Julen Lopetegui Agote (; born 28 August 1966) is a Spanish former professional

footballer A football player or footballer is a sportsperson who plays one of the different types of football. The main types of football are association football, American football, Canadian football, Australian rules football, Gaelic football, rugb ...

, currently

manager Management (or managing) is the administration of an organization, whether it is a business, a nonprofit organization, or a government body. It is the art and science of managing resources of the business. Management includes the activitie ...

Premier League The Premier League (legal name: The Football Association Premier League Limited) is the highest level of the men's English football league system. Contested by 20 clubs, it operates on a system of promotion and relegation with the English Fo ...

club

Wolverhampton Wanderers Wolverhampton Wanderers Football Club (), commonly known as Wolves, is a professional football club based in Wolverhampton, England, which compete in the . The club has played at Molineux Stadium since moving from Dudley Road in 1889. The club' ...

. A

goalkeeper In many team sports which involve scoring goals, the goalkeeper (sometimes termed goaltender, netminder, GK, goalie or keeper) is a designated player charged with directly preventing the opposing team from scoring by blocking or intercepting ...

, he played 149

La Liga The Campeonato Nacional de Liga de Primera División, commonly known simply as Primera División in Spain, and as La Liga in English-speaking countries and officially as LaLiga Banco Santander, Santander for sponsorship reasons, stylized as LaL ...

matches over nine seasons, representing

Real Madrid Real Madrid Club de Fútbol (, meaning ''Royal Madrid Football Club''), commonly referred to as Real Madrid, is a Spanish professional football club based in Madrid. Founded in 1902 as Madrid Football Club, the club has traditionally wor ...

, Logroñés,

Barcelona Barcelona ( , , ) is a city on the coast of northeastern Spain. It is the capital and largest city of the autonomous community of Catalonia, as well as the second most populous municipality of Spain. With a population of 1.6 million within c ...

and

Rayo Vallecano Rayo Vallecano de Madrid, S.A.D. (), often abbreviated to Rayo (Spanish for "thunderbolt"), is a Spanish professional football club based in Madrid, in the neighbourhood of Vallecas. Rayo was founded on 29 May 1924, and currently compete in La Li ...

in the competition. He added 168 appearances in the

Segunda División The Campeonato Nacional de Liga de Segunda División, commercially known as LaLiga SmartBank for sponsorship reasons, is the men's second professional association football division of the Spanish football league system. Administrated by the L ...

for three clubs, winning one cap for

Spain , image_flag = Bandera de España.svg , image_coat = Escudo de España (mazonado).svg , national_motto = '' Plus ultra'' (Latin)(English: "Further Beyond") , national_anthem = (English: "Royal March") , ...

and being a member of the squad at the

1994 World Cup The 1994 FIFA World Cup was the 15th FIFA World Cup, the world championship for men's national soccer teams. It was hosted by the United States and took place from June 17 to July 17, 1994, at nine venues across the country. The United States w ...

. Lopetegui started working as a manager in 2003, and spent several years in charge of Spain's youth teams, leading the under-19 and under-21 sides to European titles. He was also head coach of the senior national team for two years, but was dismissed before the start of the

2018 World Cup The 2018 FIFA World Cup was the 21st FIFA World Cup, the quadrennial world championship for men's national Association football, football teams organized by FIFA. It took place in Russia from 14 June to 15 July 2018, after the country was awa ...

following the announcement of his agreement to join Real Madrid after the tournament. In club football, he has managed Rayo Vallecano, Castilla,

Porto Porto or Oporto () is the second-largest city in Portugal, the capital of the Porto District, and one of the Iberian Peninsula's major urban areas. Porto city proper, which is the entire municipality of Porto, is small compared to its metropo ...

, Real Madrid and

Sevilla Seville (; es, Sevilla, ) is the capital and largest city of the Spanish autonomous community of Andalusia and the province of Seville. It is situated on the lower reaches of the River Guadalquivir, in the southwest of the Iberian Peninsula ...

, winning the 2020 Europa League with the latter side.

Playing career

Club

Born in

Asteasu Asteasu () is a town located in the province of Gipuzkoa, in the autonomous community of Basque Country, in the north of Spain. References External links Official WebsiteInformation available in Spanish and Basque. ASTEASU in the Bernardo Est ...

Gipuzkoa Gipuzkoa (, , ; es, Guipúzcoa ; french: Guipuscoa) is a province of Spain and a historical territory of the autonomous community of the Basque Country. Its capital city is Donostia-San Sebastián. Gipuzkoa shares borders with the French de ...

, Lopetegui started his professional career at local

Real Sociedad Real Sociedad de Fútbol, S.A.D., more commonly referred to as Real Sociedad (; ''Royal Society''), La Real in Spanish, Erreala in Basque, is a Spanish professional sports club in the city of San Sebastián, Basque Country, founded on 7 Septemb ...

. In 1985, he accepted an offer from

, where the 19-year-old played in the B team. After a loan spell at

UD Las Palmas Unión Deportiva Las Palmas, S.A.D. is a Spanish football team based in Las Palmas, on the island of Gran Canaria in the autonomous community of Canary Islands. Founded on 22 August 1949, it plays in Segunda División, holding home games a ...

Lopetegui returned, but could never dislodge another veteran,

Francisco Buyo Francisco "Paco" Buyo Sánchez (born 13 January 1958) is a Spanish former footballer who played as a goalkeeper. Best known for his Sevilla and Real Madrid spells, he appeared in 542 La Liga matches, third all-time highest at the time of his re ...

, only managing one

appearance during two seasons, a 3–3 away draw against

Atlético Madrid Club Atlético de Madrid, S.A.D. (; meaning "Athletic Club of Madrid"), known simply as Atleti in the Spanish-speaking world and commonly referred to at international level as Atlético Madrid, is a Spanish professional football club based i ...

as Real were already crowned league champions. He subsequently signed with

CD Logroñés Club Deportivo Logroñés, S.A.D. was a Spanish football team based in Logroño, in the autonomous community of La Rioja. Founded in 1940, it last played in '' Regional Preferente de La Rioja''. Due to financial problems, since 2009 the club h ...

, being instrumental as the modest Riojan club consistently managed to retain its top-flight status. When

Andoni Zubizarreta Andoni Zubizarreta Urreta (, ; born 23 October 1961) is a Spanish former professional footballer who played as a goalkeeper. The all-time most capped player for the Spain national team for several years, he played with individual and team succ ...

left for

Valencia CF Valencia Club de Fútbol (, ca-valencia, València Club de Futbol ), commonly referred to as Valencia CF (or simply Valencia) is a professional football club based in Valencia, Spain, that currently plays in La Liga, the top flight of the Spa ...

in 1994, Lopetegui joined

FC Barcelona Futbol Club Barcelona (), commonly referred to as Barcelona and colloquially known as Barça (), is a professional football club based in Barcelona, Catalonia, Spain, that competes in La Liga, the top flight of Spanish football. Found ...

, battling – and losing – for first-choice status with longtime understudy

Carles Busquets Carles Busquets Barroso (; born 19 July 1967) is a Spanish former professional footballer who played as a goalkeeper, mostly for Barcelona. Club career Born in Barcelona, Catalonia, Busquets was a FC Barcelona graduate who joined from neighbou ...

. After the

Catalans Catalans (Catalan, French and Occitan: ''catalans''; es, catalanes, Italian: ''catalani'', sc, cadelanos) are a Romance ethnic group native to Catalonia, who speak Catalan. The current official category of "Catalans" is that of the citize ...

bought

FC Porto Futebol Clube do Porto, MHIH, OM (), commonly known as FC Porto or simply Porto, is a Portuguese professional sports club based in Porto. It is best known for the professional football team playing in the Primeira Liga, the top flight of Port ...

Vítor Baía Vítor Manuel Martins Baía, OIH (; born 15 October 1969) is a Portuguese retired footballer who played as a goalkeeper. One of the most decorated goalkeepers of all time, his career was intimately connected with FC Porto, which he started re ...

he was further demoted to third string, and returned to

Madrid Madrid ( , ) is the capital and most populous city of Spain. The city has almost 3.4 million inhabitants and a metropolitan area population of approximately 6.7 million. It is the second-largest city in the European Union (EU), and ...

with

club

in 1997. Lopetegui was a starter in his first two seasons at Rayo, culminating with their play-off final win over

CF Extremadura Club de Fútbol Extremadura was a Spanish football team based in Almendralejo, in the autonomous community of Extremadura. Founded in 1924, it played two seasons in La Liga, and held home games at '' Estadio Francisco de la Hera'', with a capa ...

in June 1999. After returning to the top tier he lost his place to American international

Kasey Keller Kasey C. Keller (born November 29, 1969) is an American former professional soccer player who played in Europe and the United States, as well as being the starting goalkeeper for the U.S. national team. He is a four-time FIFA World Cup partici ...

and then Imanol Etxeberria; he played 36 top-flight games from

1999 File:1999 Events Collage.png, From left, clockwise: The funeral procession of King Hussein of Jordan in Amman; the 1999 İzmit earthquake kills over 17,000 people in Turkey; the Columbine High School massacre, one of the first major school shoot ...

2002 File:2002 Events Collage.png, From left, clockwise: The 2002 Winter Olympics are held in Salt Lake City; Queen Elizabeth The Queen Mother and her daughter Princess Margaret, Countess of Snowdon die; East Timor gains East Timor independence, indepe ...

. He was nonetheless favoured for the team's run to the quarter-finals of the

UEFA Cup A cup is an open-top used to hold hot or cold liquids for pouring or drinking; while mainly used for drinking, it also can be used to store solids for pouring (e.g., sugar, flour, grains, salt). Cups may be made of glass, metal, china, clay ...

in 2000–01, where they were eliminated by compatriots Deportivo Alavés. He retired at the age of 36.

International

Lopetegui's performances at Logroñés earned him his sole

cap A cap is a flat headgear, usually with a visor. Caps have crowns that fit very close to the head. They made their first appearance as early as 3200 BC. Caps typically have a visor, or no brim at all. They are popular in casual and informal se ...

with

, coming on as a substitute for Zubizarreta for the final 30 minutes of a 0–2 friendly loss to

Croatia , image_flag = Flag of Croatia.svg , image_coat = Coat of arms of Croatia.svg , anthem = " Lijepa naša domovino"("Our Beautiful Homeland") , image_map = , map_caption = , capi ...

Valencia Valencia ( va, València) is the capital of the autonomous community of Valencia and the third-most populated municipality in Spain, with 791,413 inhabitants. It is also the capital of the province of the same name. The wider urban area al ...

, on 23 March 1994. He was subsequently picked for the squad at that year's

FIFA World Cup The FIFA World Cup, often simply called the World Cup, is an international association football competition contested by the senior men's national teams of the members of the ' ( FIFA), the sport's global governing body. The tournament ha ...

Coaching career

Beginnings

Lopetegui was one of

Spain , image_flag = Bandera de España.svg , image_coat = Escudo de España (mazonado).svg , national_motto = ''Plus ultra'' (Latin)(English: "Further Beyond") , national_anthem = (English: "Royal March") , i ...

coach

Juan Santisteban Juan Santisteban Troyano (born 8 December 1936) is a Spanish retired Association football, football midfielder and Coach (sport), manager. Honours Player ;Real Madrid *Intercontinental Cup (football), Intercontinental Cup: 1960 Intercontinental ...

's assistants at the

2003 UEFA European Under-17 Championship The 2003 UEFA European Under-17 Championship was the second edition of UEFA's UEFA European Under-17 Championship. Portugal hosted the championship, during 7–17 May. The format of the competition changed, and only 8 teams entered the competition ...

. After the tournament, he had his first head coaching spell at Rayo, with the club in the second level, but was sacked after the tenth match of the 2003–04 campaign, which ended in relegation to

division three The Football League Third Division was the third tier of the English football league system in 1920–21 and again from 1958 until 1992. When the FA Premier League was formed, the division become the fourth tier level. In 2004, following the fo ...

. After working as a sports commentator, including for

LaSexta La Sexta (; "The Sixth"; stylized as laSexta) is a Spanish free-to-air television channel. It is privately owned and was originally founded on 18 March 2001 as Beca TV that began broadcasting on 1 April 2001, that same year. By 21 July 2003, the ...

in the

2006 FIFA World Cup The 2006 FIFA World Cup, also branded as Germany 2006, was the 18th FIFA World Cup, the quadrennial international football world championship tournament. It was held from 9 June to 9 July 2006 in Germany, which had won the right to host th ...

, he returned to coaching, with Real Madrid Castilla, who he played for in the 1980s, now in the third tier. From 2010 to 2014, Lopetegui worked with the Spanish youth teams, winning the 2012 European Under-19 Championship and the 2013 Under-21 Championship. He left the Royal Spanish Football Federation on 30 April 2014, following the expiration of his contract.

Porto

Lopetegui returned to club duties on 6 May 2014, being appointed at Portugal's FC Porto. He signed seven Spanish players to the club that summer. In his first season at the

Estádio do Dragão The Estádio do Dragão (; English: Dragon Stadium) is an All-seater stadium, all-seater Association football, football stadium in Porto, Portugal, and the home ground of FC Porto since 2003. It has a seating capacity of 50,033, making it the Lis ...

, with the club's biggest budget ever, Lopetegui led them to the quarter-finals of the

UEFA Champions League The UEFA Champions League (abbreviated as UCL, or sometimes, UEFA CL) is an annual club football competition organised by the Union of European Football Associations (UEFA) and contested by top-division European clubs, deciding the competi ...

, where they equalled the club's biggest defeat in European competitions losing 6–1 against FC Bayern Munich (having lost by the same score to

AEK Athens FC AEK FC ( el, ΠΑΕ A.E.K. ; Αθλητική Ένωσις Κωνσταντινουπόλεως; ''Athlitikí Énosis Konstantinoupόleos'', meaning ''Athletic Union of Constantinople'') is a Greek professional football club based in Nea Filad ...

in 1978). He failed to win any silverware, contributing to the longest drought during

Jorge Nuno Pinto da Costa Jorge Nuno de Lima Pinto da Costa (; born 28 December 1937) is the president of Portuguese sports club FC Porto since 1982. He is the president with most titles won (66) and most days in charge in world football. He was involved in the Portugue ...

's presidency. On 8 January 2016, after a 1–3 home loss to

C.S. Marítimo Club Sport Marítimo MH M, commonly known as Marítimo ( locally ), is a Portuguese sports club founded in Funchal, Madeira, in 1910. Marítimo is best known for its football team playing in Portugal's top-flight competition, the Primeira Lig ...

in the Taça da Liga, as Porto had already been eliminated from the Champions League and was ranked third in the domestic league after an away loss and a home draw, Lopetegui was relieved of his duties and replaced by

Rui Barros Rui Gil Soares de Barros (born 24 November 1965) is a Portuguese former professional footballer who played as an attacking midfielder, currently a manager. He played with success in Portugal (at Porto), Italy – at Juventus – and France (tw ...

. A week later, the club announced that it had terminated the former's contract unilaterally.

Spain

On 21 July 2016, after being strongly linked to English side

which was under new ownership, Lopetegui was announced as the new manager of the Spain national team following

Vicente del Bosque Vicente del Bosque González, 1st Marquess of Del Bosque (; born 23 December 1950) is a Spanish retired football manager and former player. He is regarded as one of the greatest managers of all time and is to date the only football manager to ha ...

's retirement. In his first match in charge, on 1 September, he led them to a 2–0 friendly victory over

Belgium Belgium, ; french: Belgique ; german: Belgien officially the Kingdom of Belgium, is a country in Northwestern Europe. The country is bordered by the Netherlands to the north, Germany to the east, Luxembourg to the southeast, France to th ...

at the King Baudouin Stadium; the nation qualified for the

, winning nine and drawing one of their group matches. On 12 June 2018, with the team already in Russia for the tournament, it was announced that Lopetegui would take over as the head coach of Real Madrid on a three-year contract after the conclusion of Spain's involvement at the World Cup. The following day, he was dismissed from his job with the national team and replaced by

Fernando Hierro Fernando Ruiz Hierro (; born 23 March 1968) is a Spanish football manager and former player who played as a centre-back, sweeper or defensive midfielder. He is the current sporting director of Liga MX club C.D. Guadalajara. He won five L ...

Real Madrid

Lopetegui's first competitive game in charge took place on 15 August 2018, in a 4–2 loss to rivals

in the

UEFA Super Cup The UEFA Super Cup is an annual super cup football match organised by UEFA and contested by the winners of the two main European club competitions; the UEFA Champions League and UEFA Europa League. The competition's official name was original ...

after extra time. He thus became the second Real manager to start his tenure by conceding four goals, after Englishman

Michael Keeping Alexander Edwin Michael Keeping (22 August 1902 – 28 March 1984) was an English footballer and manager. He coached Real Madrid CF from January 1948 to October 1950. His father was the Olympic medal winning cyclist Frederick Keeping. Playing ca ...

who began in 1948 being downed 4–1 by RC Celta de Vigo. Following a string of bad results and, ultimately, a 5–1 away defeat to Barcelona in ''

El Clásico El Clásico or el clásico (; ca, El Clàssic, ; ) is the name given to any football match between rival clubs FC Barcelona and Real Madrid. Originally referring to competitions held in the Spanish championship, the term now includes every m ...

'' on 28 October 2018, Lopetegui was fired a day later, being replaced by Santiago Solari.

Sevilla

On 5 June 2019, Lopetegui was appointed as the new

Sevilla FC Sevilla Fútbol Club () is a Spanish professional football club based in Seville, the capital and largest city of the autonomous community of Andalusia, Spain. It plays in Spanish football's top flight, La Liga. Sevilla have won the UEFA E ...

manager on a three-year contract. In his first year, they finished fourth to qualify for the Champions League, and on 21 August they defeated

Inter Milan Football Club Internazionale Milano, commonly referred to as Internazionale () or simply Inter, and colloquially known as Inter Milan in English-speaking countries, is an Italian professional football club based in Milan, Lombardy. Inter is ...

3–2 in the

2020 UEFA Europa League Final The 2020 UEFA Europa League Final was the final match of the 2019–20 UEFA Europa League, the 49th season of Europe's secondary club football tournament organised by UEFA, and the 11th season since it was renamed from the UEFA Cup to the UEFA Eur ...

, his first club honour. Lopetegui agreed to a further two-year extension on 10 January 2021. On 5 October 2022, however, following five losses in eight matches in the new season – the last being 4–1 at home against

Borussia Dortmund Ballspielverein Borussia 09 e. V. Dortmund, commonly known as Borussia Dortmund (), BVB (), or simply Dortmund (), is a German professional sports club based in Dortmund, North Rhine-Westphalia. It is best known for its men's professional fo ...

in the Champions League – he was dismissed.

Wolverhampton Wanderers

After leaving Sevilla, Lopetegui was interviewed by Wolverhampton, who had recenlty dismissed

Bruno Lage Bruno Miguel Silva do Nascimento (born 12 May 1976), known as Bruno Lage (), is a Portuguese football manager who most recently was the head coach of Premier League club Wolverhampton Wanderers. During his short tenure as coach of Benfica in P ...

, but he initially turned down the offer due to his 92-year-old father's ill health. He was approached again and, on 5 November 2022, announced he would become the club's new head coach effective 14 November. On his competitive debut on 20 December, his team defeated EFL League Two side Gillingham 2–0 at home in the

fourth round Fourth or the fourth may refer to: * the ordinal form of the number 4 * ''Fourth'' (album), by Soft Machine, 1971 * Fourth (angle), an ancient astronomical subdivision * Fourth (music), a musical interval * ''The Fourth'' (1972 film), a Sovie ...

of the EFL Cup; this put them into the last eight for the first time since 1995–96. Six days later, on his

bow, they won 2–1 at Everton with a last-minute Rayan Aït-Nouri goal, and the manager thereby became the first at the club to win their first league match since

John Barnwell John Barnwell (born 24 December 1938) is an English former football player and manager. He was the chief executive of the League Managers Association. Career Arsenal Born in Newcastle, Barnwell first played as an amateur for Whitley Bay and ...

in 1978.

Managerial statistics

Honours

Player

Real Madrid *

: 1989–90 Barcelona * Supercopa de España:

1994 File:1994 Events Collage.png, From left, clockwise: The 1994 Winter Olympics are held in Lillehammer, Norway; The Kaiser Permanente building after the 1994 Northridge earthquake; A model of the MS Estonia, which sank in the Baltic Sea; Nelson ...

, 1996 Spain U20 *

FIFA World Youth Championship The FIFA U-20 World Cup is the biennial football world championship tournament for FIFA members’ men's national teams with players under the age of 20. The competition has been staged every two years since the inaugural tournament in 1977 wh ...

runner-up:

1985 The year 1985 was designated as the International Youth Year by the United Nations. Events January * January 1 ** The Internet's Domain Name System is created. ** Greenland withdraws from the European Economic Community as a result of a ...

Manager

Real Madrid *

runner-up:

2018 File:2018 Events Collage.png, From top left, clockwise: The 2018 Winter Olympics opening ceremony in PyeongChang, South Korea; Protests erupt following the Assassination of Jamal Khashoggi; March for Our Lives protests take place across the Unit ...

Sevilla *

UEFA Europa League The UEFA Europa League (abbreviated as UEL, or sometimes, UEFA EL), formerly the UEFA Cup, is an annual football club competition organised since 1971 by the Union of European Football Associations (UEFA) for eligible European football clubs. ...

: 2019–20 *UEFA Super Cup runner-up:

2020 2020 was heavily defined by the COVID-19 pandemic, which led to global social and economic disruption, mass cancellations and postponements of events, worldwide lockdowns and the largest economic recession since the Great Depression in t ...

Spain U19 *

UEFA European Under-19 Championship The UEFA European Under-19 Championship, or simply UEFA Under-19 Championship or the UEFA Euro U-19, is an annual football competition contested by the European men's under-19 national teams of the member associations of UEFA. Spain and England ...

2012 File:2012 Events Collage V3.png, From left, clockwise: The passenger cruise ship Costa Concordia lies capsized after the Costa Concordia disaster; Damage to Casino Pier in Seaside Heights, New Jersey as a result of Hurricane Sandy; People gat ...

Spain U21 *

UEFA European Under-21 Championship The UEFA European Under-21 Championship, the UEFA Under-21 Championship or simply the Euro Under-21, is a biennial football competition contested by the European men's under-21 national teams of the UEFA member associations. Since 1992, the comp ...

2013 File:2013 Events Collage V2.png, From left, clockwise: Edward Snowden becomes internationally famous for leaking classified NSA wiretapping information; Typhoon Haiyan kills over 6,000 in the Philippines and Southeast Asia; The Dhaka garment fa ...

References

External links

* * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Lopetegui, Julen 1966 births Living people People from Tolosaldea Spanish footballers Footballers from the Basque Country (autonomous community) Association football goalkeepers La Liga players Segunda División players Real Madrid Castilla footballers Real Madrid CF players UD Las Palmas players CD Logroñés footballers FC Barcelona players Rayo Vallecano players Spain under-21 international footballers Spain international footballers 1994 FIFA World Cup players Basque Country international footballers Spanish football managers La Liga managers Segunda División managers Segunda División B managers Rayo Vallecano managers Real Madrid Castilla managers Real Madrid CF managers Sevilla FC managers Primeira Liga managers FC Porto managers Premier League managers Wolverhampton Wanderers F.C. managers UEFA Europa League winning managers Spain national under-21 football team managers Spain national football team managers Spanish expatriate football managers Expatriate football managers in Portugal Expatriate football managers in England Spanish expatriate sportspeople in Portugal Spanish expatriate sportspeople in England