Argentinian Marcelo Bielsa becomes Uruguay’s new team boss. The 67-year-old is said to have signed a contract until the 2026 World Cup. The association had reached an agreement with Bielsa, the last differences in the wording had been cleared up. “The only thing missing is the signature,” Jorge Casales, a member of the Executive Committee of the Uruguayan Football Association, told the AP news agency on Thursday (local time).
Bielsa is to lead the team, which failed in the preliminary round at the World Cup in Qatar, to the 2026 World Cup finals in Canada, Mexico and the USA. The first big challenge for the two-time world champion with Bielsa is next year’s Copa America in the USA. Bielsa’s first appearances are expected to be in June’s friendlies against Nicaragua and Cuba. South American World Cup qualifiers begin in September.
Bielsa coached the Argentine national team from 1998 to 2004, winning gold at the 2004 Olympic Games with the “Albiceleste”. In his time from 2007 and 2011 he was with Chile at the 2010 World Cup. He then worked at club level at Athletic Bilbao, Olympique Marseille and OSC Lille. Most recently, Bielsa was with Leeds United, which he led back to the English Premier League in 2020 after 16 years. After a losing streak, he was released in February 2022.