Following confirmation of Thomas Tuchel’s appointment as England manager, Sports Mole looks at who his first match could come against.
Eight days after he had officially put pen to paper on his England contract, Thomas Tuchel was confirmed as the new head coach of the Three Lions on Wednesday morning.
The former Chelsea, Bayern Munich and Paris Saint-Germain boss had agreed to take charge of the 1966 World Cup winners at the start of the October international break, but the announcement was delayed to minimise disruption for interim manager Lee Carsley and his squad before their clashes with Greece and Finland.
Carsley will remain in charge of the senior team for their final two UEFA Nations League matches against Greece and the Republic of Ireland in November, before going back to manage the Under-21s – as he suggested he would – while Tuchel and assistant Anthony Barry prepare to take charge from January 1, 2025.
Carsley had masterminded three wins from his first four games as caretaker England manager in the Nations League, following up a shock 2-1 home loss to Greece with a 3-1 triumph over Finland in League B Group 2.
The Three Lions have been left second in the standings following October’s mixed results, three points behind a perfect Greece side – whom they meet in Athens on November 14 – in first place and six clear of third-placed Ireland, their final opponents of the year on November 17.
Tuchel set to manage first England match in March
© Imago
With England on nine points, Greece on 12, Ireland on three and fourth-placed Finland on zero, the Three Lions cannot finish bottom of League B Group 2 – and thus suffer immediate relegation to League C – but all other possibilities are open.
Should the Three Lions maintain their current second-placed standing, they would qualify for next year’s relegation/promotion playoffs, where they would take on one of four third-placed League A sides for the right to return to the top tier of the Nations League.
The draw for those two-legged ties will take place on November 22 once all group fixtures are concluded, before the playoffs take place on March 20 and March 23, with all second-placed League B sides hosting the first leg.
As things stand, the only League A sides that England cannot face in the playoffs are Spain and Tuchel’s home nation Germany – both of whom have already guaranteed a top-two finish in their respective groups – but the likes of Portugal, Italy, France, Belgium, Croatia and the Netherlands are capable of placing third.
Poland, Belgium, Hungary and Serbia are currently occupying the four third-placed spots in League A, while Bosnia-Herzegovina, Switzerland, Israel and Scotland could also qualify for the playoffs.
Who could England face from Nations League Group C?
© Imago
Alternatively, if England lose both of their matches next month and Ireland win both of theirs – while also making up the 2-0 deficit from their first match with the Three Lions in September – Tuchel’s first match could be in the League B/League C relegation/promotion playoffs.
In that scenario, England would face one of the runners-up from the third tier on March 20 and 23, playing away in the first leg before hosting the second, and there are currently 12 League C teams in playoff contention.
Slovakia, Kosovo, Belarus and Armenia are all sitting second in their respective League C groups, but Sweden, Romania, Northern Ireland, Bulgaria, Luxembourg, North Macedonia, Latvia and Faroe Islands can mathematically finish in the runners-up spot too.
However, if England manage to overtake Greece at the top of the League B Group 2 standings, they would be automatically promoted back to League A without the need for a two-legged playoff.
In that scenario, Tuchel’s first game as head coach would come in World Cup 2026 qualifying in March, although no date has been set for the UEFA draw yet.