Sebastien Pocognoli is on the brink of being named Scotland’s first foreign boss in more than 20 years.
The 39-year-old Belgian has held extensive negotiations with SFA CEO Ian Maxwell and chief football officer Craig Mulholland and his appointment is expected to be confirmed in the coming days.
Pocognoli was head coach of Belgian side Union St Gilloise when they won their first title in 90 years in 2025 and then had a short-lived spell as manager of French outfit Monaco.
He will become the national side’s first overseas head coach since German Berti Vogts, who left in November 2004 after less than two years at the helm.
Pocognoli won 13 caps for the Belgian national side during a 17-year playing career that saw him enjoy spells in his homeland, the Netherlands, Germany and England, where he turned out for West Bromwich Albion and Brighton.
Sebastien Pocognoli has managed Union St Gilloise and Monaco
He hung up his boots in 2021 and moved into the coaching set-up at Union St Gilloise to work with their Under-21s.
Pocognoli then moved on to former club Genk to take charge of their Under-18s before returning to Union St Gilloise as boss in 2024. In his debut season, he led the Tony Bloom-backed outfit to that historic title.
He was named Manager of the Year and landed a plum job at Monaco in October, but his time there lasted only eight months with Brazilian Filipe Luis being brought in as his replacement with the team lying seventh in Ligue One.
Pocognoli is known to favour an aggressive high-pressing style and likes his sides to be strong on transitions. He has frequently operated with a 3-4-1-2 or 3-5-2 set-up.
His impending appointment marks a bold and ambitious end to the search for Steve Clarke’s successor following the former national coach’s decision to resign after failing to make it through the group stage at the World Cup in the summer.
The SFA are understood to have employed the use of data analytics in their endeavours to decide on a preferred candidate – with Pocognoli showing up well on the metrics they were focusing on.
He is a free agent after leaving Monaco and is free to begin work immediately in preparation for Scotland’s Nations League double-header away to Slovenia and at home to Switzerland at the end of next month.
