9 major trophies won 

©TM/IMAGO

For the first time in 15 years, on January 1, 2025, England will line up with a foreign manager in the dugout. This Wednesday the news was announced that Thomas Tuchel had been appointed as England manager, and had signed an 18-month contract. Gareth Southgate resigned in July after England’s defeat to Spain in the Euro 2024 final. Just two previous non-English managers have acquired the job in Sven-Göran Eriksson and Fabio Capello. The nationality of the new England boss has already become a huge talking point, probably more so than it should be in 2024. But for the previous two non-English managers things didn’t pan out well – Eriksson was unable to lead the ‘Golden generation’ past a quarter-final, whilst Capello’s reign was disastrous culminating in the 4-1 defeat to Germany in the 2010 World Cup.

Tuchel arrives with an impressive pedigree, having managed some of Europe’s biggest clubs. Following his appointment, the former Chelsea boss said: “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.” By the 2026 World Cup, which will be his first major tournament in charge, the wait for a major tournament triumph will stretch back 70 years. Could Tuchel be the man to change that? His record in elite club knockout tournaments could stand him in good stead to have a decent chance.

Tuchel’s tournament record assessed 

As illustrated in the graphic above, only four of England’s last 10 permanent managers had won major trophies with a club in Europe’s top-five leagues when appointed. Of the four in question, only Terry Venables, who won LaLiga and the Spanish Cup with Barcelona and the FA Cup with Tottenham, is English. The other five Englishmen all had zero, including Tuchel’s predecessor Gareth Southgate – although Roy Hodgson and Steve McClaren had won silverware with clubs outside the top-five divisions. Tuchel has won nine major trophies, including league titles in Germany and France, and, of course, the Champions League with Chelsea in the 2020/21 season. 

In that very competition – the elite continental competition in global club football – Tuchel boasts a mightily strong record. As you can see in the graphic above, he has never been eliminated in the group stages, and has twice made it to the final, lifting the trophy with Chelsea and narrowly losing 1-0 with PSG to Bayern in 2020. That was also the first and last time that PSG have ever made it to a Champions League final. Even last season, his very own Bayern side beat a strong Arsenal outfit in the quarter-finals, before narrowly losing late on against eventual champions Real Madrid in the semi-finals. 

When it comes to managers who have taken charge of 50+ matches in the modern Champions League format (since 1992/93) only Pep Guardiola (63.6%) and Louis van Gaal (60%) can better Tuchel’s record of winning 59.7% of the matches he has overseen in the competition. His record even beats the likes of three-time winner Zinédine Zidane (58.5%) and fellow German Jürgen Klopp. International tournament football is like no other. With the nature of knockout football, often you could argue the best side doesn’t even win. But usually a team that is solid at the back and set up well is most likely to prosper.

With England boasting such a depth of top class talent, and with their new German boss one of the top managers when it comes to navigating tournament football, Tuchel could just be the man to finally lead England back to glory. No nation in world football had a more valuable squad than England’s (€1.46 billion) in this latest international break. After making it to two finals under Southgate, anything short of lifting the World Cup in New Jersey, USA in 2026 will be deemed as failure. But Tuchel is a man used to taking on tough tasks and will no doubt give his all to try to finally make England world champions again.