Jose Mourinho wants Real Madrid players to exit FIFA World Cup early

4 min readJun 26, 2026 06:04 AM IST

Real Madrid's Vinicius Junior argues with Benfica's head coach José Mourinho after scoring the opening goal during a Champions League playoff soccer match between SL Benfica and Real Madrid in Lisbon. (AP Photo)

Incoming Real Madrid manager Jose Mourinho has wished that all of his club players have an early exit from the ongoing FIFA World Cup.

Speaking on the Beast Mode On Podcast with Adebayo Akinfenwa, when Mourinho was asked what he was looking forward to the most at the ongoing FIFA World Cup, the Portuguese coach said with a chuckle: “You want the truth? I want Real Madrid players to lose and go on holidays. Because I want the guys back in pre-season.”

Mourinho takes charge of the team in July when the World Cup ends. Currently, 11 Real Madrid players are at the World Cup with their national teams: Kylian Mbappe (France), Vinícius Júnior (Brazil), Jude Bellingham (England), Antonio Rüdiger (Germany), Aurélien Tchouaméni (France), Thibaut Courtois (Belgium), Federico Valverde (Uruguay), Endrick (Brazil), David Alaba (Austria) and Arda Güler (Turkey).

He said that he was skipping most of the games at the current World Cup and will start focussing on watching from the knockout stages.

When asked if any of the teams had impressed him so far, Mourinho said: “Some of the matches, after 10 minutes, I switch off (the TV). I don’t like the feeling. For me, the World Cup is the top of the top. I know socially it means a lot for every country. It means that the world is breathing football. One thing is the social side of it. And another is the football side of it. Scores like 7-1 and 5-1 should not be possible (at the World Cup.) I think I am going to start watching properly from the knockout stages. Brazil-Morocco was a great game. Other games, I had some nice dinners and some nice sleeps. I didn’t stay awake at 3 am (to watch the matches). No chance!”

Mourinho said that besides Portugal, England were one of the teams he thought should be in the World Cup final. But when asked why England had never gotten over the line pointed at their defeats in penalties in previous occasions. He then pointed at the pressure the team is under from the media.

“I always think England can (go all the way),” Mourinho said. “I believe they have more pressure than anybody else in relation to the media. And in the end the media influences the people, the English fans, a lot. They cannot cope with the expectations and the responsibility at the end.

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Mourinho also put to rest murmurs that he would drastically alter the Real Madrid side from last season by getting rid of players.

“I read a few things where people were saying: ‘José Mourinho is coming here and he’s going to cut some of the top players that supposedly had some problems during the season’. No! I want these players! I want the best players. Now I have to find a way to have a team and not to have problems like, eventually, I don’t know, I’m just reading, that they had in previous seasons. If you have problems with not very good players, that is a big problem. The big players are the big players.”