COACHES from Uruguay

Top 4

The following people are considered by Pantheon to be the most legendary Uruguayan Coaches of all time. This list of famous Uruguayan Coaches is sorted by HPI (Historical Popularity Index), a metric that aggregates information on a biography’s online popularity.

1. Óscar Tabárez (1947 - )

With an HPI of 63.64, Óscar Tabárez is the most famous Uruguayan Coach.  His biography has been translated into 41 different languages on wikipedia.

Óscar Washington Tabárez Silva (Latin American Spanish: [ˈoskaɾ taˈβaɾes]; born 3 March 1947), known as El Maestro (The Teacher), is a Uruguayan former professional football manager and former player. After an unassuming career as a player and after working as a primary school teacher, Tabárez embarked on an extensive coaching career which has lasted more than 30 years and included coaching teams in Colombia, Argentina, Italy and Spain. He managed the Uruguay national football team from 1988 to 1990, returning to the job for a second time in 2006. He led the team to fourth place in the 2010 FIFA World Cup, and to victory in the 2011 Copa América. With Tabárez, Uruguay qualified for four World Cups, reaching the round of 16 twice, the quarterfinals once, and the semi-finals once. In October 2017 Tabárez qualified Uruguay for a fourth time; reaching the 5th position at the 2018 World Cup tournament. On 25 March 2016, two and a half weeks after completing ten years as the manager of Uruguay, Tabárez surpassed Francisco Maturana for the head coach with most World Cup qualifying games in South America with 47, with the singularity that he has only managed Uruguay. Tabárez also is the fourth-ranked manager with most games at the Copa América with 30, participating in seven tournaments (1989, 2007, 2011, 2015, 2016, 2019 and 2021). In 2012, for his contributions to association football, Tabaréz became the recipient of the FIFA Order of Merit, the highest honour awarded by FIFA.

2. Juan López Fontana (1908 - 1983)

With an HPI of 53.01, Juan López Fontana is the 2nd most famous Uruguayan Coach.  Her biography has been translated into 22 different languages.

Juan López Fontana (15 March 1908 – 4 October 1983) was a Uruguayan professional football manager who won the 1950 FIFA World Cup as the head coach of the Uruguay national team.

3. Sergio Markarián (1944 - )

With an HPI of 46.08, Sergio Markarián is the 3rd most famous Uruguayan Coach.  His biography has been translated into 15 different languages.

Sergio Apraham Markarián Abrahamián (born 1 November 1944) is a Uruguayan-Argentine former football coach of Armenian descent. In 2015, he was the head coach of the Greece national team.

4. Gus Poyet (1967 - )

With an HPI of 43.09, Gus Poyet is the 4th most famous Uruguayan Coach.  His biography has been translated into 28 different languages.

Gustavo Augusto Poyet Domínguez (Spanish pronunciation: [ˈɡus poˈʝet]; born 15 November 1967) is a Uruguayan professional football manager and former footballer. He last coached the Greece national team. Poyet played as a midfielder and began his career with short spells at Grenoble and River Plate. He then spent seven years at Real Zaragoza, with whom he won the Copa del Rey and the UEFA Cup Winners' Cup. In 1997, Poyet moved to Chelsea on a free transfer and helped the club win the FA Cup and the UEFA Cup Winners' Cup. In 2001, he moved to Tottenham Hotspur, where he saw out the remainder of his career. He was also part of the Uruguay side which won the 1995 Copa América. After his playing career ended, Poyet moved into coaching. He served as assistant manager to Dennis Wise at Swindon Town and Leeds United, and Juande Ramos at Tottenham Hotspur. In November 2009, Poyet was appointed manager of Brighton & Hove Albion and in his first full season led the club to promotion as League One Champions, for which he was named League One Manager of the Year by the LMA. In October 2013 he was hired by Premier League team Sunderland and guided them to the League Cup Final in his first season, but was sacked in March 2015 after a poor run of results. He later had spells at Superleague Greece side AEK Athens, La Liga club Real Betis, Chinese Super League team Shanghai Shenhua, Bordeaux of Ligue 1, and Universidad Católica in Chile, before being appointed as coach of Greece in 2022.