Thomas Tuchel Becomes Head Coach of the England National Team: A Good Call Ahead of World Cup 2026?

The English FA have appointed Thomas Tuchel as the permanent head coach of the national team on an 18-month contract worth around £5 million a year. He became the third foreign manager of the team. The 51-year-old will start his role in January 2025 and will make his first appearance on the dugout in the international break in March 2025 and the contract will run until after the 2026 World Cup.

In the previous days, bookers had Thomas Tuchel to become England's next permanent head coach at 1.57 odds, just after Lee Carsley confessed that he is not in the right position to take the Three Lions to the next level. “I think that this job deserves a world-class coach who has won trophies. I am still on the path to that,” he said.

Thomas Tuchel is a coach with enough experience in playing in the English league due to his successful career with Chelsea, winning the UEFA Champions League. With the experience needed and the ability to develop players, Tuchel is the most notable candidate to utilize the England team to its potential and win trophies.

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.

Thomas Tuchel first speech as head coach of the Three Lions

We had a clear recruitment plan in place before the Euros. John McDermott [the FA’s technical director] and the team developed our ideal profile for an international coach, and a shortlist if we needed it. After Gareth resigned, we executed that plan and met and evaluated potential candidates. Thomas was absolutely outstanding, providing a really clear vision for the role and how we would work with our players to give us the best chance in the World Cup. We had to maintain confidentiality for us, but more importantly for the candidates. I’ll say a few things, but I’ll hold it at that. We interviewed approximately 10 people, and we did interview some English candidates within that. We spoke with approximately 10 people throughout the process. Clearly some were more up for the role than others, but we were absolutely delighted to end up with Thomas. We believe he gives us the best chance of winning the World Cup, so we believe we’ve got the best candidate for the job.

FA chief executive Mark Bullingham

I don't think Thomas Tuchel should be in any way, shape or form questioned in a difficult way this afternoon when he sits in the press conference because I think that he's a great coach. Everybody in our country including myself will wish him all the best and hope we can get over the line and win a trophy, but I think there are some serious questions for the FA to answer in respect of English coaching. I do think we are damaging ourselves by accepting that Thomas Tuchel is better than any of the other English coaches. We are in a rut when it comes to English coaching. English coaching is one of the least respected big nations in Europe when it comes to taking charge of a football team. Spanish, German, Italian, Portuguese coaches are renowned for their styles of play, for their philosophy. We don't have a clear identity as an English nation of what we are anymore. We haven't built a style, we haven't got a coach who's built a style that's unique to us.

Gary Neville

The greatest winner of Tuchel’s appointment will definitely be Mason Mount. The Manchester United No. 7 has not been having it rosy recently and has since lost his place in the national team. However, he was very instrumental for Tuchel in the Chelsea’s colour. He made the most appearance by any English player under Tuchel with 19 goals and 19 assists in 87 games under the German coach. While Mount is prone to injury, Tuchel may want to get the best out of him due to the long relationship. Other players like Marcus Rashford and Jordan Sancho might as well benefit from this development.

• England has 9.00 odds on 1xbet to win the 2026 FIFA World Cup, just behind France (5.5 odds) and Brazil (7.00 odds) on the favourite list ahead of the World Cup. However, indications are showing that England will move ahead in the favourites ranking due to the caliber of Thomas Tuchel.