Chris Evans - How to Win the World Cup: Secrets and Insights from International Footballs Top Managers

CHAPTER 1
A Different World: International Management

CHAPTER 2
Starting from the Bottom: Minnows

CHAPTER 3
Looking into the Abyss: Qualification

CHAPTER 4
In the Line of Duty: Danger

CHAPTER 5
Lets Get this Party Started: Hosts

CHAPTER 6
Race Against Time: Late Appointments

CHAPTER 7
Breaking the Mould: First Timers

CHAPTER 8
The Perfect Recipe: Selection

CHAPTER 9
Picking a General: Captains and Leaders

CHAPTER 10
A Home from Home: The Right Vibe

CHAPTER 11
A Shot in the Balls: Big Controversies

CHAPTER 12
Dont Mention the War: Rivalries

CHAPTER 13
Miracle Workers: Underdogs

CHAPTER 14
Now or Never: Golden Generations

CHAPTER 15
Tackling the Enigmas: Star Players

CHAPTER 16
Finding an Edge: Big Games

CHAPTER 17
Managers on the Spot: Penalty Shoot-Outs

CHAPTER 18
Becoming Champions: The Final

CHAPTER 19
The Winners Curse: Retaining the Trophy

This has become a desire, a tremendous desire to win the World Cup competition, said Sir Alf Ramsey as he stood in the Wembley tunnel less than an hour after his England side had lifted the Jules Rimet Trophy.

The Three Lions first and, as yet, only World Cup-winning manager was the stereotype of an English gentleman in 1966 principled, fiercely proud and guarded to the point of sometimes seeming cold in times of great emotion.

Ramseys typically understated response to the BBC reporters question about what it meant to win the World Cup on home soil does little to diverge from that perception. [The desire] had rubbed off on to the players to some great extent and it leaves you a little flat at the same time. You have this tremendous feeling of satisfaction, Ramsey continued.

In a moment when even the sternest of masters could have been forgiven for letting their hair down, Ramseys words may suggest an indifference about the achievement. But anyone who came across the England manager during his time in the Wembley hot seat knows that impression couldnt be further from the truth.

The reality was that Ramsey had been bitten by the World Cup bug, just as many of his fellow international managers had been previously, and since. He had a clear plan of how he was going to lead England to glory in their home tournament and started putting it into action before hed even agreed to take the job.

Ramseys predecessor Walter Winterbottom had been little more than a coach. A committee of selectors not only chose his squad, but often voted to decide on the starting line-ups, leaving Winterbottom with little chance to impart his tactical wisdom.

But Ramsey wanted full control. If he was going to be England manager, he knew he had to row his own boat in order to get the best possible results. Hed built a blueprint for glory in eight successful years as Ipswich Town manager and wanted to bring his own methods to the job. And it worked, as Englands single World Cup star from 1966 attests.

Football may have changed a lot since Englands victory, but the concept of a manager needing to put a plan in place in order to get anywhere near their ambition of leading a nation to a World Cup win remains. As Roberto Martnez, Belgiums manager as they reached the semi-finals in 2018 said, Youll never find a national team that wins a World Cup by coincidence or by accident and thats the work of a national team manager. It might seem like an obvious statement, but formulating a winning strategy is easier said than done.

There are countless issues to tackle such as getting the right balance in squad selections, handling big stars, and achieving the best possible atmosphere for a tournament camp under extreme pressure as well as managing scenarios specific to taking a national team to a World Cup. And, yes, that includes negotiating a penalty shoot-out.

Throughout the decades, more than 350 managers have taken charge of a team in a World Cup, with thousands more entering in the qualification phase, each one of them with their own masterplan. Yet only 20 men have managed to get their hands on the trophy and theres only a couple of dozen more who can claim to have truly become immortalised in the countries theyve managed on the back of their World Cup exploits.

There are plenty of pieces that need to fall perfectly into place for a nation to be on top of the world. And this is what How to Win a World Cup explores: how coaches have successfully jumped the myriad hurdles that stand in the way of their dreams, and the lessons learned from the ones who have fallen flat on their faces.

When we romanticise over past World Cups and the great moments from them, its normally the players we remember. We think about Pels boyish genius, Marco Tardellis celebration, Diego Maradonas impudence and many more flashes of brilliance from decades gone by. But we rarely consider the man whos made it all possible. The guy standing in the dugout. The boss.

Without a manager providing a platform or environment for the worlds best talents, none of those moments would be possible. Sure, theres nobody in world football who could have choreographed Maradonas inspired performances for Argentina in 1986, but history doesnt remember that it was only at the insistence of La Albiceleste manager, Carlos Bilardo, that El Diego was made the focal point of his team. If Bilardo had bowed to national pressure, Maradona may not have been selected at all.

Throughout the following pages, I speak to managers and players from different nations and eras to discover if there really is a winning formula, or at least a common thread of dos and donts, when it comes to negotiating the pitfalls of a World Cup.

One things for sure, with international football such a unique arena to compete in, if teams are going to come out on top, desire is the bare minimum they need to succeed. Just ask Sir Alf.

The pinnacle of the game. The most-coveted job in football. A vocation reserved only for the very best. That was how an international managers role was viewed for decades. And the World Cup was where the globes most-skilled coaches would go head-to-head in the dugout, just as the best players were doing out on the pitch.

While the advent of super-rich clubs and the growing importance of domestic leagues and the UEFA Champions League has curbed international footballs reputation in the 21st century, there remains a special enchantment to leading a national team to glory. The opportunity to unite a nation across club boundaries remains a unique one. Theres no other sporting job in any football-mad country that gives a manager the chance to bring such unbridled joy to so many people.

The impact international football success has had on national morale, politics and even economies shows the influence coaches can have. But the pressure of such an influential job isnt for everyone. Neither are the different challenges and styles that need to be adapted to. For while some of footballs greatest club managers and former players have had a go at replicating their exploits on the international stage, it takes a distinct character to get it right. This has created a band of international specialists, experts whose temperament and approach suits a different type of football. One that culminates with the chance to write their name in history at the World Cup every four years.