Gennaro Gattuso appointed new Italy head coach following Luciano Spalletti dismissal

New York Times

8 hours ago

Gennaro Gattuso has been appointed the new head coach of Italy's national team.
Former coach Luciano Spalletti said on Sunday he had been sacked after a 3-0 defeat by Norway in the first of Italy's World Cup qualifiers.
Claudio Ranieri was approached to succeed Spalletti, but turned down the role in favour of staying at Roma in an executive position.
Italy have confirmed Gattuso's appointment and the 47-year-old will be officially presented on June 19.
Gennaro Gattuso is the new First Team Head Coach 🇮🇹Welcome back, Rino 👊#Azzurri #VivoAzzurro pic.twitter.com/H6oQZWJcca
— Italy ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ (@Azzurri_En) June 15, 2025
Gabriele Gravina, the President of the Federazione Italiana Giuoco Calcio (FIGC), said on Gattuso's appointment: 'Gattuso is a symbol of Italian football, the shirt is like his second skin. His motivations, professionalism, and experience will be fundamental in taking on the next challenges of the national team.
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'He knows the importance of our objectives, and I thank him for his readiness and dedication in accepting this challenge. He shares the FIGC's project of the development of our football, in which the Azzurri shirt is a central part.'
Gattuso has been out of management since departing Hajduk Split at the end of the 2024-25 campaign.
He was capped 74 times by Italy and was part of his country's World Cup-winning squad in 2006. The Italian has held a number of club managerial positions since retiring from playing in 2013, taking charge of Sion, Palermo, OFI Crete, Pisa, Milan, Napoli, Valencia, and Marseille.
Gattuso won the Coppa Italia with Napoli in 2020 but was sacked at the end of the following season. He was subsequently appointed Fiorentina head coach, but departed before he had officially begun the role.
The former Italy international midfielder emerged as a contender to succeed Jose Mourinho at Tottenham Hotspur in the summer of 2021, but this was met with backlash by Spurs supporters, with historic comments allegedly made by Gattuso about the role of women in football, same-sex marriage and racism repeatedly shared by supporters on social media.
He led Hajduk Split to a third-place finish in the Croatian top flight during his only season in charge, trailing league champions HNK Rijeka by two points.
Spalletti, 66, took the Italy job in 2023 after Roberto Mancini resigned in the middle of the European Championship qualifying campaign.
Italy are bidding to qualify for the 2026 World Cup to avoid missing out on the competition for a third tournament in a row, despite winning the Euros in 2021.
After the loss to Norway on Friday, they won 2-0 against Moldova in Spalletti's final game in charge.