Rudi Garcia

Rudi Garcia is the head coach of Belgium at the 2026 FIFA World Cup, his first major tournament as a national-team manager. Born in Nemours on 20 February 1964 to a Spanish father and Italian mother, he had a quiet playing career as an attacking midfielder in the lower divisions of French football before turning to coaching in his early thirties.

His breakthrough came at Lille, where he spent five seasons from 2008 to 2013 and produced the club's first league-and-cup double in 2010–11 — a Ligue 1 title coupled with the Coupe de France, won with a young Eden Hazard at his peak. He was twice named Ligue 1 Manager of the Year. Garcia then moved abroad: three seasons at Roma chasing Juventus to two second-place finishes, three years at Marseille that included the 2018 Europa League final, then Lyon, Al Nassr in Saudi Arabia with Cristiano Ronaldo, and a short spell at champions Napoli in 2023.

The Belgian federation appointed him on 24 January 2025 after dismissing Domenico Tedesco, with a contract running to the 2026 World Cup. Belgium are placed in Group K. With a generation centred on Kevin De Bruyne, Thibaut Courtois, Romelu Lukaku, Jérémy Doku and Leandro Trossard, Garcia's task is to extract one final deep tournament run from the so-called golden generation before the rebuild begins in earnest after the World Cup.