Tuchel's Future as England Manager Amid Guardiola's Availability
Pep Guardiola once shook hands on a “verbal agreement” to become England manager before Thomas Tuchel took the job – and the Catalan could yet circle back into the frame.
The revelation has resurfaced at a delicate moment for the FA. England’s World Cup exit to Argentina in the semi-final has reopened every old argument about how this team should play, and who should lead it. Tuchel’s side were in front, then folded late. The manner of the defeat, more than the result itself, has fuelled the backlash.
Tuchel under fire, Guardiola back in the conversation
Tuchel’s tactics against Argentina have been savaged across the week. England led, then lost control, and were picked off by a late comeback. For a fanbase that has lived through its share of glorious failures, this felt painfully familiar.
That frustration has quickly found a focal point. A section of supporters and pundits now want Tuchel out and Guardiola in, pointing to the former Manchester City manager’s availability after he walked away from the Etihad at the end of last season.
Guardiola has long been an object of fascination for the FA. According to The Athletic, he went beyond polite talks and actually reached a verbal agreement to succeed Gareth Southgate, only to reverse course and sign an extension at City. When he chose continuity in Manchester, England pivoted. Tuchel was appointed in January 2025.
Now Guardiola is a free agent again. On the face of it, nothing fundamental has changed about his interest in the England role; he had previously been willing to take it on, and there is no suggestion that door is closed from his side.
Contract clauses and cold reality
The clamour, though, is running into hard contractual facts. The FA is highly unlikely to sack Tuchel on the back of a World Cup semi-final, and internally his position has been strengthened, not weakened, by the tournament.
Key clauses in Tuchel’s deal allowed both parties to walk away if England had crashed out before the quarter-finals. Those escape hatches were built in for precisely the kind of early implosion that can poison a project. They were never triggered.
An extra exemption was even written in when it became clear England were on course to face Mexico at the Estadio Azteca in the last 16, a tie loaded with jeopardy. Tuchel’s team survived that test, edging a wild 3-2 contest, and from that point the contractual safety nets were effectively out of reach.
Reaching the last four – only the fourth World Cup semi-final in England’s history – ensured those clauses stayed dormant. The FA will still conduct its standard post-tournament review, but all signals point in one direction: Tuchel remains their man.
Long-term bet on Tuchel
This is not a short-term marriage. Earlier this year, the FA underlined its faith by handing Tuchel a contract extension that runs through Euro 2028. That decision was about more than one tournament cycle; it was a statement that they see him as the architect of a long-term identity for the national team.
Tuchel, for his part, has shown no desire to bolt at the first sign of turbulence. When Manchester United sounded him out in January after sacking Ruben Amorim, he turned them down. He has been content in the England role and prepared to ride out the storms that come with it.
So the picture is stark. On one side, a restless public and the tantalising prospect of Guardiola, the coach the FA once thought they had secured. On the other, a governing body that has already nailed its colours to Tuchel’s mast and is backing a manager who has, by historical standards, delivered a deep World Cup run.
Guardiola may yet manage England one day. The intrigue will not disappear while he is on the market and the memory of that near-miss agreement lingers. But for now, barring a dramatic change of heart at Wembley, the job belongs to Tuchel – and the next chapter of this story will be written on the road to Euro 2028, not in a hurried post-World Cup reshuffle.
