With the 2022 FIFA World Cup fast approaching, the focus will shift from clubs and managers to national teams and their coaches. There are plenty of top managers on the international football scene who will be thrust to the forefront of the game shortly.
There is a lot of pressure on them as they take their respective groups of extremely talented footballers to the beautiful game's showpiece event. The job of national team coaches is not easy. They have to rely on short international breaks and summers to work with their players and build a team.
With so many recognizable names in the coaching circle these days, it would be interesting to see who takes home the most money. Without further ado, let's take a look at five of the highest-paid managers at the 2022 FIFA World Cup.
#5 Louis van Gaal (Netherlands) - £2.5 million per year
Louis van Gaal has had quite an illustrious managerial career. He is 71-years-old now and this is going to be the last World Cup for the former Manchester United and Barcelona manager.
Van Gaal has managed to do a good job with the Dutch national team since coming out of retirement to take charge of the side in August 2021. He took over after Frank de Boer turned in his papers following the team's poor outing at Euro 2020.
Van Gaal is the fifth-highest paid national team manager in the world right now. He takes home £2.5 million per year.
#4 Tite (Brazil) - £3 million per year
Tite has been the head coach of the Brazilian national team since 2016. He led them to Copa America triumph in 2019 and has already revealed that he intends to step down as manager of the Selecao after the 2022 FIFA World Cup.
So the 2022 FIFA World Cup will be Tite's final dance with this heavily talented Brazilian side. Tite has done a very good job with Brazil in recent years and his side went unbeaten in the CONMEBOL World Cup Qualifiers.
Tite is one of the highest-paid managers in the world and he takes home £3 million annually.
#3 Didier Deschamps (France) - £3.2 million per year
Didier Deschamps led France to the World Cup title in 2018. They were the favorites to win Euro 2020 as well, but the team suffered a shock exit in the Round of 16. Les Bleus have a strong squad but they are no longer the nearly unbeatable side they were four years ago.
Deschamps might have to do without his formidable midfield duo of N'Golo Kante and Paul Pogba as both players are currently sidelined with injuries. Many of his World Cup winners are also way past their primes. But that doesn't mean that there is any shortage of talent or quality in the French side.
Deschamps' annual salary is £3.2 million and that makes him the third highest-paid manager at the 2022 FIFA World Cup.
#2 Gareth Southgate (England) - £4.9 million per year
Gareth Southgate has done a decent job with the England national team. Notwithstanding their current form, England's runs to the semi-finals of the 2018 FIFA World Cup and the final of the 2018 FIFA World Cup are commendable achievements.
The opinion in certain quarters is that Southgate is way too conservative a coach for this set of players. England currently have an extremely talented and star-studded squad and they could be playing a way more exciting brand of football.
But the murmur in the boardroom seems to be, 'Why fix something that's not broken?' Fair enough. For now, Southgate remains in his job that puts £4.9 million in his bank account annually.
#1 Hansi Flick (Germany) - £5.5 million
Hansi Flick won the continental treble with Bayern Munich in the 2019-20 season. He then took charge of the German national team that has been navigating some difficult times of late. He went undefeated in his first 10 matches in charge of Die Mannschaft.
Germany suffered a group stage exit at the 2018 FIFA World Cup and there is a great deal of pressure on Flick to turn things around this time. Flick rakes in £5.5 million per year as the coach of the German national team and is the highest-paid manager at the 2022 FIFA World Cup.