gives the federation another senior football figure at the top of the structure. The appointment also places a clear premium on experience after Maldini’s exceptionally short tenure.

For Mancini, the direct test is whether a return can produce authority rather than nostalgia. The European Championship triumph in 2021 gives him capital with supporters, but it also raises the standard against which his second spell will be measured.

For FIGC, the decision concentrates accountability. Malagò called Mancini "the best possible choice," language that leaves little room to present the move as a compromise if early results or internal coordination fall short.

Azzurri reset has two paths

If Mancini and Ranieri divide responsibilities cleanly, Italy could shorten its transition period and reduce the institutional noise created by Maldini’s 16-day stint. In that scenario, FIGC gains a steadier chain of command, Mancini gains room to coach, and the wider Italian football system gets clearer signals on selection and planning.

If the roles overlap or results disappoint early, scrutiny is likely to shift from the team sheet to federation management. That would put Malagò’s judgment at the center of the debate, test Mancini’s restored authority and keep pressure on a national-team coaching market already shaped by the reported refusals from Ancelotti and Guardiola.

The next indicators are practical rather than rhetorical: how Mancini defines his staff, how Ranieri’s authority is used and how quickly FIGC explains the Maldini exit. Those details will show whether this is a clean reset or another short turn in Italy’s search for stability.