If Thomas Tuchel can fulfil his brief to turn the men’s team into winners, his status as an honorary Englishman will be assured
When the Football Association made Sven-Göran Eriksson the first foreign manager of the England men’s team in 2001, the widespread reaction was one of bemused indignation. In appointing a Swede to turn round the footballing fortunes of the nation, wrote one senior sportswriter, the FA had sold “our birthright down the fjord to a nation of seven million skiers and hammer-throwers who spend half the year living in total darkness”.
Two decades on, the third foreign coach to be tasked with ending the years of hurt has received a slightly warmer welcome. Thomas Tuchel, a German anglophile who took Chelsea to an unexpected Uefa Champions League triumph in 2021, has been hired to reproduce that winning mentality in an England team that came agonisingly close to glory under his predecessor, Gareth Southgate. For the vast majority of English football followers, the ability to fulfil that brief at the 2026 World Cup will count far more than his willingness to sing the national anthem.
