Official: Thomas Tuchel becomes new England manager

Thomas Tuchel has been officially named as the new manager of the England national football team. He will lead the squad in their campaign for the 2026 World Cup.

The Football Association (FA) confirmed the appointment on Wednesday, announcing that the German coach signed an 18-month contract. The contract will run until the end of the 2026 World Cup. This tournament will be held across the United States, Canada, and Mexico.

Tuchel will take over from Gareth Southgate, with his tenure beginning on January 1, 2025. He will be assisted by coach Anthony Barry. England hopes Tuchel can bring success, following Southgate’s strong performances.

This includes reaching the semi-finals of the 2018 World Cup and the finals of both the 2020 and 2024 European Championships.While Manchester City manager Pep Guardiola had reportedly been the FA’s first choice, they ultimately chose Tuchel, who became available after leaving Bayern Munich in May.

Tuchel brings a wealth of experience. Having won major titles with Borussia Dortmund, Paris Saint-Germain, Chelsea, and Bayern Munich. However, this will be his first job managing a national team.

Interestingly, Tuchel becomes the third foreign coach to lead the England team. Following in the footsteps of Sweden’s Sven-Goran Eriksson and Italy’s Fabio Capello. He is also the first German to take on the role.

He told the FA: “I am very proud to have been given the honour of leading the England team. I have long felt a personal connection to the game in this country. And it has given me some incredible moments already.

“To have the chance to represent England is a huge privilege, and the opportunity to work with this special and talented group of players is very exciting.

“Working closely with Anthony as my assistant coach, we will do everything we can to make England successful and the supporters proud. I want to thank the FA, in particular Mark and John, for their trust. I am looking forward to starting our journey together.”

”The FA’s CEO Mark Bullingham added: “We are thrilled to have hired Thomas Tuchel, one of the best coaches in the world. Also, Anthony Barry who is one of the best English coaches to support him. Our recruitment process has been very thorough.

“Before the EUROs we had a contingency plan and outlined exactly the qualities we would be looking for in a coach. Since Gareth resigned, we have worked through the candidate pool, meeting a number of coaches and evaluating them against that criteria.

Thomas was very impressive and stood out with his vast expertise and his drive. Anthony is a top English talent and also has international experience with Republic of Ireland, Belgium and Portugal.”

Fundamentally we wanted to hire a coaching team to give us the best possible chance of winning a major tournament. We believe they will do just that. Thomas and the team have a single-minded focus on giving us the best possible chance to win the World Cup in 2026.