Following his appointment as West Ham United head coach, we take a photographic journey through Julen Lopetegui’s glittering career in football, that started between the sticks during his playing days.
Born in the province of Gipuzkoa, in the Basque Country, the former goalkeeper started out at Real Sociedad, before enjoying spells on the grass at Real Madrid, Las Palmas, Logroñés, Barcelona and Rayo Vallecano.
His sole senior cap for Spain arrived against Croatia in March 1994, while he was an unused member of his country’s squad at that summer’s FIFA World Cup, and he was back on the international scene as a member of the coaching set-up at the UEFA European Under-17 Championship nine years later.
His first head coach role followed at his old club Vallecano in 2003, before a brief stint at Real Madrid Castilla preceded four successful years back with Spain’s youth sides.
After winning the 2012 UEFA European Under-19 Championship and the 2013 UEFA European Under-21 Championship, Lopetegui returned to club duties at FC Porto in 2014, leading the Portuguese club to the UEFA Champions League quarter-finals and losing just three league matches in 18 months.
He did not lose a single game as Spain head coach between 2016 and 2018, including a 2-2 draw against England at Wembley, and after a short tenure as Real Madrid boss, spent three years at Sevilla from June 2019.
During his time in Andalusia, Lopetegui won the UEFA Europa League in his first season at the helm, and later came up against West Ham United for the first time in the same competition, in the 2021/22 Round of 16.
Another meeting with the Hammers would take place two months after his November 2022 appointment at fellow Premier League side Wolverhampton Wanderers, who he led to a 13th-place finish before departing at the end of the 2022/23 season.
Check out the images from Lopetegui’s life in football so far in the gallery above.
