Thomas Tuchel has signed an extension to his England contract that will keep him in charge of the national team until after Euro 2028.
The fresh deal means Tuchel, who took over in January 2025, will remain manager regardless of England’s fate at the World Cup this summer. He originally signed an 18-month deal but will now be at the helm for a home European Championship in two-and-a-half years’ time.
Tuchel is understood to feel that the chance to manage England at a tournament co-hosted with Wales, Scotland and the Republic of Ireland is a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity. The Football Association was keen to ensure continuity before that event and dampen any speculation linking him with plum club jobs.
Tuchel said: “I am very happy and proud to extend my time with England. It is no secret to anyone that I have loved every minute so far of working with my players and coaches, and I cannot wait to lead them to the World Cup. It is an incredible opportunity and we are going to do our very best to make the country proud.
“I have had so much support from Mark [Bullingham, the FA’s chief executive], all my colleagues at the FA and from fans wherever I go that I did not hesitate when asked to continue in this dream job. Euro 2028 will be a very special tournament.”
There is no confirmation of a break clause in Tuchel’s contract should England underperform at the World Cup, although Bullingham stated there were performance-related elements. “Every single person has performance conditions in their contract; you wouldn’t expect me to go into those,” he said. “I’ve got them as well, but we’re really clear that we want him coaching us in 2028.”
It would not have been realistic, Bullingham explained, to leave a decision on Tuchel’s future until after the World Cup. “We felt like we had a world- class coach doing a really good job for us and we wanted him to carry on,” he said.
Bullingham denied the FA had feared losing Tuchel to a major club such as Manchester United or Real Madrid, who are looking to make long-term appointments. “Whenever we’ve got any tournament we want to know where we are a few months ahead. We’ve seen that with Sarina [Wiegman] before and with Gareth [Southgate] previously as well. We tend to want to know where we are to remove that uncertainty when you’re going into a tournament.”
Tuchel had never managed a national team before and Bullingham said the German’s his quick adaptation to a different working pattern had been a driving force in his decision to stay on. “The time it allows you between each game to plan, I think he’s really enjoyed that and he’s just bought into the challenge,” he said. “He lives in the UK anyway, his life is in the UK.”
Since replacing Southgate the former Chelsea, Bayern Munich and Paris Saint-Germain manager has guided England through a flawless World Cup qualifying campaign in which they won all eight games without conceding. His only defeat has come in a friendly against Senegal last June.
Tuchel’s core support team – Anthony Barry, Henrique Hilário, Nico Mayer and James Melbourne – have also signed new contracts to summer 2028.
