FIFA World Cup 2022 proved tough for as many as seven managers left or were sacked following their team's departure from the tournament. With the tournament now over, here is a look at the coaches who bit the dust, their tenure with the team, and the legacy that they leave behind. (Image: Reuters)
Louis van Gaal | Louis van Gaal coached the Netherlands during the FIFA World Cup 2022. Van Gaal was appointed as the coach on August 4, 2021, and this was the third time that he took the reins of the Dutch team. Van Gaal was one of the inspirational stories of the FIFA World Cup 2022 as he headed into the tournament dealing with an aggressive form of prostate cancer. In the 2014 FIFA World Cup, the Netherlands lost to Argentina in a heated semi-final after going down in the penalty shoot-outs, after which van Gaal stepped down. Ahead of the start of the tournament, Van Gaal announced that he would step down as the coach following the conclusion of the team's campaign. Ronald Koeman, the ex-Barcelona player, is now the new coach of the Dutch men's national team. (Image: Reuters)
Tite | Tite lost his job as the coach of Brazil following the team's quarter-final loss to Croatia. Tite stepped down after six years in charge of the Seleção. The 61-year-old has overseen Brazil in two World Cup campaigns, the previous being the 2018 FIFA World Cup in Russia. Strangely enough, both campaigns ended at the quarterfinal stage. The high point of Tite's time as Brazil's coach was in 2019 when he guided the team to the Copa América on home soil. During the Qatar World Cup Tite hit back at the critics who had criticized the team's dancing goal celebrations during the 4-1 victory over South Korea. (Image: Reuters)
Roberto Martinez | Belgium were one of the big disappointments of FIFA World Cup 2022 and the team's coach Roberto Martinez had to bear the brunt of the team's lackadaisical show in Qatar. Soon after the team failed to make it out of their group following a tame nil-nil draw against Croatia, Martinez stepped down from his post. Martinez was appointed as the manager of the Red Devils in 2016 and in 2018 he was given the dual responsibility as the team's technical director as well. Under Martinez, Belgium saw the rise of its "golden generation" as the team all the way to the semi-final of the 2018 FIFA World Cup. The team also reached the number-one spot in FIFA's rankings under his tutelage. But the "golden generation" was on a wane when the team arrived in Qatar. A win, a loss, and a draw in the three group matches saw the team bow out of the team early, and with that Martinez's time as the coach also ended. (Image: Reuters)
Fernando Santos | Fernando Santos, who guided Portugal to their historic UEFA Euro win in 2016 also became a victim following his team's exit from the 2022 FIFA World Cup. Santos was the coach of Portugal's men's national team since 2014. The 68-year-old had also guided the team to win the UEFA Nations League trophy in the 2018/19 season. Santos had to deal with the turmoil involving superstar Cristiano Ronaldo during the Qatar World Cup. There were reports of a rift between the two although the coach denied any differences. Santos also benched Cristiano Ronaldo against Switzerland and brought to the limelight Goncalo Ramos who struck a hat-trick. Ronaldo was again benched for the match against Morocco but the move backfired as Morocco defeated Portugal to move ahead. Santos stepped down from his post after the team's loss but not after being the team's most successful coach. (Image: Reuters)
Luis Enrique | Spain crashed out of the tournament after losing their round of 16 tie against Morocco on penalties. Although the now-former coach had claimed that the team had practiced 1,000 spot kicks in the training but in the crunch moment, none of the Spanish players were able to convert their penalty kicks. After the team's ouster from the tournament, Enrique left his role. The former Barcelona manager had taken charge of La Roja in 2018 and guided the team to Spain to the Euro 2020 semi-finals. The 52-year-old has also led Spain to a silver medal at the 2020 Tokyo Olympics. (Image: Reuters)
Gerardo 'Tata' Martino | Argentine Gerardo 'Tata' Martino was in charge of Mexico's men's national team since 2019. Martino had to bid farewell to his post after the team exited the tournament following the group stage. Mexico's performance in Qatar was abysmal as the team managed only one win in the group stage of the tournament. The team's early exit meant that it was for the first time since 1990 that Mexico had failed to go beyond the group stage of a FIFA World Cup tournament. Martino's time as Mexico's coach will not be fondly remembered and his critics often label the Mexican team under him as the "worst ever". Under the 60-year-old coach, the team also suffered losses in the United States in the Nations League and Gold Cup finals in the summer of 2021. (Image: Reuters)
Paulo Bento | Portuguese Paulo Bento was the coach of the South Korean men's national team since 2018. Under Bento, South Korea managed to reach the round of 16 stage of the FIFA World Cup for the first time since 2002. Although Bento was not on the sidelines for South Korea's match against his home country Portugal yet the Koreans managed to beat the Portuguese. But South Korea drew Brazil for their round of 16 match and Brazil proved to be too tough a team to overcome. Following the loss against Brazil, Bento stepped down. While announcing his departure the 53-year-old coach said that said the decision had been made months ago and was not impacted by anything that happened in Qatar. (Image: Reuters)