Bielsa (67) succeeds Alonso at Uruguay after disappointing World Cup

Argentine Marcelo Bielsa is the new national coach of two-time world champions Uruguay. He has signed a contract through the 2026 World Cup, to be held in the United States, Mexico and Canada.

Bielsa succeeds Diego Alonso, whose contract was not renewed after being eliminated in the group stage of the World Cup in Qatar. Alonso had just completed a year on the job as successor to Óscar Tabárez, who had been in charge of Uruguay for as many as 15 years.

The 67-year-old Bielsa has had a long career. He previously worked as national coach with Argentina (1998-2004) and Chile (2007-2011). He was active at two World Cups, in 2002 with Argentina (eliminated in group stage) and in 2010 with Chile (eliminated in eighth finals).

Bielsa was also club coach at Athletic Club, Olympique Marseille, Lazio, OSC Lille and lastly Leeds United, among others. There he was fired last February due to poor results. Since then he was out of work for 15 months.