Pedro Moreira (football manager)

Coaching career

Pedro Moreira was born in Lourenço Marques near the end of Portuguese rule in Mozambique. He began his coaching work with Grupo Sportivo de Carcavelos, handling their under-13 and under-19 teams. He then ran youth sides at Oeiras, Olivais e Moscavide, and Farense, before taking a job as a youth coordinator at the Algarve Football Association in 2006. In 2009, he joined Sporting CP’s setup and took charge of the club’s under-11 squad.

Three years later, he became Paulo Fonseca’s assistant at Paços de Ferreira, a role he kept at Porto, Braga, Shakhtar Donetsk, and Roma over nine years. That partnership ended when Moreira chose not to follow Fonseca to Lille. On 22 September 2022, he got his first head coaching job at Liga Portugal 2 side Torreense, taking over from Nuno Manta Santos when the team sat 18th. His debut on 1 October was a 3-1 loss to Belenenses in the Taça de Portugal second round.

His first league match was a 1-0 home win over Estrela da Amadora on 8 October 2022. After guiding Torreense to a ninth-place finish, he left on 29 May 2023 by not renewing his contract. On 21 November 2023, after Filipe Martins resigned, Moreira became manager of Casa Pia, then 15th in the Primeira Liga, signing a deal of undisclosed length. With three wins, two draws, and six losses in eleven matches, Casa Pia sat 16th and sacked him on 15 February 2024.

On 4 December 2024, Uzbekistan Super League side Pakhtakor signed him to a one-year contract with an option for a second year. On 6 May 2025, Pakhtakor announced he was taking leave by mutual agreement. He left the club by mutual agreement on 9 July 2025, reportedly due to disagreements over the club’s future sporting direction. On 30 July 2026, Moreira was named head coach of A-League Men club Auckland FC, becoming the second head coach in the club’s history.

His first match was a 1-0 loss to Al-Ahli at King Abdullah Sports City Stadium in the opening round of the 2026 FIFA Intercontinental Cup.