Thomas Tuchel sack? FA make instant decision on axing German as England boss takes 'full responsibility' for World Cup exit

Thomas Tuchel retains the full backing of the Football Association and has been instantly given the backing of chief executive Mark Bullingham to continue in the job for the 2028 European Championships, despite the anger and pain felt at the manner of England’s World Cup exit to Argentina on Wednesday night.

The Three Lions had one foot in the World Cup final when Anthony Gordon expertly tucked in Morgan Rogers’ cross to put them 1-0 up in the 55th minute.

But instead of pressing home their advantage and putting Argentina to the sword, England retreated into their shell, with Tuchel bringing on a number of defensive substitutions aimed at seeing the game out.

It was a tactic that backfired badly when Enzo Fernández scored a brilliant 85th-minute equaliser, before Lautaro Martínez headed home a 90+3 minute winner to send the side home in the cruellest of circumstances and deny them a first World Cup final place in 60 years.

After the game, several fans and pundits aired their anger at Tuchel for his in-game decisions, which many believe denied England their shot at beating Spain and winning their first major silverware since 1966.

The pain at that exit was expressed no better than this article from our sister site Football365, which angrily pointed the finger fully at the German boss and drew up 16 conclusions from the game.

That has led to suggestions that Tuchel will face a fight to retain his job amid calls that the most painful of exits in Atlanta could lead to the sack.

Despite that, the Daily Mail insist that Tuchel retains the ‘full confidence’ from the FA to continue in the job and the 52-year-old will be trusted to lead England into the 2028 European Championships, which are due to take place in England, Scotland and Ireland.

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Tuchel takes ‘full responsibility’ for England’s World Cup exit

Bullingham did not mention Tuchel’s contract in his post-match comments, though the Mail are adamant that he remains fully behind the head coach and there are no plans to remove him from the role.

“It is heartbreaking to be so close,” Bullingham said. “The players and Thomas gave it everything today, and the squad, coaches and staff could not have worked harder during the tournament.

“I would like to thank them all – and also give my heartfelt thanks to our wonderful fans here in the USA and at home.

“We felt your support every step of the way, and we are all so disappointed not to go further.”

Tuchel, meanwhile, has accepted the blame for Wednesday’s 2-1 loss, though he insists he has no regrets about his substitutions.

“We’re disappointed; we were so close, but we got too passive after we scored and conceded a lot of chances,” he began.

“We could not turn the ball possession around and then conceded so many crosses, chances and shots.

“We were close but couldn’t keep the level up after we scored.”

When asked about his substitutions, Tuchel said: “I did also offensive substitutions in the last games; we just tried to help the players.

“We conceded [a chance] straight away, and we decided to go to a back five because the gaps were far too open.

“They won every header; they kept crossing and crossing, so we went to a back five to close the gaps inside and be strong in the air. Straight after our goal, without any substitutions, we conceded way too many crosses and way too many chances, so we tried to help.

“Of course, the responsibility is on the coach, and if it doesn’t go well, it is easy to say it was wrong.”

On his thoughts of going for the second goal, the German boss said: “Yes, but it doesn’t help if you can’t get the ball. We couldn’t get out.

“Of course we wanted to go for the second goal, but I did not have the feeling that offensive substitutions would help. We stayed in our 4-4-2, but we became passive, more and more passive.

“We couldn’t win any balls; we couldn’t keep the ball, so I think it was not a structural problem; we changed nothing. But the match changed completely.

“It’s no problem; I can understand these discussions are out there and there are millions of coaches after the game who know it better.”

Tuchel was further asked if changes put more pressure on the defence.

England boss plans ‘full analysis’

The England boss responded by saying: “You can discuss this with a million coaches [but] I have to decide on the pitch.

“I analysed the match, and I did it a certain way, so that’s my responsibility.

“In the moment, no regrets. The team gave everything, and we were very, very close. We deserved to be up 1-0.

“We played one of our better matches, maybe our best match in the circumstances. The team was top; we couldn’t get over the line, but no regrets.

“I think we saw the mentality throughout the match and the strong group.

“We played the matches how they were, we played against strong teams in the group, travelled a lot of miles, played at altitude, we played with 10 men, we played in the heat, and we overcame every obstacle.

“We were very close today. It’s not the moment to analyse the full tournament; we just went our because we lost a crucial match.”

Asked about his future, he continued: “There’s still a match to play,” he said, ahead of England’s third-place play-off with France on Saturday.

“And then, of course, we keep on going until the home Euros, and I’m looking forward to that.”

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