The key facts

  • Cannavaro named working with the Italy national team as his career goal
  • He assessed his experience at Udinese as valuable despite the contract extension not happening
  • Under his leadership Uzbekistan played at the 2026 World Cup without earning a single point

Cannavaro named his main coaching goal

Uzbekistan national team head coach Fabio Cannavaro said that his career goal is to lead the Italy national team. He spoke about this in an interview with Sky Sport Italia, which both publications cite Daryo.uz — the Uzbek-language and Russian-language versions were published on November 7, 2026, with identical content.

“I work for this, I don’t just travel around the world”

“My goal and dream is to lead the Italy national team. I work for this, I don’t just travel around the world. I want to work hard to reach important heights,” Daryo.uz quotes Cannavaro. The 53-year-old specialist also returned to his spell in Serie A, where he took charge of Udinese for six matches in an attempt to save the club from relegation. According to him, in 99% of such cases the coach’s contract is extended, but in his situation a different decision was made. Cannavaro admitted he was not happy with that outcome, yet called that period a valuable experience gained “at a wonderful club where all conditions are created for a coach’s development.”

Context of his work in Uzbekistan

Cannavaro took charge of the Uzbekistan national team in October 2025. Under his leadership, the team played at the World Cup for the first time in 2026, where in a group with Portugal, Colombia and DR Congo it failed to earn a single point and finished last. Currently, according to the publication, the “White Wolves” continue preparing for the 2027 Asian Cup. Cannavaro made his statement about the dream of leading Italy while remaining the current coach of the Uzbekistan national team; the publications report no personnel changes.