The Bielsa effect: Tracing Argentine football's influence at World Cup 2026

On a cold night in 1985 in Murphy, a small town in Argentina’s Santa Fe province, two men, one just over 50 and the other 30, knocked on a farmer’s door. When the farmer and his wife answered, they made a strange request—they were there to look at the couple’s teenage son’s legs. They were delighted and ushered the two men in. They crept along to the 13-year-old boy’s room and pulled back the covers.

Mauricio Pochettino woke with a start. He looks like a footballer, said the younger of the two men, Marcelo Bielsa. Years later, he told Pochettino’s son that far from looking like a footballer, his dad actually looked a little chubby. However, the lie was necessary. Bielsa and his companion, Jorge Griffa, worked for Newell’s Old Boys, the historic club that would later nourish Lionel Messi. They were there to sign Pochettino. “He had to make my parents dream,” as Pochettino put it.

Pochettino played under Bielsa for the senior team before the manager left in 1992. Bielsa never returned to Newell’s, but, his presence at the club is eternal: their home ground is the Estadio Marcelo Bielsa. The impact Bielsa made as a manager has reverberated across Argentine football and is now on full display at the World Cup—of 48 teams, six are managed by Argentine coaches.

On June 12, Pochettino, now 54, led the US to a 4-1 win against Paraguay in the first game of their World Cup campaign. On the face of it, it seems straightforward. The US are ranked 17, Paraguay, 41. However, once a World Cup starts, rankings are often inconsequential, as Cape Verde showed against Spain on June 15. Moreover, Paraguay had been billed a team to fear. Indeed, the team were reborn under Argentine manager Gustavo Alfaro.

The 63-year-old Alfaro’s tenure, which began after a dismal 2024 Copa America, had seen Paraguay beat both Brazil and Argentina en route to securing a World Cup berth after 16 years. But, they were down 3-0 at the end of the first half against the US, and though they showed more fight in the second half, the game was already beyond them. Alfaro admitted later that Pochettino’s team had “surpassed” them tactically. The man known as “the hunter of utopias”, who has been managing since 1992 and who builds his teams on defensive discipline and toughness, was outmanoeuvred by Pochettino’s attacking intent.

In a clash of two Argentine styles of football, the Bielsa school won. Pochettino, who was given his national team debut by Bielsa in 1999, has for long been an exemplar of the philosophy. When asked about his mentor, dubbed El Loco Bielsa—The Madman Bielsa—Pochettino said: “For me, he is not crazy at all. He is a genius. A person with charisma and a personality very different from us normal coaches, and that is what makes him special.” Bielsa’s influence is not only limited to those who have directly experienced his methods. Pep Guardiola has described Bielsa as an inspiration and called him the best manager in the world.

But, for all his influence on the world’s game, Bielsa is yet to scale the greatest peak. He has always chased exciting projects rather than clubs with the potential for sustained success. Meanwhile, at the international level, an almost theological commitment to attacking football is not always the best idea. He is at his third World Cup in 2026. His first experience of the tournament as a coach was with Argentina in 2002. He managed the team from 1998 to 2004 and had done a good job leading up to the World Cup. But, Argentina suffered a disastrous first-round exit. He did better with Chile in 2010 (round of 16). Now, with Uruguay, the only thing that is certain about the 70-year-old’s approach is that it is likely to entertain neutral viewers.

This was abundantly clear in Uruguay’s opener against Saudi Arabia on June 15. The South Americans allowed the Saudis to score before unleashing a breathtaking wave of attacking football in the second half. They got an equaliser but lacked the quality in the final third. The result was a draw.

Given that Spain were also held to a draw, Uruguay could finish first or second in the group. Uruguay under Bielsa could be a bigger worry for stronger teams. Spain, for instance, cannot sit back against Uruguay—that would not be received well by fans. When Spain attacks, Uruguay will have the window to unleash the Bielsa madness. The match would then become unpredictable. If Uruguay make it to the round of 32 as first or second in their group, that will cause headaches for another Argentine manager—Argentina’s Lionel Scaloni.

The 48-year-old debuted as player for Newell’s three years after Bielsa left, but their paths intersected in the national setup—Scaloni was given his debut by Bielsa in 2003. If Argentina finish first in their group and Uruguay second in theirs, or vice versa, the two teams will face each other in the round of 32.

If there is one Argentine manager Scaloni would be looking to avoid at the World Cup, it would be Sebastian Beccacece, who was born in the same city—Rosario—as Bielsa and Scaloni. Beccacece started his coaching career in the youth set up at Newell’s. He met Jorge Sampaoli, another manager influenced by Bielsa, in 2002 and worked as his assistant at various clubs till 2012, even rejecting an invitation from Bielsa in 2010 to join him at Chile. But when Sampaoli became Chile manager in 2012, Beccacece joined him and won the 2015 Copa America.

When Sampaoli took over as Argentina manager in 2017, he brought in Beccacece as his assistant. Scaloni, who had assisted Sampaoli at his last job in Sevilla, also joined as an assistant. The two assistants were different, to put it mildly. For instance, when Argentina secured their place at the 2018 World Cup thanks to a Messi hat-trick against Ecuador, Scaloni ran to celebrate with the players. Beccacece, a disciplinarian who believed in managing the players rather than being their friend, watched from afar. As the 2018 World Cup campaign went poorly, tensions rose. Beccacece, who was once criticised by fans for giving instructions to Messi as if he were a youngster, refused to listen to players, saying they don’t give orders. Scaloni lent his hear to them. This got him the support of senior players like Messi and Javier Mascherano, and he went on to win Qatar 2022.

Beccacece, meanwhile, built a stellar reputation as Ecuador coach. The team arrived at the World Cup as highly fancied dark horses on the back of a two-year unbeaten run. But, that run ended in the very first match as they suffered a 1-0 defeat to the Ivory Coast. The result combined with Germany’s 7-1 win against Curacao means that Ecuador, who were even tipped to top the group ahead of the Germans, now find themselves in an uncomfortable position. Though they are still likely to get through, their path could now be more complicated. So, it seems unlikely Scaloni will have to meet Beccacece at this World Cup.

There was a scenario of the winner of the potential Argentina vs Uruguay round of 32 fixture facing Pochettino’s US in the next round. But, going by the results so far, this seems to have been averted. Instead Pochettino could now come up against the sixth Argentine coach at the tournament—Colombia manager Nestor Lorenzo.

Lorenzo’s path runs through a different Argentine tradition. He played for Argentina in the 1990 World Cup final against West Germany, and spent much of his coaching career as an assistant to Jose Pekerman. At the 2006 World Cup, he coached Scaloni, who was a surprise selection by Pekerman. He also assisted Pekerman at Colombia during the 2014 and 2018 World Cups. The Pekerman school is more pragmatic than the Bielsa one, more concerned with organisation than attacking expression. This philosophy has served Lorenzo well as Colombia manager, a role he took on in 2022. Under him, Colombia beat Germany for the first time in their history, went 28 matches unbeaten and reached a Copa America final for the first time in 23 years.

So, if the US and Colombia make it deep enough into the knockout phase, there could be yet another clash of Argentine styles as Pochettino and Lorenzo face off. But, the match up that is more likely to happened is between Scaloni’s balanced approach and Bielsa’s all-in attack. As Scaloni and Argentina chase a first World Cup title defence since 1962 and a fourth consecutive major trophy, the man standing in their way could be the most influential Argentine coach of all time.