Highlights

• Some of the world's best football coaches have featured at multiple World Cups.
• Luiz Felipe Scolari, with 21 World Cup appearances, is tied with Didier Deschamps for most wins at the World Cup.
• The managers in this article have featured in a total of 120 World Cup games.

A tournament with the flavour of a career goal, a trophy of infinite covetousness. Since 1930, when it was first staged in Uruguay, the World Cup has established itself as the most prestigious competition in world football.

Regardless of age or nationality, every player dreams of one day playing in this tournament, which many consider to be the toughest on the planet. And while many teams have gone on to write the history of the global competition, some coaches have also gone down in the archives.

From Alberto Suppici, winner of the very first edition with Uruguay, to Franz Beckenbauer, who led Germany to the world title in 1990, numerous personalities have entered the World Cup pantheon over the years. Others, perhaps less well-known or less successful, have also taken their place, but more by their longevity on the bench. In this article, GIVEMESPORT lists the 10 coaches with the most appearances on a World Cup bench.

10 Guus Hiddink

World Cup appearances: 18

Renowned for his use of the mythical 'total football', Guus Hiddink is undoubtedly one of the best-known coaches in the world. The Dutchman has had stints with PSV, Valencia and Real Madrid, with varying degrees of success, and has also managed no fewer than six national teams. In 1998, he led the Netherlands to fourth place at the FIFA World Cup in France.

Four years later, he repeated the feat, this time at the helm of the South Korean national team. Finally, in his third and last appearance at a World Cup, he helped Australia reach the Round of 16 for the first time in their history. Three fine performances that he was unable to achieve with Turkey, Russia and Curacao, where he also officiated.

9 Enzo Bearzot

World Cup appearances: 18

He will go down in history as the man who guided Italy to the 1982 World Cup title. Starting his adventure with the 'Squadra Azzurra' as a partner to Fulvio Bernardini in 1975, he became the sole head coach in 1977. After finishing fourth at the 1978 FIFA World Cup, he was heavily criticised by the press as he prepared for the 1982 edition.

It was for this reason that he imposed the famous 'silenzio stampa' (a strict ban on speaking to the media) on his players. After a very sluggish first round, Italy managed, against all the odds, to beat Argentina, Brazil, Poland and finally West Germany to win the third World Cup in its history. Four years later, in 1986, the Azzurri were knocked out of the competition in the Round of 16 by France, and Bearzot stepped down as coach 11 years after his appointment.

8 Sepp Herberger

World Cup appearances: 18

Active from the early 1930s to the mid-1960s, Josef "Sepp" Herberger was one of the founders of the post-war German national team (that of the Federal Republic of Germany). Although he had already coached the team between 1936 and 1942, it was in 1950 that he took over the reins, leading them to an unexpected world championship title in 1954 - the 'Miracle of Berne'.

As undisputed as he was undisputed, Herberger took part in four World Cups with the German national team (1938, 1954, 1958 and 1962), but never managed to repeat the feat of the edition he won alongside Helmut Rahn, Maximilian Morlock and Fritz Walter. In 2013, he was named the 20th-best coach of all time.

7 Didier Deschamps

World Cup appearances: 19

Like Mario Zagallo before him, Didier Deschamps is one of the few figures to have won the World Cup as both a player and a coach. The former Juventus defensive midfielder captained the French team to their first world title in 1998, and 20 years later has guided a new generation to the top of world football.

A magnificent birthday present for the man who was also on the bench of the French national team in 2014 and 2022, and who will undoubtedly be there in 2026. It is also an opportunity for him to move closer to, and perhaps even take over, the top spot in the ranking of coaches with the most World Cup appearances.

6 Mario Zagallo

World Cup appearances: 20

He is without doubt one of the greatest Brazilian protagonists in football of all time. A two-time world champion as a player (1958, 1962), Mario Zagallo also lifted the Jules Rimet Cup twice, once on the Auriverde bench.

A winning coach in 1970, it was then as an assistant coach that he returned to the sensation of winning the trophy in 1974. To add to his legend, the former striker became the first person in history to win the World Cup as both player and coach. A feat emulated a few years later by Franz Beckenbauer and then Didier Deschamps.

5 Oscar Tabarez

World Cup appearances: 20

Known as El Maestro ('The Master' in Spanish), Oscar Tabarez is a living legend in Uruguayan football. The former defender made his first appearance on the Celeste bench between 1988 and 1990, leading his side to the 1990 FIFA World Cup but losing out in the Round of 16.

16 years after his departure, the former Boca Juniors, AC Milan and Cagliari coach resumed his role as national coach, a role he would not relinquish until 2021. He went on to reach the quarter-finals twice (2014, 2018) and the semi-finals once (2010). In 15 years, Tabarez will have left his mark on an entire generation, as Diego Godin's words on his departure testify: "Words cannot do justice to the gratitude I feel for what you have represented in my career."

4 Bora Milutinovic

World Cup appearances: 20

Bora Milutinovic has the singular distinction of having coached at five different World Cups and with five different nations. In 1986, he guided Mexico, playing on home soil, to the quarter-finals (his best performance, on a par with 1970), before taking Costa Rica to the last 16 in 1990 - again the South American country's best performance.

He was subsequently appointed to head up the US national team, and again made it through the group stage of the 1994 tournament, only to fall short in the Round of 16. In 1998, he led Nigeria to the second round and became the first coach to qualify four nations for the Round of 16 at a World Cup. In 2002, despite China's failure to reach the first round of the competition, he will be remembered as the coach who helped them qualify for the first World Cup in their history.

3 Luiz Felipe Scolari

World Cup appearances: 21

As he celebrated the fortieth anniversary of his managerial career last year, Luiz Felipe Scolari is also a World Cup legend. He won the competition with Brazil in 2002, earning them their fifth star, and led them to fourth place at the 2014 edition (after a tournament marked by the humiliation suffered against Germany in the semi-final, which cost Scolari his job).

GIVEMESPORT Key Statistic: Along with Didier Deschamps, Luiz Felipe Scolari is the coach with the most World Cup wins (14).

He also took Portugal to the semi-finals in 2006, which remains the best performance in the history of the Lusitanians at the World Cup. A football lover who, after announcing his retirement in 2022, could not resist answering the call of the round ball a year later.

2 Carlos Alberto Parreira

World Cup appearances: 23

A legendary Brazilian coach, Carlos Alberto Parreira still holds the record for the most World Cups played by a coach. In a career spanning more than 40 years, he has played in six tournaments (1982, 1990, 1994, 1998, 2006 and 2010) with five different nations (Kuwait, United Arab Emirates, Brazil, Saudi Arabia and South Africa) - a record he shares with Bora Milutinovic.

It is an incredible experience for the man who lifted the coveted trophy in 1994 with the Auriverdes, coached by Ronaldo, Romario, Cafu and Claudio Taffarel. In all, he managed 23 World Cup matches, winning 10, drawing four and losing nine.

1 Helmut Schon

World Cup appearances: 25

He is the absolute record holder for the number of matches coached at the World Cup. Helmut Schon took charge of the German national team in 1964 and has always placed them on the podium of the world's most prestigious football competition. In 1966, in his first World Cup, the Dresden native saw the England of Geoff Hurst (who scored a hat-trick in the final) snatch the title from his grasp.

Four years later, in Mexico, the Nationalmannschaft had to make do with third place after being eliminated by Italy, who themselves fell in the final to Pele's Brazil. Schon's work finally paid off in 1974, when Germany won the second world title in their history on home soil.

All statistics courtesy of WhoScored and Transfermarkt.