Mexico’s Pumas UNAM announced on Sunday that they had signed Argentine Esteban Solari as their new head coach for the 2026 Apertura tournament.
“Universidad Nacional announces that Esteban Solari is the new head coach of the Pumas first team. The coach joins the team after having played for the club in 2007 and 2008. Welcome home!” the team wrote on its social media accounts.
From Asian Soccer to Liga MX
Esteban Solari, 46, joins the UNAm Pumas, replacing Efraín Juárez.
The person who left the team after leading it to the top of the 2026 Clausura standings and to the final of the playoff phase, which it lost to Cruz Azul last May.
Solari most recently coached Pachuca last semester.
He led the team to the final phase of the 2026 Clausura, a tournament in which they were eliminated by none other than the Pumas—his new team.
The coach, who is originally from Rosario, began his coaching career with Johor Darul Takzim of the Malaysian Super League in 2023.
He played for Everton de Viña del Mar in Chile in 2024.
He coached Godoy Cruz in his home country last year, before embarking on his first coaching stint in Mexican soccer with Pachuca.
New coach for the 2026 Apertura tournament
NuevaOnda.com
A trip around the world before returning to CU
During his playing career, Esteban Solari was a nomad who wore more than a dozen different jerseys.
Notable among these are Estudiantes in his home country, where he made his debut, Chioggia in Italy, Lierse in Belgium, and Almería in Spain.
Skoda Xanthi of Greece, Dalian Yifang of China, Aucas of Ecuador, and the Pumas UNAM, which he will now lead.
One of Esteban Solari’s first goals with the UNAM Pumas will be to convince Costa Rican Keylor Navas, Ecuadorian Pedro Vite, and Panamanian Adalberto Carrasquilla—the team’s star players—to remain part of this project.
With information from EFE
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