Claudio Ranieri, the 74-year-old who once turned a 5,000-to-1 longlongshot into the most improbable Premier League title in history, has been appointed technical director of the Italian national football team.

Italy’s football federation, the FIGC, has been cycling through leadership after the national team failed to qualify for major tournaments, prompting a broad restructuring under President Giovanni Malagò.

A revolving door at the top

The technical director role has not remained stable for long. Paolo Maldini was linked to the position on July 11, 2026, but left after approximately 16 days because of disagreements over head coach selection, along with advisor Leonardo.

Ranieri had already been in the FIGC’s orbit. In June 2025, he declined an offer to become the national team’s head coach, opting to remain at AS Roma. He later left Roma in April 2026, opening the door to a return to the national setup in a different role. Between April and June 2026, his name repeatedly emerged as a candidate for the technical director post.

Why Ranieri, and why now

Ranieri’s coaching career includes spells at Chelsea, Juventus, Inter, Roma, and Valencia, as well as a brief and largely unsuccessful tenure as head coach of the Greece national team. His most famous achievement came with Leicester City, whom he guided from relegation candidates to Premier League champions in the 2015-16 season.

The technical director role centers on building systems, identifying talent pipelines, and making structural decisions. Ranieri will not be responsible for selecting the starting eleven. Instead, he will oversee the strategic direction of Italian football development, a remit that matters as Italy tries to stabilize a setup that has repeatedly changed at the top.

Italy has long been one of football’s powers, with four World Cup titles to its name. Its recent qualification failures point to a systemic issue rather than a purely coaching-related one. Maldini brought name recognition and elite playing pedigree, but his tenure lasted just 16 days. Ranieri brings decades of experience across multiple leagues and football cultures, which is central to a federation trying to restore continuity without pretending a single appointment can fix every problem.

The sports-crypto intersection investors should watch

Serie A clubs have been among the most active adopters of fan tokens, with platforms such as Socios facilitating tokenized fan engagement for clubs including Roma, Juventus, and Inter, all of which Ranieri has coached.

National team success drives fan engagement metrics, and fan engagement drives token demand. Italy’s repeated tournament failures have weakened enthusiasm across the board.