The World Cup Record Nobody Talks About

Welcome to the 143rd edition of “In Touch”. As always, I would love to continue the conversation so please hit reply and let me know what you think.

Story of the Week: “The World Cup Record Nobody Talks About”

One of the most remarkable records in world football has almost gone unnoticed.

Since the first FIFA World Cup in 1930, every team that has lifted the trophy has been coached by a manager from its own country. Not even once has a foreign manager won the World Cup. In a game full of surprises, this may be one of the biggest surprises of all.

Think about it. Players move across continents and many of the world’s biggest clubs are successfully managed by foreign coaches who win major trophies. Yet when it comes to the biggest prize in football, something changes. Is there any logical explanation for this?

In a tournament where the difference between lifting the trophy and going home can depend on one moment of genius or one unfortunate mistake, success perhaps comes down to a shared understanding. Not simply an understanding of football, but an understanding of people. The emotions behind the national badge on the front of that shirt and what it truly means. Perhaps managers who have lived that journey themselves understand their players in a way that goes beyond tactics. They understand the people behind the players.

Of course, there may be other explanations, and this remarkable record may simply be one of those strange sporting coincidences that has survived for almost a century. But after 96 years, it is certainly a statistic worth thinking about.

There may also be a lesson here for company leaders. In business, as in football, technical expertise matters a great deal but, when the stakes are really high, people rarely follow expertise alone. They follow leaders who understand them, their values, their history and what truly matters to them. Perhaps that is why leadership, whether on the football pitch or in the boardroom, is ultimately less about managing the game and more about understanding the people and the culture that shaped them.

The 2026 World Cup is already well underway. In a few days we’ll know whether one of football’s most extraordinary records has survived for another four years or whether, for the first time ever, a foreign manager will win the World Cup.

Words of Wisdom

“People will forget what you said, people will forget what you did, but people will never forget how you made them feel.” Maya Angelou

A Question to Ponder, dear friend.

Do you think this remarkable record will survive another World Cup, or will it finally be broken? And if you had to place your bet today, would you choose the country… or simply the manager you believe will lift the trophy, knowing that history suggests you’ll have chosen the country too?

As of this writing (8th of July, 2026), the eight teams still left in the 2026 FIFA World Cup are France, Morocco, Spain, Belgium, Norway, England, Argentina and Switzerland.