Gareth Southgate’s time as manager of England over. The 53-year-old boss fell at the final hurdle for the second Euros in succession during Sunday’s 2-1 defeat to Spain in Berlin and has now confirmed he has left the position as England manager.
The only men’s manager to have reached two major finals, Southgate’s tournament record will have brought him little comfort when Mikel Oyarzabal’s late goal secured a record fourth European Championship for Spain in the German capital. After another tournament final loss, the boss has stepped away in order to give someone else a shot at glory.
While the 53-year-old England head coach publicly said “now is not the time” to discuss his future as the national team boss, there was to be a growing acceptance that the ex-Middlesbrough boss would depart the job in order to return to club football.
But who should replace Southgate? We look at 10 candidates for the England job and assess why the could be the man to lead the Three Lions at World Cup 2028.
1. Thomas Tuchel - 8/15
Tuchel left Bayern Munich at the end of last season and is now hot favourite to be named the next England manager after reports stated the Three Lions have targeted him for the job over the weekend. | AFP via Getty Images Photo: AFP via Getty Images
2. Lee Carsley - 4/1
England's interim boss won the European Under-21 Championship by beating Spain 1–0 in the final last summer and has a 79.31% win ratio with the young Lions. He wouldn't be many fans choice due to his lack of experience in management and his chances of getting the role were dealt a huge blow when he lost to Greece on Thursday night. Has won three of his four games in interim charge. | Naomi Baker Photo: Naomi Baker
3. Pep Guardiola - 11/2
The ultimate dream of every England fan would be to appoint the world's best head coach. A pipe dream - or a possibly? At club level, Pep has won everything with both Barcelona and Manchester City and might just fancy a crack at international football. Reports state the Spanish icon has been 'sounded out' by England officials and will decide on his future in the weeks and months to come. | Getty Images Photo: Getty Images
4. Eddie Howe - 9/1
Another name that has long been tipped as successor, Howe isn't gung-ho with his style, but the Newcastle United boss likes to see his side play attacking football, with his main goal to get his side to stay in the offensive third and create as many goal scoring chances as possible. England bosses could view that as a huge positive. | Getty Images Photo: Getty Images