Julen Lopetegui close to joining Qatar as new head coach
Julen Lopetegui is close to becoming the Qatar national team's new head coach.
A two-year deal in principle has been tabled, with sources close to Lopetegui, speaking on the condition of anonymity, describing the project as 'ambitious'.
The 58-year-old was sacked as West Ham United head coach in January after just six months in charge.
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His 22 matches in the role — which brought seven victories, five draws and 10 defeats — was the shortest spell for any permanent head coach in West Ham's history, surpassing David Moyes's first spell at the club (31 games) in 2017-18.
A move to Qatar would represent a first return to international management for Lopetegui since he was dismissed from his role as Spain head coach on the eve of the 2018 World Cup.
Lopetegui was unbeaten across 20 matches in charge of the Spanish national team but was sacked by the Spanish FA (RFEF) after Real Madrid announced they had agreed a deal to appoint him for the 2018-19 season.
He was subsequently dismissed after just 14 matches in charge of Real Madrid — winning six and losing six of his matches at the helm — before joining Sevilla in the summer of 2019, with whom he won the Europa League title in 2020 and guided to three successive top-four finishes in La Liga.
Lopetegui left Sevilla in October 2022 and joined Wolverhampton Wanderers the following month, winning his 10 of 27 matches at the helm before leaving in the summer of 2023.
He previously achieved success as head coach of Spain's youth teams, winning the European Under-19 Championship in 2012 and its Under-21 equivalent the following year, before Lopetegui spent 18 months in charge of Porto.
Lopetegui would replace Luis Garcia, Qatar's former assistant coach who was placed in charge in December following Marquez Lopez's sacking.
Qatar hosted the 2022 World Cup, where they were eliminated in the group stages, and won the Asian Cup in 2019 and 2022.
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