A whirlwind week has seen the England men’s team go from the leadership of a once untroubled interim manager to the appointment of serial winner Thomas Tuchel as their permanent head coach, for an 18-month period from January 2025 until the summer of 2026.
The speed at which the story developed, with very few leaks until news started to break on Tuesday, surprised many.
Through a combination of BBC sources, interviews and news conferences, we’ve pulled together what we’ve learned about the process that led the Football Association chief executive Mark Bullingham to announce Tuchel as “the best candidate for the job” to give England the “best chance of winning the 2026 World Cup”.
The key points in summary
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The FA says its managerial search began in July.
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Tuchel told the BBC the FA first approached him in late August.
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Tuchel signed his contract on Tuesday, 8 October – two days before England’s surprise defeat by Greece sparked fresh speculation about the permanent manager position and the recruitment process.
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At a similar time, before the Greece game, a senior FA source told the BBC the recruitment process was “going well”.
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Sources told the BBC Bullingham led a 30-minute call to the FA board on 8 October to inform them Tuchel was ready to sign.
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Bullingham has said “approximately 10” candidates were spoken to, including English coaches, but we have been told the board members were not informed of any other potential candidates.
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The Tuchel news did not start to leak until Tuesday, 15 October, with some media reports still speculating over an approach to Manchester City boss Pep Guardiola on Tuesday morning.
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Two sources told the BBC the FA did make an approach to Guardiola earlier in the summer.
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Both Tuchel and Bullingham said the “confidential process” involved only them and FA technical director John McDermott, who met with Tuchel in Munich.
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BBC Sport has been told by sources the short, “focused” 18-month project idea was driven by Tuchel.
The job advert in July
The job advert published in July said the FA wanted someone with “significant experience of English football, with a strong track record delivering results in the Premier League and/or leading international competitions”.
That appeared to leave the door open for Newcastle boss Eddie Howe, former Brighton and Chelsea head coach Graham Potter and U21 European Championship-winning boss Lee Carsley. But with the FA always making clear it was open to appointing a foreign manager, the feeling was a big international name was the preferred option.
The reality is there are only three English head coaches in the Premier League, plus out-of-work Potter. The homegrown choices were limited.
Questions have been asked of what Tuchel’s appointment means for the St George’s Park pathway of developing young British coaches, and whether there is a shortage of elite managers.
Bullingham put it simply: “We wanted to get the very best for the job”.
The other candidates
There had been conflicting media reports around the process of recruiting Gareth Southgate’s successor. The FA was not guiding journalists either way on specific candidates, which meant speculative reports were published without any official comment from the FA.
Tuchel told the BBC the FA first approached him in late August.
Until very recently there had been a sense the FA was in no rush to name a replacement for Southgate, with interim Carsley in place for the autumn Nations League matches, and World Cup qualifying not starting until March.
Indeed, there were some reports within the past fortnight that Bullingham and McDermott – who led the recruitment process – had not even spoken to potential candidates such as Howe, Potter and Jurgen Klopp.
When pressed by BBC Sport at Thursday’s news conference at Wembley, Bullingham said “approximately 10 people”, including “English candidates”, were interviewed.
Potter has given nothing away in recent TV appearances and Newcastle boss Howe may well be asked about the England job at his Friday news conference.
Earlier in the week – just before Tuchel’s FA talks were reported – BBC Sport was told by two sources that the FA did make an approach to Guardiola earlier in the summer. Both Manchester City and the FA declined to comment.
Former Newcastle striker and BBC pundit Alan Shearer told Radio 5 live that he understood there was no approach to Howe.
Match of the Day’s Gary Lineker told the Rest is Football podcast he understood the FA had spoken to Real Madrid manager Carlo Ancelotti. BBC Sport has not been able to verify either claim.
The initial approach
Speaking to BBC Radio 5 Live’s football correspondent John Murray, Bullingham said the FA “did a lot of work before the Euros” to identify “the ideal characteristic and profile of an England manager” to help them try to win a tournament, and that Tuchel “fitted that really well”.
Sources have told BBC Sport that McDermott met Tuchel in Munich before a second meeting with Bullingham.
Bullingham said Tuchel was “always on our target list” and so they made a “proactive approach to speak to him”.
Tuchel said the “idea” was presented by McDermott and Bullingham “very fast, [and] confidential” and in a “very straightforward” way.
At that point, the FA was still speaking to other people “in the industry”, Bullingham said.
Bullingham added: “He [Tuchel] was outstanding, he gave a really strong presentation, outlined how he felt he could help us win and the chemistry felt really good, and we concluded the partnership quite soon after that.”
Sources have told BBC Sport that there was a real sense of keeping it personal between a group of four – including Tuchel’s agent – and to limit the chat over messages.
Concluding the deal quickly and below radar
During this two-week international break interim manager Carsley gave two confusing news conferences, on Thursday, 10 October and again on Sunday, 13 October.
Both were after England games in front of the media. Both times he seemed to tie himself in knots over whether he was in the running for the full-time England job and whether he even wanted it.
BBC Sport was told by a senior FA figure 10 days ago – before the damaging Greece defeat – that the recruitment process was going “very well”.
Perhaps that was a reference to the secret talks with Tuchel.
Maybe they had been stung by reports of inertia, or the risk of Tuchel being a target for Manchester United, who spoke to the German coach in the summer.
Could the fact United stuck with Erik ten Hag – despite their poor start to the season – have pushed Tuchel towards England?
There was a convenient theory that with Carsley’s candidacy effectively over after the defeat by Greece last week, the FA’s hand was forced.
But we now know Tuchel signed his contract with the governing body two days before that match.
Astonishingly, in the era of 24-7 media coverage and the interest in the England role as one of the biggest jobs in world football, Tuchel’s appointment did not leak.
There were a handful of reports of ‘talks’ in German media, which were played down at the time by Tuchel’s representatives when BBC Sport approached them for comment.
BBC Sport was told Bullingham led a call to the FA board late afternoon on Tuesday, 8 October, which lasted around half an hour.
The board was told the contract was ready to be signed, and that the FA’s remuneration committee had been through all the terms and conditions with Tuchel.
Board members were not asked for their views, but nor did anyone speak out against the appointment. The board members were told that a number of candidates had been interviewed but they were not told who they were, sources told BBC Sport.
How much is Tuchel being paid?
Bullngham told BBC Sport’s Murray that Tuchel “fitted within” the FA’s “really tight salary structure” – in the same way Southgate did on a reported £5m-6m a year.
A senior FA source told BBC Sport Tuchel is being paid slightly more than Southgate’s most recent deal.
Bullingham said the FA “cannot afford to match the salaries the top clubs pay” but that the talented, young England squad and the structure around it was “something special to offer”.
“To be fair, there were quite a few coaches interested who saw the opportunity way beyond financial measures,” said Bullingham.
“Thomas absolutely bought into that. This is about far more than money for him and the team.”
No Nations League – why only 18-month contract?
BBC Sport has been told Tuchel thought he might only ever be a club coach – until the idea of having 18 months to deal with knockout games and the chance of winning the World Cup with the group of players that England has was an option too good to turn down.
The fact Tuchel has only signed his contract for 18 months is understood to be driven by the coach himself.
Sources told the BBC Tuchel sees the 18 months as a project and that he has a specific idea of how to attack that period of time.
His knockout record is strong and the fact the World Cup and the qualifiers would have a similar feel plays into the coach’s strength of delivering results when it matters.
After the World Cup there’s a period for both parties to sit down and assess what has happened in the tournament and whether they would like to continue.
Asked about why the new manager will only start in January, Bullingham said Tuchel was “always clear that he wanted his absolute focus on the World Cup”.
That approach explains why Carsley will remain in charge for the next two Nations League games in November before handing over the reins.
Bullingham added: “To come in on the first of January, on an initial 18-month project, to see if he can do as good as possible in the USA – it worked for him and it worked for us.
“He is absolutely able to be in contact with us [before then], but the reality is, he is going to leave that to Lee.
“It’s Lee’s camp to run, they are Lee’s games to run, of course he is available if he ever wants to speak to him, but Thomas takes over on 1 January.”