From a part-time dentist to one with hygiene issues: these are the eight managers left in Euro 2016

For all of football’s superstars and prima donnas, the destiny of a team is usually decided by those gentlemen who watch, often despairingly, from the touchlines. The career of a football manager is made or unmade by performances at major tournaments and the Euro 2016 has already had its share of casualties, most notably former England manager Roy Hodgson. With the last eight still standing, here’s a quick look at each manager and the path they’ve paved in this tournament.

1. Adam Nawalka – Poland

Adam Nawalka’s Poland go into their quarter-final match against Portugal on Thursday having already come a long way – they finished bottom of the group in their last two European Championships. And while Nawakla has already put together a defence that is difficult to breach, the lack of attacking potency up front could prove to be his undoing. His talismanic striker, Robert Lewandowski, still hasn’t scored and though Nawalka has thrown his weight firmly behind the Bayern Munich striker, his job will made much easier if Lewandowski starts finding the back of the net.

2. Antonio Conte – Italy

Hands down the best manager of the tournament. The next Chelsea manager has taken Italy back to their roots and produced the sort of hard-nosed style of football, synonymous with the great Italian teams of the past. The win against Spain epitomised the belief surging through this Italian team. Spain possessed individual wizardry, but Italy’s players were far more driven and motivated. Conte has a combustible personality and, make no mistake, whatever happens in France, the Premier League will be a lot of fun next season.

3. Chris Coleman – Wales

The Wales manager already deserves enormous credit. He took over the team at a low point in their history and has now brought them to the quarter-finals of Euro 2016. Coleman has kept the squad's morale high, but also ensured that team has kept its feet on the ground. He’s also demonstrated that he doesn’t mind shaking things up when needed. He brought on Hal Robson-Kanu, who scored the winning goal in their opener against Slovakia. They face a difficult challenge against the world’s second-ranked team, Belgium, in the quarters, but Coleman made sure to remind his opponents that Wales had emerged unbeaten out of their last two encounters during the qualifying campaign.

4. Didier Deschamps – France

The man who won the 1998 World Cup as France's captain has taken some calculated risks as coach and they’ve come off for him. Trailing 1-0 against the Republic of Ireland at half-time in their pre-quarters match, Deschamps brought on a winger Kingsley Coman, which freed up Antoine Griezmann to move up higher. He also gave his team a proper grilling and the result was immediate: a double from Greizmann which took France through. The coach did something similar in their group game against Albania: with the game goalless at half-time, he brought on Paul Pogba and France played a much sharper game to win 2-0.

5. Fernando Santos – Portugal

All talk around Portugal has revolved around their superstar Cristiano Ronaldo, but from the sidelines their 61-year-old coach Fernando Santos has been quietly, but steadily, playing his part. It was down to Santos’s tactics in a way that Portugal managed to get past a Croatian team that was fresh off a 2-1 dismantling of Spain: Croatia’s two-pronged attacking threats of Luka Modric and Ivan Rakitic were completely nullified. Santos introduced Ricardo Quaresma late into the game and it was he who got the winner for Portugal in the 117th minute. “Sometimes you have to be pragmatic,” said Santos and despite all the buzz over Ronaldo, Portugal are lucky to have a calm head guiding them.

6. Heimir Hallgrimsson and Lars Lagerback – Iceland

One is a 67-year-old Swede with a managerial experience of over three decades. The other is a practicing dentist from Heimaey, an island in Iceland. Together, Lagerback and Hallgrimsson have taken Iceland to the brink and forged the kind of fairtytale that makes sport so special.

For those who have found similarities with the other fairytale story in football this year, that of Leicester City, Iceland’s progress has been reminiscent of the Foxes: they have a closely knit team, a compact defence and a quick and effective attack. The veteran Lagerback, who has coached Sweden earlier, has already become a hero in Iceland with calls for him to stand for president, which he’s rejected. He has forged an unlikely but winning combination with a much younger Hallgrimsson, who has served as his eyes and ears with Iceland.

7. Joachim Loew – Germany

The 56-year-old German coach has been more in the news for...err...making some problematic choices about his personal hygiene, rather than his work on the pitch.

When the attention does shift to the football, Loew attracts plenty of criticism, sometimes unfairly so, from the German press despite his impressive record (21 wins in 28 matches at major tournaments). Germany have been steady this tournament, apart from a 0-0 draw against Poland, but Loew faces his biggest challenge next against Italy. Die Mannschaft have lost to the Azzuri all four times they’ve faced them in global tournaments.

8. Marc Wilmots – Belgium

A few days before Belgium kicked off their Euro 2016 campaign, Marc Wilmots was accused of holding back their golden generation in an editorial on EuroSports. Ouch. The criticism sharpened after they lost to Italy in their opener. However, Wilmots has managed to get some measure of relief after following it up with three wins in as many matches. He was also quick to get behind his star striker Romelu Lukaku after the Everton man was criticised. Expectations are high for Wilmots this time and only a spot in the final will lead to some satisfaction at home.