Thomas Tuchel explains reason behind short-term England contract

Tuchel has signed an 18-month contract taking him up to the end of the 2026 World Cup

Thomas Tuchel has confirmed his contract as England manager lasts only 18 months and that there will need to be talks with the Football Association following the 2026 World Cup about his future.

Tuchel was unveiled by FA chief executive Mark Bullingham at a press conference at Wembley Stadium on Wednesday. The 51-year-old German has signed a short-term deal that will formally begin in January and will take him up until the end of the World Cup in America the following summer.

Asked whether he was comfortable with getting perhaps only one shot at winning a major trophy with England, Tuchel joked that he has “good experience with 18 months” – a reference to his curtailed spells as Paris Saint-Germain, Chelsea and Bayern Munich – and explained that international football was a “step into the unknown”.

“It’s 18 months and then we agreed to sit together and then we see,” Tuchel said, before joking: “I’m working on my long-term game! You never know.”

He added: “The point was, in this particular case, that it was important for me to have a frame around it because it’s a little bit of a step into the unknown for me. I am used to working on a daily basis with the staff, I’m used to working on a daily basis with the team to have the influence on 60-80 people in a training camp every single day, to be three days a week away in hotel rooms and prepare matches. And this will be very different.

“The last piece for me is to understand that this is something that can really excite me to the fullest and that was the timeframe of 18 months, and to also demand from myself to not lose the focus, for all of us. So I think it’s a good timeframe, because it will help us to focus.

“We are focused on the qualification and on the World Cup. It will help us in the qualification process. It will help us in the communication towards the players within the staff. So I think this is now very streamlined and very easy to explain. We are here to work on the best possible outcome for the World Cup ‘26, and then let’s see. Whatever comes, comes.”

Tuchel would not be drawn on whether he would sing the national anthem God Save the King before matches, but joked that he was “sorry” not to be English and vowed to win over his doubters on the pitch.

FA chief executive Mark Bullingham alongside the next England manager, Thomas Tuchel (John Walton/PA Wire)

“I just have a German passport, but I hope all of the supporters felt my passion for the English Premier League [while in charge of Chelsea], my passion for the country, how I love to live here, and how I love to work here. My memories are on the highest level. That played a huge role.

“Hopefully I can convince them and show them and prove to them that I’m proud to be the English manager. I will do everything to show respect to this role and to this country, and the target for the next 18 months is nothing else than the biggest one in world football. Everyone can be assured of that, no matter what nationality my passport is.”

Tuchel added: “Everyone has their opinion and I can understand even an opinion when someone says, ‘I would fancy an English coach more for the English team’, I can understand it. But I think we deserve a fair chance, we deserve the credit for having a good record in the country, for never being shy of how much we love to live in the country and how much we enjoy to work with the players in Premier League.

“So maybe this counts a little bit for a British edge on my German passport! And so we will try to convince them by results, and by the way.”