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A certain Slaven Bilic could become the third former West Ham manager coaching at the 2026 World Cup.
The 57-year-old has been out of work since leaving Al Fateh in 2024 but is in talks to move back into international management for the first time since 2012.
Bilic was linked with a move back to West Ham earlier this year but current head coach Nuno Espirito Santo managed to turn things around.
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Bilic is a popular figure here in east London after a successful time in charge of West Ham United between 2015 and 2017.
According to Joy Sports, Bilic is in fact in talks with the Ghanaian FA over the prospect of taking the Black Stars into the World Cup this summer.
Choose between club and country… 🤔
Photo by Alex Pantling/Getty Images
Ghana have endured a miserable time of things in recent years and Bilic is reportedly among the options they are considering turning to ahead of the tournament.
Interestingly, Ghana will play Bilic’s native Croatia, as well as England in their World Cup group.
If he were to take the job, it would seem unlikely that Bilic would be able to call on former West Ham star Mohammed Kudus.
Kudus, who joined Tottenham last summer, has suffered a setback in his recovery following a quad injury and is reportedly a relative doubt for the World Cup.
Photo by Charlie Crowhurst/Getty ImagesGraham Potter and Julen Lopetegui also set to manage at the World Cup
The two managers prior to Nuno’s arrival are also gearing up for this summer’s showpiece event.
Graham Potter, of course, guided Sweden to the World Cup this summer through the play-offs.
His predecessor in the form of Julen Lopetegui, meanwhile, is in charge of Qatar.
Lopetegui was supposed to take Spain into the 2018 World Cup but was infamously sacked in the build-up to the tournament when it emerged that he had held talks with Real Madrid.
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