Poll: Is Roberto Mancini the best man for the Italy job?

Poll: Is Roberto Mancini the best man for the Italy job? Roberto Mancini is officially back on the Italy bench after three years, but is the EURO 2020 winner the right man for the job in 2026? FIGC President Giovanni Malagò announced in this afternoon’s press conference that the decision had been made to hire Mancini as the Azzurri coach, with Claudio Ranieri taking over the technical director role from Paolo Maldini. Mancini is back for Italy OLDENZAAL, NETHERLANDS – JUNE 17: Head coach of Italy Roberto Mancini attends before an Italy Training Session the UEFA Nations League 2022/23 at K.V.V Quick ’20 Stadium on June 17, 2023 in Oldenzaal, Netherlands. (Photo by Claudio Villa/Getty Images) It is a return for the 61-year-old , who already held the job from July 2018 to August 2023, when he walked away to become manager of the Saudi Arabia national team. That lasted just over a year, then Mancini became the coach of club side Al-Sadd from November 2025 to June 2026. The tactician was the lates to win silverware with the Nazionale, lifting the European Championship trophy in the summer of 2021, a tournament delayed by a year for the pandemic. He also put together what was a world record of 38 consecutive matches unbeaten, recently broken by World Cup winners Spain. Mancini oversaw 38 victories, 12 draws and eight defeats for Italy, but missed out on qualification for the 2022 World Cup, losing the play-off to North Macedonia.