Francesco Farioli Officially Appointed as New FC Porto Head Coach
Italian manager Francesco Farioli has been confirmed as the new head coach of FC Porto, signing a two-year deal that will keep him at the club until the end of the 2026/27 season. The club made the announcement via an official statement sent to the market regulator, addressing fans, members, and the public.
Farioli, 36, takes over from Martín Anselmi, who departed just days after Porto’s disappointing group-stage exit in the Club World Cup held in the United States. The new coach will be formally introduced during a presentation at the José Maria Pedroto auditorium in Estádio do Dragão.
Farioli began his football journey as a goalkeeping coach in Italy’s lower leagues, later working at Benevento, Sassuolo, and in Qatar. His head coaching career started at Turkish club Karagümrük in the 2020/21 season, followed by a stint at Alanyaspor. In 2023, he moved to France, managing Nice to a fifth-place finish in Ligue 1 and a Europa League spot, although they exited the French Cup in the quarter-finals.
Last season, he took over at Dutch giants Ajax. Despite leading the league for most of the campaign, Ajax lost momentum late in the season and were overtaken by PSV in the final rounds, finishing just one point behind. The team also exited early in both the Dutch Cup and Europa League.
Farioli replaces Anselmi after Porto’s underwhelming Club World Cup performance, where they managed only two points from three matches—drawing with Palmeiras and Al Ahly, and losing to Inter Miami—making them the lowest-performing European team in the tournament.
