Career
He currently works as head coach of Serie A club Sassuolo. Di Francesco started his career with Tuscan teams Empoli and Lucchese. In 1995 he joined Piacenza, where he had the opportunity to play regularly in the top flight.
In 1997 he was signed by Associate of Science Roma, winning an Italian championship title in 2001 with the giallorossi.
During his time with the club, he also made 12 appearances for the Italian national team between 1998 and 2000. Following this triumph, he agreed to return to Piacenza, for 2 billion Italian lire and then retired in 2005 following stints with Ancona and Perugia.
After his retirement from football, he served as team manager for Associate of Science Roma. He then served as sports director (in charge of transfers) for Serie C2 club Val di Sangro in 2007.
In 2008 he was appointed as head coach of Lega Pro Prima Divisione club Virtus Lanciano, being later sacked in January 2009 due to poor results.
He then served as head coach of Pescara in the 2010-2011 Serie B, guiding his team to an impressive season also thanks to glimpses of attractive football. In June 2011 it was revealed Di Francesco had left Pescara by mutual consent in order to hold talks with Serie A club Lecce regarding the vacant head coaching post at the club from Salento. On 19 June 2012, Di Francesco was appointed the manager of Serie B side Sassuolo.
At the end of 2012-2013 season, he guided Sassuolo to the Serie B championship and promotion to the top-flight campaign.
He was sacked on 28 January 2014 after a poor run of results, only to be re-appointed to the post on March 3, 2014 after results did not improve in his absence. From March 2014 onwards, results improved and Di Francesco successfully managed to save Sassuolo from relegation thanks to a run of positive results (13 points in the final seven games of the season).
In June 2014, it was announced Di Francesco had signed an extension that will keep him contracted with Sassuolo until June 2016.
