The Best South American Managers in FIFA Club World Cup predecessor, Intercontinental Cup

 

South American managers who won the FIFA Club World Cup or its predecessor, the Intercontinental Cup, are still fewer compared to European gaffers.

The 2025 FIFA Club World Cup is in progress to the second game. The South American sides, which have been deemed underdogs, finally managed to show their quality to the world after Botafogo’s stunning victory over the Champions League winner, PSG. It is literally the first win from the CONMEBOL sides against the UEFA sides since 2012, when Tite’s Corinthians beat Chelsea 1-0 in Yokohama, Japan.

However, despite the Brazilian side’s unexpected victory last night, it still cannot be claimed to be fully achieved by the South American. Botafogo is currently under the tutelage of the foreign manager. The Portuguese Renato Pavia has been in charge of the club since February this year.

On the contrary, Flamengo’s 3-1 victory over Chelsea can be considered as one. The 1981 Intercontinental Cup champion is led by a true South American manager, who was surprisingly playing for the Blues briefly. Felipe Luis was part of Chelsea's squad in the 2014/15 season before moving back to Atletico Madrid, where he enjoyed most of his playing career and retired with Flamengo in 2023. He was promoted from the youth team before taking charge of the first team just last year.

Their win undoubtedly could spark South Americans’ optimism and hope to perform better and end Europeans’s domination in the competition. It will be interesting to see if the true CONMEBOL teams led by South American gaffers such as River Plate, Boca Juniors, and Fluminense could follow the Copa Libertadores 2024 champions’ footpath later.

In the tournament’s history, there have been only four South American bosses who managed to win the title more than once. They deserve to be considered the best ones on the continent. Yet, one of them, in fact, lifted the trophy with the Italian giant instead of being with the team from his native country. Here are those distinguished managers in South American football.

Lula (Santos)

He was the first manager who won the Intercontinental Cup twice in history. Lula did it while at the helm of Santos in 1962 and 1963 with Pelé, Zito and Coutinho in the squad. The manager whose complete name was Luis Alfonso Perez also won the Copa Libertadores twice in both years, plus five Brazil Cups, which were equal to the national championship or league at that time prior to the foundation of Campeonato Brasiliero or national league, and eight regional titles, Campeonato Paulista for Santos.

Lula eventually left the club in 1966 following the rumour of his disagreement with Pele. Such was never officially confirmed, but it marked the end of his tenure with Peixe. The gaffer who once worked as a baker, milkman and taxi driver made a move to Corinthians in 1967 after a brief spell with the club; he made a coaching debut at Portuguesa Santista soon after he quit Santos. He stayed there till 1968 before switching sides to Portuguesa and Santo Andre. Unfortunately, he failed to snatch a single silverware in hand in any of those clubs.

Clubs	Titles	Intercontinental Cup results
Santos (1954-1966)	Brazil Cup (1961-1965) Campeonato Paulista (1955, 1956, 1958, 1960-1962, 1964, 1965) Copa Libertadores (1962, 1963) Intercontinental Cup (1962, 1963) Torneio Rio-Sao Paulo (inter-regional tournament) (1959, 1963, 1964, 1966)	1962: vs Benfica 8-4 (3-2; 5-2) 1963: Vs AC Milan 6-5 (4-2; 2-4; 1-0 – playoff)
Portuguesa Santista (1967)	-
Corinthians (1967-1968)	-
Portuguesa (1968-1969	-
Santo Andre (1971)	-

Helenio Herrera (Inter Milan)

He was known for his great success with Inter Milan. Although he was born in Argentina, Herrera did not start his football career on his home soil. That was due to the fact that his parents opted to move out to Morocco, which was still a French colony in 1920, for a better life when he was still a kid. As a result, he was naturalised by France and even earned two caps with Les Bleus during his playing career.

The former midfielder seemed to be destined for success on the sideline as he never won a single title as a player. Herrera’s initial talent as a football manager was already seen during his stint with his former side, Stade Francais. He led to gain promotion to the top flight in his first season, 1945/46. In the following two seasons, the Argentine was able to guide them to finish fifth consecutively.

Such brought him to Spain as he signed for Real Valladolid in 1948. Herrera managed to save them from relegation before moving to Atletico Madrid. That was where he won his first trophies as he guided them to win La Liga two years in a row in 1950 and 1951.

Herrera then had spells in Malaga, Deportivo La Coruna, Sevilla and Portugal’s Belenenses before making a big break in Barcelona in 1958. He clinched another two league titles, the Copa del Rey, and two Fairs Cups, the predecessor of the UEFA Cup. Unfortunately, he decided to leave the Catalan giant following the internal conflict with their star, Ladislav Kubala.

His Inter stint began in 1960. Herrera transformed Nerrazurri into a new powerhouse with continental success. He was the first manager who gained credit for his team’s great success instead of their stars. Prior to that era, the managers were often not recognised for their contribution. Inter Milan went on to clinch three league titles and two European Cups and the Intercontinental Cup in 1964 and 1965.

After his golden years with La Beniamata, he showed little progress in his career. The manager, who was also known for developing the 5-3-2 formation, pep talks, and strict policy for his players, only managed to snatch one title, the Coppa Italia 1969 with Roma and the Copa del Rey 1981 with Barcelona.

Herrera was once also in charge of the Spain and Italy national teams. He was, in fact, at the helm of La Furia Roja in the 1962 FIFA World Cup. Sadly, he failed to bring them to advance from the group stage as Luis Suarez and Co suffered two defeats against Czechoslovakia and the reigning champions, Brazil, and only picked up a narrow 1-0 win over Mexico.

Clubs	Titles	Intercontinental Cup results
Stade Francais (1945-1948)	-
Real Valladolid (1948-1949)	-
Atletico Madrid (1949-1952)	La Liga (1950, 1951)
Malaga (1953)	-
Deportivo La Coruna (1953)	-
Sevilla (1953-1957)	-
Belenenses (1957-1958)	-
Barcelona (1958-1960; 1980; 1980-1981)	La Liga (1959, 1960) Copa del Rey (1959, 1981) Inter Fairs Cup (1958, 1960)
Inter Milan (1960-1968; 1973-1974)	Serie A (1963, 1965, 1966) European Cup (1964, 1965) Intercontinental Cup (1964, 1965)	1964: vs Independiente (1-0; 0-2; 1-0 – playoff) 1965: vs Independiente (3-0; 0-0)
AS Roma (1968-1973)	Coppa Italia 1969 Ango-Italian Cup 1971
Rimini (1979)

Tele Santana (Sao Paulo)

The Brazilian boss was once known for his persistence in the jogo bonito style of play for his team, including with Selecao in the 1980s. Santana’s side in the 1982 and 1986 FIFA World Cups was known for being the best Canarinha team without silverware, as their campaign ended too early in the quarterfinals despite playing attractive and entertaining football.

The former striker gained great success at the end of his managerial career in the second stint with Sao Paulo. He was in charge of the team from 1990 to 1996. Santana proved to the world that his attractive football could deliver trophies with Sao Paulo. His team did shine with a league title, two Copa Libertadores, two Intercontinental Cups, the Recopa Sudamericana or CONMEBOL’s Super Cup, and the Copa CONMEBOL, which was equal to the UEFA Cup. His team's form in Intercontinental Cup 1992 and 1993 was highly praised as Rai and Co were able to thump two 'Dream Teams' in 1990s, Johan Cryuff's Barcelona and AC Milan.

Sadly, his deteriorating health forced him to retire from the bench. The former Fluminense man will always be remembered as the guardian of attacking football, despite the fact that results are not always in his favour.

Clubs	Titles	Intercontinental Cup results
Fluminense (1969; 1989	Campeonato Carioca (1969)
Atletico Mineiro (1970-1972; 1973-1975; 1987-1988)	Brazilian league (1971), Campeonato Mineiro (1970 1988)
Botafogo (1976)
Gremio (1976-1978)	Campeonato Gaucho (1977)
Palmeiras (1979-1980; 1990)	-
Brazil (1980-1982, 1985-1986)	-
Al Ahli (1983-1985)	Kings Cup (1983) Saudi League (1984) Gulf Champions Cup (1985)
Flamengo (1988-1989)
Sao Paulo (1973; 1990-1996)	Brazilian league (1991) Copa Libertadores (1991, 1992) Intercontinental Cup (1992, 1993) Recopa Sundamericana (1993, 1994) Campeonato Paulista (1991,1992) Copa CONMEBOL 1994	1992: vs Barcelona 2-1 1993: vs AC Milan 3-2

Carlos Bianchi (Velez & Boca Juniors)

Last but not least, there is Carlos Bianchi. He remains the most successful South American boss in the tournament's history, as he managed to lift the trophy three times, once with Velez Sarsfield in 1994 and twice with Boca Juniors in 2000 and 2003.

Bianchi is also the best Argentine manager Albiceleste never had despite his success at the club. The former striker was known for his accolades in France during his playing years back in the 1970s. He won the Ligue 1 top scorer award five times while playing for Stade Reims and PSG but never had a chance to play for the Argentina national team in a major competition.

As a manager, his success, ironically, did not come in Europe when he began his career on the bench with Stade Reims. Bianchi was destined to rule Argentine football at the club level. Besides lifting the Intercontinental Cup three times, the former AS Roma and Atletico Madrid boss clinched four Copa Libertadores titles with both Velez and Boca.

Clubs	Titles	Intercontinental Cup results
Stade Reims (1985-1988)	-
OGC Nice (1988-1990)	-
Velez Sarsfield (1993-1996)	Premiera Division (1993, 1995, 1996) Copa Libertadores: 1994 Intercontinental Cup 1994 Copa Interamericana 1994
AS Roma (1996-1997)
Boca Juniors (1998-2001; 2003-2004; 2013-2014)	Premiera Division (1998, 1999, 2000, 2003) Copa Libertadores (2000, 2001, 2003 Intercontinental Cup (2000, 2003)
Atletico Madrid (2005-2006)	-