Early career Before being a first team trainer, Luxemburgo spent the rest of the 1980 campaign with
Antônio Lopes'
Olaria, but not being officially under contract with the club. He was also Lopes' assistant at
America-RJ (1981) and
Vasco da Gama (1981–82). Luxemburgo's first coaching experience occurred in 1983, with
Campo Grande; he only lasted eight matches at the club, being sacked after altercations with the board. In the same year, he also managed
Rio Branco-ES, winning the
Campeonato Capixaba with the side. In 1984, after managing
Friburguense, Luxemburgo then moved abroad to Saudi Arabia's
Al-Ittihad; initially
Joubert's assistant, Luxemburgo subsequently rejoined Lopes' staff at
Fluminense in 1986, where he acted as head coach of the under-20 squad. In the following year, he replaced
Pinheiro in charge of
America-RJ. Another stint in the Middle East following, being again assistant of Joubert at
Al-Shabab. Luxemburgo returned to Brazil in October 1988, after being invited to coach
Bragantino; He led the club in winning campaigns of the
1989 Série B (their first-ever national title) and the
1990 Campeonato Paulista, the latter over
Novorizontino in a final which was known as the
final caipira.
Flamengo In December 1990, Luxemburgo agreed to leave Bragantino to take over his former side
Flamengo. Without the same success as at Bragantino, he left in August 1991 complaining about the club's structure.
Guarani and Ponte Preta Shortly after leaving Flamengo, Luxemburgo took over
Guarani, but resigned in November 1991 after alleging unpaid wages.
Palmeiras After joining Palmeiras in April 1993, Luxemburgo led the side to two the
1993 Campeonato Paulista title, ending a period of 17 years without a trophy for the club. In that season, he also won the
1993 Torneio Rio-São Paulo and the
1993 Série A. During the 1994 campaign, Luxemburgo's side also won the Paulista and Série A trophies.
Flamengo return In January 1995, Luxemburgo returned to Flamengo after two successful years at Palmeiras. On 13 July, after losing the
1995 Campeonato Carioca to Fluminense and having altercations with
Romário, he resigned.
Paraná and Palmeiras return In August 1995, Luxemburgo was appointed
Paraná head coach, but returned to Palmeiras in November. At
Verdão, Luxemburgo won the
1996 Campeonato Paulista by scoring more than 100 goals during the tournament, winning 27 matches out of 30. On 12 December of that year, however, he confirmed that he would move to
Santos due to "political issues" at Palmeiras.
Santos Presented on 13 December 1996, Luxemburgo led Santos to the
1997 Torneio Rio-São Paulo title. In December, however, he left the side before the end of his contract, which led to criticism from club legend
Pelé. He led the club to the
1998 Série A title, but also had altercations with
Marcelinho Carioca.
Brazil national team On 10 August 1998, Luxemburgo replaced
Zagallo as head coach of the
Brazil national team after the
1998 FIFA World Cup. Despite winning the
1999 Copa América undefeated and finishing in the second place of the
1999 FIFA Confederations Cup, he had fiscal problems during his period ahead of the national team, being accused of
tax evasion and false documentation (as he often signed his name as "Wanderley" instead of "Vanderlei"). Luxemburgo was also in charge of the
under-23 team at the
2000 Summer Olympics in Sydney: after losing 1–2 in overtime to gold medal winners
Cameroon in the quarter-finals, despite having a two men advantage in that game, he was sacked from the national side on 1 October of that year. In 2001, he went back to Corinthians and won yet another
State Championship. In 2003, he led
Cruzeiro to win the Brazilian National League. Even more impressively, the club won two of the three competitions (the
Campeonato Mineiro and the
Copa do Brasil) without losing a single match. The following year he led
Santos to win the Brazilian Championship.
Corinthians return Luxemburgo returned to
Timão on 5 February 2001, winning yet another Campeonato Paulista title. In the semifinal of that tournament, he also stirred up controversy by having a one-way transmission device on a forward of his club team during a match. He said that the Cameroon match inspired him to create a device in order to tell his players where and when to attack. The CBF ruled days later that such electronic devices were illegal, but did not penalize him for using it in that match. On 12 December 2001, Luxemburgo was sacked.
Third spell at Palmeiras On 30 December 2001, Luxemburgo agreed to return to Palmeiras for a third spell, but was unable to repeat the same success as his previous periods at the club. On 13 August 2002, he left the club to join
Cruzeiro.
Cruzeiro Luxemburgo debuted in charge of Cruzeiro on 18 August 2002, five days after signing, in a 0–0 draw against
Botafogo. He then brought
Alex back to the club, with the midfielder being a key unit during the club's treble campaign, where they won the
2003 Campeonato Mineiro, the
2003 Copa do Brasil and the
2003 Série A. Despite having a very successful 2003 campaign, Luxemburgo was dismissed from the club on 27 February 2004; in the previous day, one day after a 0–0 home draw against
Uberaba, he stated a "lack of tune" at the club, later endorsed by Alex.
Santos return On 8 May 2004, Luxemburgo was officially announced back at Santos on a contract until the end of 2005. Despite being knocked out of the
2004 Copa Libertadores by
Once Caldas in the quarter-finals, he led the side to the
2004 Série A title.
Real Madrid On 30 December 2004, Luxemburgo was hired as
Real Madrid's coach in the second half of the
2004–05 season, when
Mariano García Remón was dismissed from the job. He led Real Madrid to seven consecutive league wins, putting them back in the
title race, but ended up losing it four points behind
Barcelona. In the following season, Real Madrid started brightly. However, the introduction of a new formation (the
Magic Rectangle, a
4–2–2–2 formation), combined with multiple injury issues and poor performances began Luxemburgo's downfall. Calls for him to resign were intensified after a humiliating 0–3 home defeat to long-time rivals, Barcelona. He was sacked on 5 December 2005, with Real Madrid announcing
Juan Ramón López Caro as his successor.
Third spell at Santos On 13 December 2005, Luxemburgo signed with Santos for the third time. He led the club to the
2006 Campeonato Paulista title (notably fielding 12 players shortly before a match against Corinthians), and ended the season in the fourth place of the
Série A. Luxemburgo continued with Santos in 2007 and won the Paulista again. He also saw Santos through the semi-finals of the
2007 Copa Libertadores, winning all the matches in the group stage and eliminating strong teams, such as
Caracas in the round of 16 and
América in the quarter-finals, before losing to
Grêmio in the semis. Later, Luxemburgo finished second in the
Série A. In both years, 2006 and 2007, he led Santos to a
Copa Libertadores berth, but still left on 13 December 2007, after failing to agree new terms.
Fourth spell at Palmeiras On 18 December 2007, Luxemburgo returned to Palmeiras for his fourth spell as head coach. At the club, he won the
Paulistão for the third consecutive time. With Palmeiras, he was eliminated from the
2008 Copa Sudamericana by
Argentinos Juniors and from the
2008 Copa do Brasil by
Sport Recife, the eventual champions. In the
2008 Série A, he reached fourth place with Palmeiras in a very competitive season, earning the club a spot in the
2009 Copa Libertadores. Luxemburgo remained with Palmeiras in 2009. He managed the team to a successful campaign in the
Paulista, but lost to Santos in the semi-finals. In the
Copa Libertadores, he qualified the club to the round of 16 by defeating
Colo-Colo 1–0 in
Santiago, with
Cleiton Xavier scoring a last minute long-range goal in the angle of
Colo-Colo's goalkeeper. Palmeiras defeated Sport Recife on penalties in the Round of 16, but were eliminated by an away goal from
Nacional from
Uruguay drawing both matches, by 1–1 at home and 0–0 away. In the
2009 Série A, Luxemburgo started well in the competition, but after an incident involving young striker
Keirrison, Luxemburgo was dismissed from
Verdão in the seventh round, on 27 June 2009.
Fourth spell at Santos Luxemburgo was re-signed as head coach of Santos after a one and a half-year absence on 17 July 2009. On 7 December, he left after finishing 12th in the league, to sign with
Atlético Mineiro.
Atlético Mineiro Presented at
Galo on 23 January 2010 after signing a two-year deal, Luxemburgo won the
2010 Campeonato Mineiro after defeating
Ipatinga in the finals. Knocked out of the
2010 Copa do Brasil in the quarter-finals, and after having poor results in the
Brasileirão, he was sacked on 23 September.
Third spell at Flamengo On 5 October 2010, Vanderlei Luxemburgo was named as a new head coach of Flamengo. He avoided relegation in his first year, and led the club to a 26-match unbeaten run in 2011, winning the
2011 Campeonato Carioca. On 2 February 2012, Luxemburgo was dismissed after having altercations with the club's board.
Grêmio On 21 February 2012, it was announced that Luxemburgo would be taking charge of
Grêmio until 31 December 2012. On 29 April 2013, after getting involved in a fight in the game between Grêmio and
Huachipato for the
Libertadores Cup, Luxemburgo was suspended for six games in this competition. On 29 June 2013, Luxemburgo was dismissed by directors of Grêmio.
Fluminense On 30 July 2013, Luxemburgo signed with
carioca side
Fluminense, that dismissed, one day earlier,
Abel Braga. Luxemburgo defended his predecessor, calling him "winner", and lamented his resignation, a "culture of brazilian football". The coach, to resume, wants his players "wrathful with losses". On 12 November, Fluminense sacked Luxemburgo after a long winless streak. At the time, Fluminense stood in 18th place in the
Brazilian Série A and was under relegation threat.
Fourth spell at Flamengo On 23 July 2014, Luxemburgo was appointed head coach of Flamengo, returning to the club for the fourth time in this role.
Luxa was ultimately successful in leading the club's struggle against relegation, earning important points in the tournament and taking the team to the upper half of the table, and had his contract renewed on 18 November. On 25 May 2015, Luxemburgo was sacked from Flamengo after a winless start of the
2015 Série A.
Cruzeiro return On 2 June 2015, Vanderlei Luxemburgo was named as a new head coach of Cruzeiro, but was dismissed after poor results on 31 August.
Tianjin Songjiang On 23 September 2015, Vanderlei Luxemburgo was named as a new head coach of
Tianjin Songjiang, for the 2016 season. He was sacked the following 5 June, with the club only in the eighth position, and was subsequently replaced by
Fabio Cannavaro.
Sport Recife in 2017 On 29 May 2017, Luxemburgo was named as the new head coach
Sport Recife, and won the year's
Campeonato Pernambucano with the club. On 26 October, after a poor run of form, he was relieved from his duties.
Vasco da Gama On 8 May 2019, Luxemburgo was named head coach of
Vasco da Gama, agreeing to a contract until the end of the year. After helping the side avoid relegation, he departed the club on 13 December.
Fifth spell at Palmeiras On 15 December 2019, Luxemburgo signed a two-year contract with Palmeiras, returning to the club after 11 years. He won the
2020 Campeonato Paulista with the club, being this the fifth time winning the competition with the club and ninth overall, and surpassed
Lula as the most successful head coach of the tournament. On 14 October 2020, after a 1–3 home defeat against
Coritiba, Luxemburgo was sacked.
Vasco da Gama return On 31 December 2020, it was announced the return of Luxemburgo to
Vasco da Gama on a contract running until the end of the
2020 Campeonato Brasileiro Série A season.
Third spell at Cruzeiro On 3 August 2021, Luxemburgo returned to Cruzeiro, with the club now in the
Série B. He was dismissed on 28 December, after failing to achieve promotion to the top tier.
Third spell at Corinthians in 2023 On 1 May 2023, Luxemburgo was announced as head coach of Corinthians in the top tier, signing a contract until the end of the year. He was sacked on 27 September, following a 1–1 home draw with
Fortaleza in the semi-finals of the
2023 Copa Sudamericana. ==Career statistics==