Thomas Tuchel’s tenure as England manager will be defined by whether he can steer the Three Lions to World Cup glory in 2026. The German led out his new team against Albania at Wembley on 21st March for the first qualifier for the tournament, with a 2-0 victory at Wembley followed by a comfortable 3-0 success against Latvia three days later.
Bigger tests will come, but none more so than when, as expected, England begin their latest World Cup finals campaign, with eyes set on a first triumph since 1966.
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Plenty of managers have experienced the sensation of qualifying easily before failing spectacularly at a major competition. Fabio Capello, Sven-Goran Eriksson and Roy Hodgson failed to reach the final tournament highs that they did during qualification.
Tuchel could be the one to finally lead England to another major international title. With his first game potentially showing signs of things to come, we have taken a look back at every England manager’s first matches in charge.
There have been 15 permanent England managers, so sit back, grab a drink and enjoy this trip down through the years.
1 Walter Winterbottom Ireland 2-7 England, 1946 British Home Championship
Walter Winterbottom became the first manager of the England national team in 1946. Prior to this, the team was picked by a variety of international selectors, who also chose the starting XI.
Winterbottom was in charge of the nation between 1946 and 1963, with his first match coming against Ireland in the 1946 British Home Championship.
It proved to be an excellent start, as England ran out 7-2 winners over their opponents. His last match came against Wales in November 1962, a 4-0 victory in the same competition – one that he won 13 times during his spell as head coach.
2 Sir Alf Ramsey France 5-2 England, 1964 European Nations' Cup qualifying
Alf Ramsey will go down in the history books as the first – and so far, only manager – to lead England to a major international trophy, winning the World Cup in 1966.
However, his reign got off to the worst possible start as they suffered a hammering at the hands of France.
The 5-2 defeat ensured England wouldn’t qualify for the main stages of the 1964 European Nations’ Cup (later to be known as the European Championship), which was won by Spain.
Along with the World Cup in 1966, Ramsey led England to the quarter-finals of the 1970 edition, falling to West Germany, while they qualified for the 1968 European Championship, losing to Yugoslavia in the semi-finals.
His last match came in 1973 as England failed to qualify for the World Cup the following year.
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2 ByBen Browning 3 Don Revie England 3-0 Czechoslovakia, Euro 1976 qualifying
Don Revie took Leeds United from the Second Division to the top flight before making them arguably the finest club in England. Two league titles were won, along with the FA Cup and League Cup, but they should have won more.
With this in mind, he was the best choice to lead England, and his first match in charge was a success, securing a 3-0 win over Czechoslovakia in 1974.
England failed to qualify for the 1976 European Championship, as the team Revie had defeated in his first match eventually went on to win the competition.
4 Ron Greenwood England 0-0 Switzerland, friendly
Ron Greenwood led West Ham United to the FA Cup in 1964 and the European Cup Winners’ Cup the following year. His appointment in 1977 was seen as a safe choice.
His first match was a friendly clash against Switzerland which finished 0-0. During his reign, he secured qualification for the 1982 World Cup. Although they made it to the second group stage, England failed to score in their two games and were eliminated.
5 Sir Bobby Robson Denmark 2-2 England, Euro 1984 qualifying
Sir Bobby Robson’s success at Ipswich Town, winning the FA Cup and UEFA Cup, indicated that he was the best choice for the role.
His first match against Denmark ended in a 2-2 draw. The Danes ended up securing the qualifying spot for the 1984 European Championship. Robson eventually led England to the finals of the World Cup in 1986 and Euro 1988.
It was their performance at Italia 90 which gave Robson a great send-off as they made it to the semifinals, losing to West Germany.
6 Graham Taylor England 1-0 Hungary, friendly
Graham Taylor’s first match in charge of England was a 1-0 win over Hungary at Wembley. He managed to lead the nation to Euro 1992, although England failed to make it beyond the group stage.
More strife was to come, as Taylor couldn’t steer England to the 1994 World Cup, suffering defeats to the Netherlands and Norway in qualifying.
7 Terry Venables England 1-0 Denmark, friendly
Terry Venables took over the job from Taylor, securing a win over Denmark in his first match in charge. Due to England hosting Euro 1996, England didn’t play any qualifiers, relying on various friendlies to keep them ticking over.
A run to the semi-finals of the competition was England’s best display since the 1990 World Cup, but the penalty-shootout defeat to Germany proved to be Venables’ final match in charge of his country.
8 Glenn Hoddle Moldova 0-3 England, 1998 World Cup qualifying
Glenn Hoddle secured an easy 3-0 win over Moldova in his first game in charge of the Three Lions, which featured a young David Beckham making his England debut.
He led the nation to the 1998 World Cup and hopes were high for the tournament. Facing Argentina in the last 16, England were (once again) knocked out on penalties.
His last match came against the Czech Republic in November that same year.
9 Kevin Keegan England 3-1 Poland, Euro 2000 qualifying
Kevin Keegan’s reign got off to a flyer, defeating Poland 3-1 as they secured a win in their hopes of qualifying for Euro 2000.
They sealed their place at the tournament held by Belgium and the Netherlands, but defeats to Portugal and Romania ensured the nation flew home early.
He resigned after a 1-0 loss to Germany in October 2000, allegedly in the toilets.
10 Sven-Goran Eriksson England 3-0 Spain, friendly
Sven-Goran Eriksson became the first foreign coach of England, and began his tenure with an impressive 3-0 win over Spain in a friendly.
Across his five and a half years in charge, Eriksson led the nation to the quarter-finals at the World Cups in 2002 and 2006, as well as at Euro 2004.
Having the so-called ‘golden generation’ at his disposal, he ought to have reached at least one final, but penalties proved to be his undoing more often than not.
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