FA CEO Mark Bullingham says the appointment of Thomas Tuchel as the new England men’s senior head coach was made with the ambition of winning the 2026 FIFA World Cup.
The former Paris Saint-Germain, Chelsea and Bayern Munich boss was at Wembley Stadium for the first time on Wednesday, when he joined Bullingham to face the media following the announcement earlier that morning.
Tuchel was joined at the national stadium by his assistant coach Anthony Barry, who he worked with at both Chelsea and Bayern Munich.
And Bullingham spoke more about the process of appointing a new England head coach, following the departure of Gareth Southgate after EURO 2024.
"This is a really exciting day for the English game, we've appointed one of the most exciting coaches in the world and one of the best young English coaches as his number two,” he said.
"Our aim is always to win a major tournament and we believe Thomas gives us the best possible chance to do that at the next men's World Cup.
"We had a clear recruitment plan in place before the EUROs, when [technical director] John McDermott and his team developed our ideal profile of an international coach and a shortlist if we needed it.
"After Gareth resigned, we executed that plan and we met and evaluated potential candidates.
"It was a confidential process and while that might be frustrating for people, we had to maintain that confidentiality for us but also more importantly for the candidates.
"We interviewed approximately ten people and we did interview some English candidates within that.
"Thomas was absolutely outstanding, providing a really clear vision for the role and how he would work with our players to get the best out of them and to give us the best chance in the World Cup.
"We were delighted to sign contracts with Thomas last Tuesday [8 October], but wanted to wait until after the international window was over before we announced.
"We're also delighted that Anthony is joining us, as one of the most exciting young English coaches around.
"I'd like to thank Lee Carsley for stepping into the role for six matches, he's handled himself really well and I'm sure he will continue to do so.
"Lee will manage the team for the November international window and then return to lead the under-21s in trying to defend their European championship title.
"I'd also like to thank Gareth [Southgate] and Steve [Holland]. The fact we had such a high level of interest in this role is testament to the foundations they laid over their eight years with us.
"We were always really clear that we wanted the very best person for the job. We feel like we owe it to the players and the country to give them that support and leadership in tournaments, which can help to get them over the line and give us the best chance of winning a trophy in the men's World Cup.
"We feel we've done that and we’re delighted that Thomas has joined us.”
