Antonio Conte set to leave Napoli at the end of the season: Is he in contention to return as Italy manager?
The Italian head coach will leave the Azzurri after the last match of the Serie A season
By
Francesco Porzio
May 19, 2026
at
12:05 pm ET
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1 min read
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It’s over between Antonio Conte and Napoli as the Italian coach will step down at the end of the current season for personal reasons. The 56-year-old will not be on the bench of the Italian club next season despite a contract running until the summer 2027, CBS Sports understands, after winning one Serie A title with Napoli during the 2024-25 season and one Supercoppa Italian during the current campaign. Conte will now be available to clubs across Europe, but he remains the leading candidate for the Italy job ahead of the Italian FA presidential election on June 22.
Conte had a strong impact at Napoli, after taking the job in the summer of 2024, following a disappointing season for the club. In one year, Conte was able to bring the club back to success and won the 2024-25 Scudetto, also thanks to some financial investments that made it possible, most notably the addition of Scott McTominay and Romelu Lukaku. At the same time, Napoli were able to focus exclusively on domestic competition in his first season, having failed to qualify for any European tournament the previous campaign, one year after winning the title under Luciano Spalletti.
The second season proved more challenging, as injuries and the demands of the Champions League took their toll on Napoli’s Serie A campaign, preventing them from keeping pace with Inter. Conte decided to step back from his duties more than a month ago. As he stated before the last Serie A game to DAZN, “The President knows what I will do, he knows that since at least one month.”
Conte is now considered one of the leading candidates for the Italian national team job, after the Azzurri failed to qualify for the third time in a row for the World Cup, marking the lowest point in the history of the national team. Conte will have to wait at least until June 22, when the Italian FA elects its new president. The two candidates are former FIGC president Gianluca Abete and former Italian National Olympic Committee president Giovanni Malagò.
Conte was already the Italy manager from 2014 to 2016, leading the Azzurri at the 2016 UEFA Euro, only losing to Germany on penalties in the quarterfinals. Whoever wins the election will have the opportunity to reappoint Conte as Italy’s next head coach, an opportunity that shouldn’t be missed.
