Fernando Ariel Batista (born 20 August 1970) is an Argentine football manager and former player who played as a defender.
Born in Buenos Aires, Batista started his playing career with Argentine top flight side Argentinos Juniors, where he made 134 league appearances and scored four goals.[1] He moved to San Lorenzo in 1993, playing for two seasons at the club.[2]
In 1997, Batista signed for Godoy Cruz in the Argentine second division.[1] He joined All Boys in the following year, playing for three seasons before retiring in 2001, aged 30.
Batista represented Argentina at under-20 level at the 1989 FIFA World Youth Championship.[3]
Batista began his coaching career with the youth sides of San Lorenzo, joining the club in 2004. He returned to Argentinos Juniors in 2008, being a youth coach and coordinator until 2016.[4]
In 2017, Batista was a part of Claudio Úbeda's staff at the Argentina national under-20 team, being his assistant in the 2017 South American U-20 Championship and the 2017 FIFA U-20 World Cup.[5][6] In January 2018, he was appointed manager of the Armenia national under-19 team.[7]
On 20 December 2018, Batista returned to Argentina's under-20 side, being appointed manager in the place of Lionel Scaloni who had just been promoted to the full side.[8] He finished second in the 2019 South American U-20 Championship,[9] qualifying the nation to the 2019 FIFA U-20 World Cup, where they were knocked out by Mali in the round of 16.
Batista was also in charge of the under-23 team in the 2020 Summer Olympics,[10] with Argentina being knocked out in the group stage. He departed his role as under-20 and under-23 manager on 30 November 2021.[11]
After departing the Argentina youth sides, Batista joined José Pékerman's staff at the Venezuela national team;[11] an assistant of the full side, he was also named manager of the under-23 squad. He led the side to the final of the 2022 Maurice Revello Tournament,[12] losing to hosts France.
On 10 March 2023, Batista was appointed manager of the Venezuela national team, replacing Pékerman.[13] His first match in charge of the side occurred on 15 June, a 1–0 friendly win over Honduras, and he ended the year with only one loss in eight official matches, notably leaving the side in the fourth position of the 2026 FIFA World Cup qualifiers.[14]
Batista led the Vinotinto to a perfect group stage in the 2024 Copa América, winning all three matches against Ecuador, Mexico and Jamaica.[15] However, his side was knocked out by Canada on penalties in the quarterfinals.
Batista's older brother Sergio was also a footballer and a manager.[16] Their father José was an important figure in the history of Club Parque.[8] His daughter Tatiana got engaged to fellow footballer Kevin Mac Allister, the second son of Carlos Mac Allister, in 2024,[17] and married on 14 June, 2025.
| Team | Nat | From | To | Record | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| G | W | D | L | Win % | ||||
| Armenia U18 | 
|
1 January 2018 | 31 October 2018 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 0.00 |
| Armenia U19 | 1 July 2018 | 31 October 2018 | 5 | 1 | 0 | 4 | 20.00 | |
| Argentina U20 | 
|
1 January 2019 | 30 November 2021 | 22 | 14 | 1 | 7 | 63.64 |
| Argentina U23 | 1 August 2019 | 8 August 2021 | 18 | 12 | 4 | 2 | 66.67 | |
| Venezuela | 
|
10 March 2023 | 10 September 2025 | 29 | 10 | 9 | 10 | 34.48 |
| Total | 75 | 37 | 14 | 24 | 49.33 | |||
 | ||
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