Queiroz has won several awards as a coach at junior levels, and has been successful at senior and club levels, mainly as Alex Ferguson's assistant manager. In 1998, he authored theQ-Report, which detailed plans to enhance footballer development in the United States.
Queiroz is the longest-servingmanager in the history of the Iran national team, serving for almost eight years between 2011 and 2019. He returned to the role for Iran's 2022 World Cup campaign. He is the only manager in the country's history to lead them at three consecutive World Cups. Since 2022, he had a brief spell as coach of Qatar before being appointed by Oman in July 2025.
In 1984, Queiroz was appointed as assistant manager ofEstoril-Praia. After that, Queiroz was appointedsenior national team coach in 1991. He had a record of 14 wins in 31 matches.[7] Afterwards, he went on to manage the PortuguesePrimeira Divisão teamSporting CP in 1994.
He subsequently coached theNY/NJ MetroStars in the United States and the Japanese team,Nagoya Grampus Eight. In between, he found time to author theQ-Report, detailing plans to professionalize the development of footballers in the United States. Queiroz returned to coaching national teams in 1999, when he took the job as head coach of theUnited Arab Emirates, before becoming head coach ofSouth Africa in 2000. Under Queiroz, South Africa qualified for the2002 FIFA World Cup, but Queiroz resigned in March 2002 before the finals, after falling out with theSouth African Football Association.[8] Queiroz was part of FIFA XI coaching staff, alongside BrazilianCarlos Alberto Parreira, in a humanitarian friendly match played inwar-torn Sarajevo againstBosnia and Herzegovina on 25 April 2000.[9]
Queiroz became a coach at English club Manchester United in June 2002. He began his work at the start of the2002–03 season, working alongside Alex Ferguson, who had gone without an assistant manager since the departure ofSteve McClaren in the middle of 2001.[10]
Queiroz's position at Manchester United as assistant manager attracted the attention ofReal Madrid, who wanted Queiroz as their manager to replace departing managerVicente del Bosque in the summer of 2003. It was an opportunity to work withFIFA World Player of the Year award winnersZinedine Zidane,Ronaldo andLuís Figo, an opportunity that Queiroz felt unable to turn down. He was appointed on a two-year contract, only a week after the arrival of Manchester United playerDavid Beckham.[11] In the same summer, Real Madrid lost veteran defenderFernando Hierro, defensive midfielderClaude Makélélé and strikerFernando Morientes.[12]
Real Madrid got off to a good start of the2003–04 season, defeatingMallorca in theSupercopa de España.[13] By mid-season, the team topped theLa Liga table and was in contention for theCopa del Rey and theUEFA Champions League trophies. However, they lost their final five matches and finished in fourth place, withValencia winning the title. They lost theCopa del Rey final toReal Zaragoza and were eliminated from the Champions League in the quarter-finals by Morientes's new teamMonaco, after a 4–2 first leg win, ending the season with the Supercopa de España as the only trophy won, the first time in five years without a major trophy. Following ten months at theSantiago Bernabéu, Queiroz was sacked in May 2004.[14][15][12]
Queiroz returned to United as Ferguson's assistant in June 2004. Some sources noted the effect of his absence on the club's 2003–04 season, in which they came third in the league and exited early from the Champions League.[16]
Queiroz at Old Trafford during a match between Manchester United andReading on 12 August 2007
In his 2014 autobiography, UnitedcaptainRoy Keane stated that an argument with Queiroz about loyalty was one of the reasons why the Irishman quit the club in 2005.[17] Keane said duringITV's coverage of the2018 FIFA World Cup that "one of my big regrets is that I probably should have ripped his head off".[18]
Queiroz was linked with managerial roles with Portuguese sideBenfica[19] and theUnited States national team in 2006, but he remained with Manchester United to help them win the Premier League in 2007. Queiroz was often seen conducting interviews withBBC programmes, such asMatch of the Day, as at the time Alex Ferguson refused to speak with the BBC after allegations by the BBC'sPanorama programme that Ferguson's younger son Jason andPortsmouth managerHarry Redknapp had been involved in corruption regarding cuts in transfer fees. Some of Queiroz's post-match opinions on refereeing were controversial. For example, in 2008 Queiroz was – unsuccessfully – charged with improper conduct bythe Football Association after describingrefereeMartin Atkinson's performance in a match as "a disgrace".[20][21]
In late March 2008, it was reported that Benfica had, once again, approached Queiroz to become their manager and had made a formal request to Manchester United.[22] United were heavily involved in the2007–08 Premier League title race, five points clear at the top, with just seven games remaining, and also were still competing in theChampions League – being in the quarter-finals at the time of the enquiry. Queiroz did not make any public response to the approach.
Carlos Queiroz was brilliant. Just brilliant. Outstanding. An intelligent, meticulous man. He was good for me. He was a Rottweiler. He was the closest you could be to being the Manchester United manager without actually holding the title.
Following Benfica's approach, and amid rumors of an opening as the Portugal national coach, Ferguson started to push for Queiroz to be his successor as manager atOld Trafford and discouraged any possible suitors from approaching him.[24] However, rumours over the summer of 2008 continued to link Queiroz with the Portugal national team managers' role, following the departure ofLuiz Felipe Scolari.[25] On 11 July 2008, Manchester United agreed to release Queiroz from his contract, and he was appointed manager for the Portugal national team.
On 11 July 2008, it was announced that Queiroz was leaving Manchester United, having agreed to a four-year contract to become the head coach of the Portugal national team.[26][27][28][29]
Portugal struggled under his management during the qualification for the2010 World Cup. Despite kick-starting theirWorld Cup qualification campaign with a comfortable 4–0 win againstMalta inTa' Qali, Queiroz's team failed to win any of their subsequent four matches.
Home form was poor, with a 3–2 defeat toDenmark followed by 0–0 draws againstAlbania andSweden. Together with another goalless draw in Stockholm against Sweden, these results left Portugal with only six points out of a possible 15 and on the brink of missing a major international tournament for the first time since 1998. Building on an improving reliability in defence, Portugal defeated Albania in Tirana 2–1 with a late goal, tied 1–1 against Denmark on 5 September, beatHungary 1–0 and again 3–0 in the return match, and finally defeated Malta 4–0. These results, together with a defeat of Sweden to Denmark, enabled Portugal to finish the campaign second in the group with 19 points, one ahead of Sweden, and qualify for theUEFA play-offs. They played Bosnia and Herzegovina in home and away legs. Portugal won 1–0 in Lisbon and followed up with a 1–0 victory inZenica, and as a result they advanced to the finals of the2010 World Cup.
At the World Cup, Portugal drew 0–0 with theIvory Coast but then beatNorth Korea 7–0, the heaviest victory in the World Cup sinceGermany's 8–0 defeat ofSaudi Arabia in 2002. This rout virtually guaranteed Portugal passage to the second round and a second goalless draw withBrazil confirmed qualification. In the second round, they lost toSpain 1–0 and were knocked out having failed to score in three of their four World Cup matches.
Quieroz was suspended for six months by the Portuguese Anti-Doping Authority (Autoridade Antidopagem de Portugal) on 30 August 2010, when he was judged to have disrupted their pre-World Cup procedures; he had been suspended for a month by thePortuguese Football Federation (FPF) for using inappropriate language towards the testers, a lesser charge that he admitted to.[30] He was sacked by the FPF on 9 September.[31] On 23 March 2011, theCourt of Arbitration for Sport upheld his appeal against the Anti-Doping Authority, annulling his suspension.[32]
On 4 April 2011, Queiroz agreed to a two-and-a-half-year deal to coachIran until the end of the2014 World Cup in Brazil,[33] alongside goalkeeping coachDan Gaspar and assistant coachOmid Namazi.
Queiroz during Iran's group stage match against Argentina on 21 June 2014
In the fourth round, Iran were drawn withSouth Korea, Qatar,Uzbekistan, andLebanon intheir group. Queiroz made new foreign-based additions to his squad, adding players such as Reza Ghoochannejhad to his team. Iran started their fourth round of Asian qualifiers with a 1–0 win in Uzbekistan.Team Melli then drew Qatar and lost in Lebanon before defeating South Korea at the Azadi on 16 October with a goal from captainJavad Nekounam. After a 1–0 loss in Tehran against Uzbekistan, Iran defeated Qatar 1–0 inDoha and Lebanon 4–0 at home. In their last qualification match, Iran defeated South Korea 1–0 inUlsan Munsu with a goal from European-based Ghoochannejhad, resulting in theirqualification to the 2014 World Cup as group winners with 16 points. Thus, Iran became the third team that Queiroz managed to qualify for theWorld Cup, having reached the 2002 edition with South Africa and the 2010 edition with Portugal, leading the latter to a knockout stage finish.
In the opening match of the tournament on 16 June, Iran drew Nigeria 0–0, making it their first clean sheet of the FIFA World Cup.[38] In their next match, Iran wasdefeated by Argentina 1–0 with a late goal fromLionel Messi, and received praise after holding Argentina for 90 minutes while creating some attacking opportunities of their own.[39] Iran was eliminated from the tournament in their next game, a 3–1 defeat to Bosnia and Herzegovina. Iran's lone goal was scored by Reza Ghoochannejhad.[40] Based on aForbes report, his salary as an Iranian team manager was US$2,098,060 during the2014 FIFA World Cup.[41]
After the tournament, Queiroz extended his contract until the2018 World Cup.[42]
Queiroz overseeing a training session in March 2016
Iran continued their winning streak after 2014 World Cup qualification, securingqualification to the2015 Asian Cup months later as the highestrankedseed.[43] Iran qualified for the 2015 AFC Asian Cup asgroup winners, where they were the highest ranked seed.[43] Iran faced Bahrain, Qatar, and the United Arab Emirates inGroup C.
With the second highest number of fans in the tournament after hostsAustralia, the Iranians defeated Bahrain 2–0 with limited preparations.[44][45] A defensive-minded Iran then defeated Qatar 1–0 thanks to aSardar Azmoun goal before defeating the UAE by the same scoreline to reach the top of their group.[46][47]
In thequarter-finals, Iran faced underdogIraq, who they had beaten weeks prior in a friendly match. Having received a controversial red card in the first half from refereeBen Williams, Iran led a valiant effort with ten men, scoring two goals late inextra time to draw the match 3–3. In the ensuing penalty shootout, Iran lost 7–6 insudden death.[48][49][50]
On 26 April, Queiroz announced that he would continue as the manager of Iran for their 2018 World Cup campaign.[56] Iran ended their second round qualifying with a 4–0 victory against India and a 2–0 win against Oman. Iran finished top of the group with 20 points from eight games, Queiroz and his team managed to avoid defeat and remain unbeaten in the second round of World Cup qualifying. Iran was placed in Pot 1 alongside Australia for the draw of the third round of World Cup qualifying. They drew with South Korea, Uzbekistan, Qatar,China andSyria. With two games remaining, Iran qualified to the World Cup with defeating Uzbekistan at theAzadi Stadium. They became third team to qualify to the World Cup after hostRussia and Brazil.
After going undefeated in qualification, Iran beatMorocco 1–0 in their opening match of the tournament thanks to a late own goal fromAziz Bouhaddouz, but lost 1–0 toSpain in their second match. Their final match saw Queiroz come up against his home country,Portugal; after going 1–0 down, goalkeeperAlireza Beiranvand saved a penalty fromCristiano Ronaldo to give Iran hope, but they had to wait until injury time at the end of the second half for an equaliser fromKarim Ansarifard. The draw might have been enough to see Iran into the knockout phase for the first time in their history at the expense of the Spaniards, but Spain's injury-time equaliser in a 2–2 draw with Morocco meant they qualified with Portugal.[58]
On 23 September 2018, Queiroz extended his contract until the2019 AFC Asian Cup,[59][60] hoping to win Iran's first continental title since1976.[61] With wins overYemen andVietnam, and a draw with neighbours Iraq, Iran wonGroup D and progressed to theround of 16, where they met the third-placed team fromGroup F, Oman. A 2–0 win over Oman set up a quarter-final againstChina, whom they beat 3–0. However, in his 100th match in charge of Iran, the semi-final against Japan saw Queiroz's team concede their first goals of the tournament, all in the second half, losing 3–0. After the match, he leftTeam Melli.[61]
On 7 February 2019, Queiroz took over as the new manager ofColombia on a three-year contract.[62] He was the only European and African coaching a South American national team, and was the fourth European manager to be in charge of the Colombian team afterFriedrich Donnenfeld,Toza Veselinović andBlagoje Vidinić.[63] His stint with Colombia began with the2019 Copa América, where Colombia took first place with a perfect nine points, including a 2–0 win over Argentina.[64] However, Colombia was knocked out by Chile in the last eight, where Colombia was saved with two goals for Chile being disallowed but failed bitterly in the penalty shootout.[65]
Colombia also began the2022 World Cup qualifiers with hope to make it their third in a row for the second time, and Colombia appeared to be on the right path where they beat neighbor Venezuela and held Chile.[66][67] However, when matches resumed following theCOVID-19 pandemic, Colombia's performance slipped disastrously, with a 0–3 home loss to Uruguay (its worst ever home loss in 82 years) before being shockingly thrashed 1–6 by Ecuador, the biggest ever defeat, and this finally put the end to Carlos Queiroz's reign as Colombia's boss.[68][69]
At the beginning of the tournament, the Egyptian team suffered a loss against itsNigerian team in the first round of Group D of theAfrican Nations Cup.[71] Egypt defeatedGuinea Bissau with a goal scored byMohamed Salah, giving Egypt the first victory in the second round of Group D.[72] After that, Egypt defeatedSudan with a goal scored byMohamed Abdel Moneim in the match, to raise the national team’s score to 6 points in the third round of Group D, and Egypt qualified for the round of 16.[73] The Egyptian national team qualified for the quarter-finals by penalty shootout, after defeatingIvory Coast 5–4 in the round of 16.[74] In the quarter-final match, Egypt won 2–1 againstMorocco.[75] In the semi-final match, Egypt qualified for thefinal by defeating the host nationCameroon 3–1 on penalties.[76] This win marked for the first-time ever Queiroz had guided a national team into the final of a competitive football tournament. However, Queiroz could not achieve the glory when Egypt lost toSenegal after penalty shootouts.[77]
Egypt qualified for thethird round of the World Cup qualifications to face Senegal for a spot in the World Cup in Qatar. However, after a 1–0 win inCairo, and a 1–0 loss inDakar, Egypt lost again on penalties; hence, they failed to reach the final competition.[78] He later agreed with the Egyptian Football Association to terminate his contract by mutual consent.[79]
On 7 September 2022, Queiroz was rehired for a second spell as Iran coach ahead of the2022 FIFA World Cup, his third World Cup with the country. His appointment was promised as part ofMehdi Taj's successful campaign for a second spell as president of theFootball Federation Islamic Republic of Iran.[80] At the World Cup in Qatar, Iran were eliminated in the group stage, following a 6–2 loss toEngland the biggest ever defeat at the history of world cup for Iran, a 2–0 win overWales and a 1–0 defeat to theUnited States.[81][82]
The World Cup took place for Iran amidst the backdrop of theMahsa Amini protests. Queiroz said that his players had the right to protest as long as it conformed with the regulations of the tournament.[83] He took issue with BBC reporterShaimaa Khalil asking Iran playerMehdi Taremi for his opinion on the protests, and questioned her on whether she would ask the other teams in Iran's group about theBritish and American withdrawal from Afghanistan.[84]
On 6 December 2023, after twelve matches with Queiroz charge, consisting of four victories, three draws and four losses,[86] theQatar Football Association announced that his contract had been terminated by mutual agreement,[87] and he had been replaced byTintín Márquez.[88]
On 15 July 2025, Queiroz became the head coach ofOman.[89] Under his tenure, Oman failed to qualify for the2026 FIFA World Cup in a heartbreaking fashion, losing to the United Arab Emirates despite holding Qatar goalless.
Prior to the final 2014 World Cup qualification match against South Korea, Queiroz was angered by the comment made fromChoi Kang-hee, the head coach of South Korea, who complained that Iran did not provide the training facilities with sufficient qualities during South Korea's away qualification match against Iran on 17 October 2012. Choi stated that South Korea would defeat Iran to help Uzbekistan qualify for the World Cup finals with South Korea, and that Iran would have to watch the World Cup on television. In response, Queiroz severely criticized Choi in his official comments and mocked him by wearing a T-shirt displaying Choi's face.[90]
After Iran's victory against South Korea in their final qualification match, Queiroz showed his anger at the South Korean national coach with araised fist gesture, which was deemed offensive by the South Korean players and staff, almost causing a fight between the two teams.[91] As a result of the altercations,Sosha Makani wassuspended for their opening match of the 2014 World Cup.[92] Queiroz had answered previously to Choi that Iran had fairly shared what they had with the South Korean national team on their visit to Iran.[93]
^At the time of Queiroz's tenure in the United States and Japan, the result of matches could not be a draw. In the event of scores being level at the end of 90 minutes, matches would be decided by extra time and penalties.
^Okeleji, Oluwashina (23 April 2018)."77 applicants for vacant Cameroon coaching position". BBC Sport. Retrieved27 April 2018.Queiroz, 65, managed South Africa between 2000 and 2002, but has had a topsy-turvy relationship since taking over as Iran coach in 2011.