Sebastien Pocognoli has been appointed as Scotland Men’s National Team Manager until 2028.
Pocognoli’s arrival comes after a lengthy recruitment process following Steve Clarke’s resignation in the wake of Scotland’s group-stage exit at the World Cup, having failed to finish amongst the eight best third-placed finishers.
Pocognoli is only the second non-Scottish manager to take up the role after Germany’s Berti Vogts between 2002-04, and his first match in charge will be away to Slovenia on 26 September in UEFA Nations League B, followed by his first home match on 29 September against Switzerland.
The 39-year-old Belgian has described the position as a privilege to take up and chance to experience being backed by the infamous Tartan Army supporters, whilst vowing to build on Clarke’s legacy.
“It’s an honour to be asked to become the Head Coach of the Scotland National Team.
“When I first heard of the interest, I was immediately excited about the opportunity. Scotland’s supporters are famous for their passion – most recently at the World Cup in the USA – and I have experienced it myself as a player for Belgium when we played in 2013.
“Along with my coaching staff, I will do everything I can to give them a team to be proud of and build on the success that has been achieved already by my predecessor.
“Since negotiations began, I have been doing a lot of research, asking a lot of questions and looking at areas that we can build on. I am hugely excited by the prospect and look forward to working with the players to achieve even more success.
“We don’t have long until the first camp, so the coming weeks will be spent preparing for the UEFA Nations League and putting those plans into action on the training pitch when we meet up next month.”
Scottish FA Chief Executive, Ian Maxwell added that the board “are delighted” to appoint Pocognoli as manager, having considered him the best candidate in the process.
“He was the standout candidate from a thorough process: a very impressive individual, with a real desire to take on the role and a clear vision for how he wants to go about it.
“Sébastien inherits a talented squad who just took us to a first FIFA World Cup in 28 years, and I’d like to reiterate my thanks to Steve Clarke and his staff for their work and the foundations they’ve put in place.
“I’m excited to see how we build on that ahead of a new UEFA Nations League campaign.”
Born in Belgium, Pocognoli enjoyed a 17-year career which included spells on British soil at Brighton and West Brom in a career in which he scored 13 goals in 360 career appearances across seven clubs, whilst he has also achieved 13 international caps for Belgium.
His achievements as a player included Eredivisie and Johan Cruyff titles with AZ Alkmaar in 2009 and 2017-18 Belgian Cup with Standard Liege.
He subsequently moved into coaching and led Union Saint-Gilloise to 2024 Belgian Super Cup plus 2024-25 Belgian Pro League titles, before he joined Monaco in October 2025 but was sacked on 1 June this year after they finished seventh in Ligue 1.
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