Carlos Manuel Brito Leal de Queiroz is certainly one of the most travelled coaches in the history of football, having worked in Europe, Africa, Asia, the Middle East and North America.
Having accepted the new challenge of leading the Black Stars to the 2026 World Cup, the Portuguese tactician may face one of his most difficult tasks, considering how passionate Ghanaians are about the senior national team.
Regardless of the challenge, the pedigree of Queiroz is not in doubt, as he is one of the most high‑profile coaches Ghana has ever appointed in its football history.
The deep tactical knowledge and tournament management skills of Queiroz, in combination with the football talents in the Black Stars, could be a picture‑perfect match that may change the fortunes of Ghana football.
Experience
Born on March 1, 1953, Carlos Queiroz is a veteran Portuguese coach whose career spans more than four decades and virtually every level of the game.
Queiroz has previously coached the national teams of Portugal, South Africa, Iran, Colombia, Egypt, Qatar, the United Arab Emirates and Oman, giving him rare insight into different football cultures and administrative environments. At club level, he has handled sides such as Sporting CP, Real Madrid and New York/New Jersey MetroStars, while also enjoying two influential spells as assistant manager at Manchester United under Sir Alex Ferguson.
Impact across Europe
Queiroz first rose to global prominence as a youth coach. He masterminded one of the greatest periods in Portuguese football history by guiding the country’s “Golden Generation”—which included stars like Luís Figo and Rui Costa—to back‑to‑back FIFA U‑20 World Cup titles in 1989 and 1991.
Those triumphs earned him a reputation as one of the world’s finest youth developers and set the foundation for Portugal’s later dominance on the international stage.
His success at youth level translated into silverware in senior football. As head coach of Sporting CP, Queiroz won the Taça de Portugal in the 1994–95 season and followed it up with the Portuguese Super Cup.
His growing reputation eventually took him to Spain, where he guided Real Madrid to the 2003 Spanish Super Cup, marking immediate success at one of the world’s biggest clubs.
World Cup specialist
Few coaches can match Queiroz’s World Cup résumé. He led South Africa to their first‑ever FIFA World Cup appearance in 2002, topping a tough CAF qualifying group.
Later, he qualified Portugal for the 2010 World Cup, highlighted by a memorable 7–0 demolition of North Korea in South Africa which remains one of the country’s biggest World Cup victories.
His most sustained international success came with Iran, whom he turned into a model of tactical discipline.
Under Queiroz, Iran qualified unbeaten for the 2014 World Cup, secured early qualification for Russia 2018 as Asia’s second team after Brazil, and later competed again at Qatar 2022.
African pedigree
Queiroz’s understanding of African football was further underlined during his stint with Egypt, where he guided the Pharaohs to the final of the 2021 Africa Cup of Nations.
Despite taking charge shortly before the tournament, he led Egypt past several strong opponents and narrowly missed out on the title after a penalty shootout defeat to Senegal.
He has also had a stint with South Africa.
The Black Stars Mission
With Ghana entering the 2026 World Cup as one of the huge underdogs, Queiroz, who has built a reputation for organising underdog teams, instilling discipline and defensive solidity, could be a major change for the Black Stars.
Given the potential of Ghana, with players like Antoine Semenyo, Mohammed Kudus, Jordan Ayew, Inaki Williams and Fatawu Issahaku, among others, Queiroz can certainly achieve a lot with this group considering his history.
Ghana would open their World Cup campaign against Panama on June 17, 2026, in Toronto, before facing England and Croatia in their remaining group matches.