World Cup: Otto Rehhagel's record broken twice on opening day
| Molly Darlington/Getty Images |
South Africa's Belgian coach Hugo Broos and Czechia’s Miroslav Koubek broke Otto Rehhagel's record of oldest World Cup coach in space of a few hours. The latter is now the record holder until Dick Advocaat's Curaçao face Germany on Sunday.
The German Rehhagel previously held the record when he coached Greece at the age of 71 in the 2010 World Cup. Broos, 74, overtook that as he was in the dugout in the opening fixture of the 2026 World Cup against co-hosts Mexico. Hours later, Koubek broke the record once again by 221 days in the duel with South Korea.
Both coaches lost their opening fixtures before facing each other on the second matchday next week. Before then, the record is expected to be broken for the third time as Dick Advocaat set to coach Curaçao at the age of 78 against Germany.
After guiding them to their first-ever World Cup, the Dutch stepped down from the position before reversing his decision last month. Argentine manager Juan José Tramutola still holds the record for the youngest coach as he led them to reach the inaugural final in 1930 at the age of 27.
