Ancelotti tops World Cup 2026 manager salary list at £8.5m as Tuchel ranks fourth

Carlo Ancelotti edges out a field of high-profile coaches to become the best-paid manager at the 2026 World Cup, earning a reported £8.5 million per year in charge of Brazil. Appointed in 2025, the Italian is tasked with delivering the Seleção their long-awaited sixth world title.

Germany’s Julian Nagelsmann sits second on the list with an annual salary of approximately £5.9 million. At 38, Nagelsmann is also the youngest manager at the tournament — a remarkable 40-year age gap separates him from the oldest coach in the competition, Curaçao’s Dick Advocaat.

USA head coach Mauricio Pochettino ranks third on around £5.1 million per year. The Argentine took charge of the USMNT in 2024 following his departure from Chelsea. England manager Thomas Tuchel — another former Chelsea boss — follows closely in fourth on £4.9 million, charged with ending the nation’s 60-year wait for major international silverware.

Portugal’s Roberto Martinez and Uzbekistan boss Fabio Cannavaro round out the top five, each earning approximately £3.4 million annually. France’s Didier Deschamps is close behind on £3.3 million, while Netherlands coach Ronald Koeman and Uruguay’s Marcelo Bielsa are both believed to earn £2.6 million per year.

Perhaps the most striking figure on the list belongs to Lionel Scaloni. The man who guided Argentina to World Cup glory in Qatar in 2022 ranks only 14th, on a salary of just under £2 million — less than Canada’s Jesse Marsch, Mexico’s Javier Aguirre, Paraguay’s Gustavo Alfaro, and Qatar manager Julen Lopetegui, all of whom reportedly earn around £2.1 million.

At the other end of the scale, Scotland manager Steve Clarke earns approximately £500,000 per year — roughly one-tenth of Tuchel’s salary and a fraction of Ancelotti’s at the summit.