Tuchel's Contract Secured
England Extends Thomas Tuchel's Contract Through Euro 2028, Includes Performance Clauses
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Key Points
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Bullingham said Tuchel would not receive an unconditional guarantee of staying on regardless of results, adding: “I think he could always get approaches… That’s a reality of any top performer in any walk of life.”
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The extension builds on Tuchel’s earlier appointment details: he formally took up the England role on 1 January 2025 after the FA and Tuchel agreed a two-year contract earlier in 2025.
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Bullingham described the FA’s reasoning against waiting by noting that Tuchel was already “in demand”: “we knew we had someone who was doing a really good job and we can’t just expect someone to wait around and just leave it and see how you go,” and he also said the FA could “hold him to the contract.”
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The FA cited “stability and control” while explicitly addressing timing concerns tied to other jobs: Bullingham said, “We’d actually started speaking to him a little bit before that managerial merry-go-round started… so, no, it wasn’t.”
England manager Thomas Tuchel has signed a two-year contract extension through Euro 2028, but the deal comes with a catch. GB News reports that Football Association chief executive Mark Bullingham confirmed the contract includes performance clauses tied to the World Cup, meaning Tuchel's reign through the home European Championship is far from guaranteed.
Bullingham made the announcement on June 17, 2026, just ahead of England's World Cup opener against Croatia in North America. He was direct about the stakes: Tuchel would not get an unconditional guarantee. "I think he could always get approaches," Bullingham said. "That's a reality of any top performer in any walk of life."
Performance Clauses Give FA an Exit if Results Disappoint
The extension is not a blank check. Yahoo Sports reports the FA inserted specific performance-based break clauses into the deal. Bullingham confirmed the clauses exist but declined to name the exact triggers. Historically, such clauses are tied to tournament milestones — for example, failing to reach a quarterfinal.
Bullingham framed the clauses as standard practice, not a punishment. His goal was to avoid uncertainty "hanging over" a major tournament. The message to fans and media was clear: focus on the pitch, not the contract. But the fine print means a poor World Cup could still end Tuchel's tenure early.
FA Moved Fast to Block Club Interest in Tuchel
The FA did not wait for the World Cup to play out before opening talks. Bullingham said the FA began conversations with Tuchel before the so-called "managerial merry-go-round" started spinning. Rumors had linked Tuchel to top European vacancies, including potential openings at Real Madrid and Paris Saint-Germain.
"We knew we had someone who was doing a really good job and we can't just expect someone to wait around," Bullingham said. He added the FA could "hold him to the contract" — but acknowledged that a manager of Tuchel's profile will always attract interest. Tuchel formally began his England role on January 1, 2025, on an initial two-year deal.
A Flawless Qualifying Campaign Earned Tuchel His New Deal
Tuchel's case for an extension was built on results. England won every match in their 2025–26 World Cup qualifying campaign — a 100% win rate. That record gave the FA both the confidence to extend and the leverage to demand performance standards in return. Head Topics notes the extension runs specifically through Euro 2028.
Euro 2028 is a home tournament for England, hosted across the UK and Ireland. The FA sees Tuchel — a Champions League winner with Bayern Munich and Chelsea — as the right manager to handle that pressure. Securing him now, rather than after a World Cup, avoids a scramble for a top manager in 2026.
What a Poor World Cup Would Actually Mean for Tuchel
The contract extension shifts the immediate pressure away from job security and onto results. With the deal signed, there is no "will he stay?" story to distract from England's matches. But the performance clauses keep the FA in control. CA Yahoo Sports reports that if England underperforms, the FA retains the right to make a change.
Bullingham was careful not to define "underperformance." That ambiguity is likely intentional — it keeps pressure on Tuchel without publicly setting a specific target like a semifinal. England's opener against Croatia now carries extra weight. A loss would not end Tuchel's tenure on its own, but it would put the contract's fine print firmly in the spotlight.
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