Just like the world's best player conversation revolved around Lionel Messi and Cristiano Ronaldo, the debate on who's the greatest coach on Earth for many years was reduced to Pep Guardiola or Jose Mourinho.
Their success, but especially their contrasting styles is what sparked the big question. While many were impressed by the Spaniard's soccer philosophy, others felt much more connected with The Special One.
Whether Guardiola or Mourinho is the better coach is a question that has existed for a long time but had no answer other than one's personal opinion. However, it looks like now we may have an official answer to the debate.
IFFHS reveals all-time ranking of world's best coach
The International Federation of Football History and Statistics (IFFHS) ranked the 50 best coaches from 1996 to 2022. Their method was taking into consideration the top 20 national team coaches and the top 20 club coaches by year, allocating points to each position:
"The first placed received 20 points, the second placed 19 points, the third placed 18 points …. And 1 point for the twentieth place. If the annual ranking comprised fewer than 20, no point will be awarded for the unoccupied places . Adding the points from the individual years of each category provides an IFFHS ALL TIME WORLD’S BEST COACH Ranking from 1996 to 2022."
Neither Mourinho nor Guardiola finished atop the list, with Manchester United icon Sir Alex Ferguson leading the ranking with 257 points. However, as for the Pep vs. Mou debate, the Portuguese had the upper hand as he finished behind the Scottish legend with 242 points. Guardiola, on the other hand, ended up in third place with 221 points.
IFFHS' world best coach ranking (1996-2022)
- Sir Alex Ferguson (Scotland) - 257 points
- Jose Mourinho (Portugal) - 242 points
- Pep Guardiola (Spain) - 221 points
- Arsene Wenger (France) - 211 points
- Joachim Low (Germany) - 200 points
- Carlo Ancelotti (Italy) - 189 points
- Vicente del Bosque (Spain) - 175 points
- Diego Simeone (Argentina) - 168 points
- Marcelo Lippi (Italy) - 156 points
- Didier Deschamps (France) - 154 points
- Luiz Felipe Scolari (Brazil) - 151 points
- Guus Hiddink (Netherlands) - 145 points
- Marcelo Bielsa (Argentina) - 145 points
- Otmar Hitzfeld (Germany) - 134 points
- Jurgen Klopp (Germany) - 127 points
- Sven Goran Eriksson (Sweden) - 126 points
- Fabio Capello (Italy) - 120 points
- Tite (Brazil) - 120 points
- Franklin Rijkaard (Netherlands) - 104 points
- Jose Pekerman (Argentina) - 104 points
- Unai Emery (Spain) - 101 points
- Rafael Benitez (Spain) - 97 points
- Roberto Mancini (Italy) - 95 points
- Louis van Gaal (Netherlands) - 94 points
- Oscar Washington Tabarez (Uruguay) - 90 points
- Massimiliano Allegri (Italy) - 77 points
- Karel Bruckner (Czech Republic) - 76 points
- Carlos Bianchi (Argentina) - 75 points
- Giovanni Trapattoni (Italy) - 75 points
- Fernando Santos (Portugal) - 74 points
- Roberto Martinez (Spain) - 70 points
- Carlos Alberto Parreira (Brazil) - 65 points
- Hector Cuper (Argentina) - 63 points
- Otto Rehhagel (Germany) 63 points
- Dunga (Brazil) - 62 points
- Josef Heynckes (Germany) - 61 points
- Alejandro Sabella (Argentina) - 61 points
- Zinedine Zidane (France) - 58 points
- Mauricio Pochettino (Argentina) - 56 points
- Marcelo Gallardo (Argentina) - 56 points
- Roger Lemerre (France) - 56 points
- Ramon Diaz (Argentina) - 55 points
- Jose Camacho (Spain) - 54 points
- Antonio Conte (Italy) - 53 points
- Luis Enrique (Spain) - 53 points
- Gerard Houllier (France) - 50 points
- Wanderley Luxemburgo (Brazil) - 50 points
- Bruce Arena (USA) - 49 points
- Dirk Advocaat (Netherlands) - 49 points
- Felix Magath (Germany) - 48 points
