England are confident they can keep Thomas Tuchel if they shine at the World Cup – and say goodbye if they do not.
As the Three Lions prepare for Wednesday’s tournament opener against Croatia in Dallas, FA chief executive Mark Bullingham revealed that Tuchel’s recently-extended contract contains performance clauses, while insisting England have no intention of losing the former Chelsea and Bayern Munich boss before the European Championship in 2028. Tuchel was originally handed an 18-month deal that would have expired at the end of this tournament.
However, after overseeing a flawless qualifying campaign and impressing FA officials behind the scenes, he signed a renewal through to the Euros on home soil.
‘I think he could always get approaches,’ explained Bullingham. ‘That’s a reality of any top performer in any walk of life. If we were to win we’re not in a position where we want anything other than him to coach us into 2028 and we’ve got him for that tournament. He’s very happy with us. We’re very happy with him. I don’t see it as a risk. I’m not saying those approaches won’t happen because they could – but we can hold him to that contract.’
Thomas Tuchel started on an 18-month contract in January 2025 but has already signed a two-year extension
When asked what would happen if that situation was flipped and England failed to meet expectations, Bullingham hinted that the governing body was protected. ‘There’s performance clauses in every single contract with the FA,’ he said, ‘but I’m not going to go into any detail on what they are. The reality is we’re really confident he’s going to be our coach in 2028.’
A relaxed Bullingham, who has been chief executive since 2019, explained that removing distractions was one of the motivations for extending Tuchel’s contract before the World Cup started.
‘You never really want that hanging over you when you go into a tournament because obviously anyone in any walk of life that’s on a fixed-term contract when they get to the end of it starts thinking about their future,’ he said.
While the aim is to be crowned champions of the world for the first time in 60 years, Bullingham stopped short of disclosing what would constitute success or failure.
‘We have a manager who we think is doing a really good job.,’ he said. ‘Obviously, there’s tough tests to come, we’ll see how we go but we’re very happy with everything behind the scenes, how it’s playing out, how he’s worked with everyone. I know you (the media) love to put a target on it, and it’s not that simple because there’s so many other factors.
‘We do a full review after every tournament. You want to look at how well you’ve done, who are you drawn against, what was the mood in the camp, how were things going behind the scenes, and what was the complete package, and where did things go well, were they not.
‘I would still look back at Qatar, which I personally feel was Gareth (Southgate’s) best tournament in terms of how he had the team going, and yet the performance was the worst (of his four in charge).
‘Had we scored a penalty then we’ve got a great chance to semis and be on our first men’s World Cup final since 1966. It’s not possible to just have an arbitrary “this is what success looks like”. It’s more complicated than that. Anything can happen in games. We get two red cards, be incredibly unlucky, hit the post four times.’
Bullingham added that the decision to extend came after it transpired that Tuchel, who had been linked with clubs such as Manchester United, had enjoyed the lifestyle switch from the day-to-day rhythm of club manager to the different pace of international football. He also denied being made aware of any other interest.
‘In the beginning, you never know how a club manager will adapt to international (football),’ he said. ‘It is a different flow, it’s a different rhythm. He’s done it brilliantly. ‘I think he’s adapted very, very well, and he was keen to carry on. We were not aware of any offers.’
England begin their campaign against Croatia in Dallas on Wednesday
The FA chief added that officials had one eye on the 2028 Euros, which will be held in the UK and Ireland, when they made the call. ‘We were very keen to carry on with him, so it was more about looking to 2028,’ he said. ‘That’s a very important home tournament for us. We wanted the best chance to do as well as we can, and feel we’ve got a really good manager, so why not extend it?’
That stance appears to represent a shift from when Tuchel was originally appointed and Bullingham had spoken of the German and his team having ‘a single-minded focus on giving us the best possible chance to win the World Cup in 2026’.
But he rejected any suggestion that the goalposts had been moved. ‘They are two different projects, so the 2028 project we’re looking at going “OK, we want the best manager in place, we sign him up”,’ he explained.
‘We are still looking at this World Cup and doing everything we can to give ourselves the best possible chance. We said at the time we felt like he gave us best possible chance of doing well and we still feel that, so we kind of view them separately. We’ve appointed him to try and do as well as we can in this tournament, and we’ve appointed him for that tournament to see how well we can do for that tournament.’
Tuchel has a reputation for speaking his mind, which has led to some turbulent times during his club career. However, Bullingham said he only had praise for his head coach.
‘The energy and charisma he brings is amazing,’ he said. ‘In his own environment he’s incredibly dynamic and energetic but he absolutely owns the room and owns the camp and he’s brilliant at connecting with everyone. That’s what he brings. He’s incredibly dynamic.’
When asked if he had been aware of Tuchel’s reputation when he offered him the post, Bullingham responded: ‘We do our due diligence on everything. I get on really well with him.’
He also hailed former coach Gareth Southgate for the work he had done with England, taking them to two Euros finals and a World Cup semi and ‘laying brilliant foundations that made the job attractive’.
‘The level of manager that wanted to work with us was extremely high,’ Bullingham said. ‘A lot of big names were keen on the job and I’d say that is a tribute to Gareth and (assistant coach) Steve (Holland), who made it an attractive role.’
