The figure of Marcelo Bielsa is one of those who do not seem to admit indifference. It seems impossible for someone who likes football not to have a formed opinion, for better or worse, about El Loco, Uruguay’s coach in the 2026 World Cup. And this covers both what their teams generate on the field of play and their off-field behaviors, which tend to be out of the ordinary.
Is it daring to assure that A good part of those crossed passions that Bielsa awakens were born from the performances of his teams in the World Cups.? Perhaps a clue to find out is to remember what the Rosario coach meant to football before he had his baptism at the big event. The one in which one day he had to suffer the biggest disappointment of his professional life.
Like other great Argentine soccer coaches, Marcelo Bielsa managed to make a name for himself very soon after starting his career in the First Division. In 1982, at just 26 years old and after a forgettable and brief career as a footballer, He began his journey as a coach in the youth divisions of Newell’s. They were some of the best years of the Rosario club’s youth team, with the birth, among others, of Gabriel Batistuta, Abel Balbo, Mauricio Pocchetino, Fernando Gamboa and Eduardo Berizzo.
In 1990, Bielsa had already gathered enough merit to become coach of the seniors, although he had no experience in First Division and the club had hired Jorge Castelliwhich had just promoted Atlanta to the second division. Bielsa convinced Profe to take over as a physical trainer – a role he had played in the very successful Boca del Toto Lorenzo in the 70s, among other teams – and together they became champions in the first experienceby winning the Apertura that year and then beating Boca in the final of the 1990/91 championship. At that point, everyone in Argentina knew Bielsa as El Loco. And it escaped no one’s attention that he feared significant possibilities of leaving a big mark on football.
The years passed, new consecrations with Newell’s – with which he also reached the final of the 1992 Libertadores – and Vélez, steps through Mexican and Spanish football, and finally the foreseeable arrival to the Argentine national team. Thus began a stage in which those who knew him and admired his results began to know him in greater depth: to see his particular ways with the press, which he only attended in conferences, without privileges for journalists due to the greater or lesser power they wielded; to appreciate his particular relationship with people, which combined news from youth division coaches whom El Loco contacted for hours to learn about their experience and at the same time fleeting glances at the general public. And they also knew their quarrels and what many would consider whims.
Bielsa’s frustration with Argentina in the 2002 World Cup
In the midst of all that, He safely took Argentina to the 2002 World Cupwith a classification obtained several dates from the end. Perhaps those great results meant that his strange decision not to include in the call Javier Saviola, who had just been transferred from River to Barcelona for 36 million euros, nor Juan Román Riquelme, a huge Boca figure who had just been two-time champion of the Copa Libertadores, did not arouse so much controversy.
At the time of the World Cupthat team that brought together stars like Batistuta, Verón, Samuel, Pochettino, Simeone and Ortega would take one of the worst blows in its history. Despite having debuted with a 1-0 victory against Nigeria, he was very compromised when he lost by the same result in the second presentation, in a very special match against England. Emotionally beaten and without the football responses that he had shown earlier in the Bielsa cycle, he could not get the victory he needed in the last match against Sweden. The final 1-1 score left El Loco in the middle of a hurricane of reproaches, in a country that never had patience for football frustrations and that was also going through the aftermath of a very harsh economic crisis that had detonated months before.
Elimination in the group stage -first that Argentina suffered since Chile 1962- It seemed like a point of no return for the Rosario cycle. It was one of the highest moments of controversy around Bielsa, between those who defended him for his convictions and the good results obtained before the World Cup, and those who labeled him a “failure” due to his early elimination. He himself, in some way, took charge years later of that nickname when assure that he had been “the protagonist of the biggest failure in the history of the National Team”. However, Julio Grondona decided to renew the credit and continue the relationship, which continued until 2004 when it was Bielsa whoafter winning the gold medal at the Athens Olympic Games -one of the few titles that Argentine football was missing- decided to resignciting “lack of energy.”
Bielsa’s Chile, the revelation of South Africa 2010
Germany passed 2006, with Bielsa out of the loop, until accepted the call to take charge of the Chilean teamwho was looking to return to the World Cups after being left out of the previous two. That first objective was more than met, while his native Argentina, with Diego Maradona on the substitute bench, suffered until the last date and benefited precisely from the victory of an already qualified Chile against Ecuador.
The Red that the Argentine drove arrived in South Africa 2010 praised from different parts of the world for his proposal but also for his good results, well above the historical average of the team. In that Cup, Chile beat both Honduras and Switzerland 1-0 in the group stage, in what were their first World Cup wins away from home in no less than 60 years. They qualified despite losing 2-1 on the third round against Spain, who would later become champions, but now In the round of 16 they were clearly surpassed by Brazil, who beat them 3-0 and put an end to the adventure.
It gave the impression that that Chile of Arturo Vidal, Gary Medel and Alexis Sánchez among other great figures was for more, but that the fixture had set the bar too high by crossing it with the green and yellow. Good feelings ruled at that time, but In 2011 Bielsa gave the surprise again by slamming the doordissatisfied with a change in the country’s soccer leadership.
After Chile, Bielsa was finally able to gain experience in Europe. Athletic Bilbao, Olympique Marseille and Leeds were some of the clubs where he left his mark. It aroused new praise and new detractors also appeared. And after so much hustle and bustle, In 2023 he accepted the proposal to lead the Uruguay team.
Uruguay, the third opportunity for Bielsa in the World Cup
In that Celeste that seeks to recover the glory of times past, Bielsa’s cycle recorded high points that generated enormous excitement for one of the most football-loving towns in the world. In the Qualifiers, they defeated the two giants of South America: Brazil in Montevideo and the world champion Argentina in no less than Buenos Aires..
But with the passage of time, the level of the team and the results declined. Criticisms appeared like that of Luis Suárez, who questioned his leadership and they damaged a ship that was going relatively peacefully. Without the ship having been completely stabilized, Bielsa remains in charge even despite painful falls like the recent 5-1 that Uruguay suffered at the hands of the United States. This is how the Loco team will arrive at this World Cup, which will be their third great opportunity.
There is a concrete chance in this World Cup to soon cross paths with Argentina, if Uruguay finishes second in its group and the current champions remain leaders, or vice versa. For Bielsathe same one that at times seems beyond everything, There will be the great possibility of a revenge in the soccer tournament that everyone watches and in which a great performance is due.
One thing is certain: between those who want his joy and those who enjoy his setbacks, no one will be able to take his eyes off him again.
