Thomas Tuchel opens up on whether he’ll stay as England manager beyond the 2026 World Cup | OneFootball

Thomas Tuchel has revealed he will be tempted to stay as England manager if they win the World Cup – and said that at the moment, he would like to stay even if they don’t.

The German only signed an 18-month deal when he became England’s third foreign manager and is set to leave his post after the 2026 World Cup.

But while he suffered his first defeat in the job when Senegal won 3-1 in Nottingham on Tuesday, Tuchel believes he is in the right place and would like to extend his tenure – especially if next summer brings glory – but his thoughts also extend to Euro 2028, which England will co-host.

“I will always be tempted to stay, because I love the group and I love the opportunity,” he told Talksport. “It’s an honour to be England’s head coach. I know what is coming after [the World Cup], a huge tournament in England. I will always be tempted. I can tell you that, even if after the disappointing result yesterday.”

Even if England, whose only World Cup win came in 1966 and who have not secured major silverware since, do not triumph next summer, the former Chelsea, Bayern Munich and Paris Saint-Germain manager indicated he will be keen on a new deal.

“If you ask me today, yes,” Tuchel said. “Because, like I said, I feel that I am in the right place. I enjoy to be where I am at the moment. I love the new challenge. I wanted a new challenge. I wanted a new environment. I feel the support, I feel the trust and the respect of the people in the federation. I love the group of players. I want to push them and it just feels right, so a clear yes from my side until today.”

Tuchel also feels England need to channel the spikiness Jude Bellingham brings, rather than having the Real Madrid manager turn on teammates or officials.

“I think he has a certain something,” added Tuchel. “I think he brings an edge, which we welcome and which is needed if we want to achieve big things. It needs to be channelled. The edge needs to be channelled toward the opponent, towards our goal and not to intimidate team-mates, or to be over-aggressive to teammates or referees. But [channel it] towards opponents, yes, and always towards the solution, meaning towards winning.”

Tuchel denied that Bellingham is hard to manage, saying: “Not at all. He is a nice kid and very open, very intelligent, and very easy, so far.”