BBC football news reporter Alex Howell has confirmed that Thomas Tuchel has signed an 18-month contract as England manager.

This will take England and Tuchel together through qualifying for the 2026 World Cup and the tournament itself.

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BBC presenter and former England striker Gary Lineker suggests on The Rest is Football podcast that the Football Association had shown interest in Manchester City boss Pep Guardiola and Real Madrid manager Carlo Ancelotti before recruiting Thomas Tuchel as England manager.

"They apparently did reach out in the summer to Pep Guardiola and I also understand that they spoke to Carlo Ancelotti," he said.

"It’s happened so quickly, hasn’t it?" added former England forward Alan Shearer on Tuchel's appointment. "We said the other day that there was perhaps a reason that Lee Carsley was ruling himself out and perhaps he knew something that we didn’t all know.

"I really hope that they have spoken to English managers. I am reliably told that they didn’t speak to Eddie Howe or sound him out at all. That is a big surprise for me because he would be the outstanding English candidate."

In the age of social media, football announcements get more and more interesting. Let's take a look at how England told the world about the Thomas Tuchel era.

09:25 - The England X account, external posted an 11-second video of a white baseball cap with an England badge on the front on a stool at Wembley Stadium.

09:30 - England reveal on X, external: "Thomas Tuchel. Our Three Lions head coach from 2025.

England have updated their X bio to "The Thomas Tuchel era begins in January" and a picture of Tuchel has been put up on the big screen at Wembley.

October 8 was a big day in the boardrooms of English football, it turns out.

Thomas Tuchel signed the contract to become the new England manager last Tuesday. The same day, Manchester United's executive committee held a much reported meeting.

While United have insisted this was a regular board meeting, no doubt the future of manager Erik ten Hag was discussed. Had they sacked under-pressure Ten Hag, Tuchel was one of the bookies' favourites to replace him at Old Trafford.

After England's defeat to Greece on Thursday, Tuchel was favourite with bookmakers for the England job.

Will it be all smiles for Thomas Tuchel and Anthony Barry in their latest roles with England? Let's hope so!

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England's new number two Anthony Barry says working with the national team is the "pinnacle."

"For any Englishman in football, working with the national team is the pinnacle and I didn’t hesitate when Thomas asked me to come and join him again," Barry said in the FA statement, external.

"I know what a great place St. George’s Park is and how much of an advantage it gives our England teams, and the support it gives to coaches."This squad is very talented and have done so much to bring the country together, I look forward to meeting and working with them on this exciting project.”

England's new number two Anthony Barry moved into coaching straight after retiring from football in 2017, with his first job coming at Wigan.

Three years later, Barry moved on to Chelsea. This is where he first worked under Thomas Tuchel and helped deliver the Champions League in 2021.

Since leaving Chelsea in 2023, Barry has worked with the Republic of Ireland, Portugal and with Tuchel once again at Bayern Munich.

He can now add England to that list.

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England have a new manager in Thomas Tuchel and with that comes a new number two in Anthony Barry.

You may be wondering who the 38-year-old is and what he's done to land such a role. Well, carry on reading to get to know England's second in command.

Born in Liverpool, Barry had a playing career starting at Coventry and ending with Wrexham in 2017. During that time, he played for the likes of Accrington Stanley, Fleetwood and Chester.

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FA CEO Mark Bullingham on the appointment of Tuchel as England manager: “We are thrilled to have hired Thomas Tuchel, one of the best coaches in the world and 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 [Southgate] 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, and 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.

"I would like to thank Lee [Carsley] for stepping up and doing everything we asked of him - he is a very talented coach and a major part of our England pathway."

England manager Thomas Tuchel.

That is a phrase which will take quite some getting used to.

Whatever happens, interesting times lie ahead.

Alex Howell
BBC football news reporter

New England manager Thomas Tuchel’s picture has been put up on Wembley stadium.

Image source, Alex Howell

Once Thomas Tuchel takes charge of England on 1 January 2025, interim head coach Lee Carsley will return to the Under-21s to lead them in the defence of their Uefa U21 Euros title, after qualification for the finals next summer was secured at the weekend.

Carsley was in charge of the Young Lions in July 2023 when they won their first Euros for the first time in 39 years.

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The FA has confirmed that Thomas Tuchel will become England manager from 1 January, overseeing the qualification campaign for the 2026 World Cup.

This means Lee Carsley will stay on for the final two Nations League group stage matches, away to Greece on 14 November then at home to Republic of Ireland three days later.

Interestingly, there is no definite contract length confirmed for Tuchel in the FA statement.

The Football Association says the appointment of Thomas Tuchel as England manager comes after a recruitment process which began in July, following Euro 2024 and the departure of Gareth Southgate.

The FA says the process, led by CEO Mark Bullingham and men’s technical director John McDermott, saw several candidates interviewed with Tuchel identified as the preferred appointment.

A statement reveals Tuchel signed his contract on 8 October - before England's recent Nations League matches against Greece and Finland - but the announcement was delayed until now to prevent distractions.

This meant interim manager Lee Carsley, who was quite evasive about his future in the role during the recent international break, knew Tuchel was coming in to replace him soon.

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England

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New England manager Thomas Tuchel, quoted in the FA statement, external announcing his appointment: “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 and I am looking forward to starting our journey together.”

England

The FA has just announced that their hunt for a new England men's senior team manager is at an end.

Thomas Tuchel has been officially confirmed as the new manager, with Anthony Barry announced as his assistant.

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Izzy Christiansen
Former England midfielder on BBC Radio 5 Live Breakfast

I think what GarethSouthgate was so successful at was the psychological side of the games, and showing the players were really happy. He brought back the love of putting on the England shirt which was fantastic to see.

Southgate had success as well with two major finals. What success looks like for Thomas Tuchel will be getting England to finals but then winning.

I think his intensity will give England the best possible chance of doing that and his record with knockout football is impressive, so I quite like the shift in style and I’m quite excited to see what he’s going to do with the team.

I think Tuchel will have no filter in regards to making big decisions. I think his record speaks for itself and I think he’ll gain instant respect from players. If you’re a player in that squad, you’re excited.

Raphael Honigstein
German football journalist on BBC Radio 5 Live Breakfast

We’ve seen two different Thomas Tuchels over the last few years. At Chelsea he was incredibly diplomatic, well spoken, humorous, the press loved him. He dealt with the whole Chelsea fiasco when they were sold forcibly. The players liked him by and large.

If the Bayern Munich Tuchel shows up, it will be a possibly be a less happy camp.

If Tuchel goes back to this very refined and relaxed person that he cut at Chelsea then I think great things are in store for England.

Some players like his style of management because he’s quite technical and not very emotional. He’s not a hugger. He’s not one to sing the praises of players publicly. He’s business like. He helps them to play better. He sets the team up by large to do well. Some players react well to that, others want a bit more love.

He loves English players because he felt they don’t need all that. It’s a good fit because he feels his management works really well with English players.

Can a successful club manager still translate that to the international stage?

You only have to look at Germany where Julian Nagelsmann is now in charge to see it can work.

You need a certain seniority, a certain aura, certain authority, when you deal with an international team where you know by definition, players are little bit more famous, a little bit more entitled perhaps.

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