Wayne Rooney on Thomas Tuchel's Future with England

Wayne Rooney believes the Football Association should hold its nerve with Thomas Tuchel – unless, somehow, Pep Guardiola walks through the door.

Tuchel remains in post after England’s 2-1 World Cup semi-final defeat to Argentina on Wednesday, a night when a controlled 1-0 lead unravelled late on and his substitutions came under fierce scrutiny. The German has made it clear he intends to stay and lead the Three Lions into Euro 2028, and the FA has backed him to do so.

Rooney, though, sees one scenario where that plan should be ripped up.

Speaking on The Wayne Rooney Show, the former England captain said: "I don't see anyone else out there at the minute, unless you go and get Pep Guardiola. If Pep is available, then maybe you go and get him."

That is the bar Rooney sets. Guardiola or Tuchel. Nobody in between.

"I think he is a top-class manager and what the top managers do, they learn from the mistakes and they improve and get better," Rooney said of Tuchel. The message was clear: this is not the time for panic, not after a first World Cup campaign and a semi-final exit decided in the fine margins of knockout football.

The question that lingers over St George’s Park is what comes next if emotion overrules logic. Rooney is blunt on that point.

"If we sack him, what managers are we going to bring in? And I don't think there's anyone out there who's as good as Thomas Tuchel, unless Guardiola."

There is a caveat, though, and it cuts to the heart of England’s long-running tournament angst. Tuchel is still a novice on this particular stage.

"But the big thing for me is he's not experienced at World Cups. We had the exact same with [Fabio] Capello. The World Cup is different and you need to feel that environment and now he's felt it."

That experience, painful as it was, may yet be the making of him as an international coach.

Tuchel’s position was strengthened in February when he signed a two-year contract extension, building on the 18‑month deal he agreed when he was appointed in January 2025 with a clear brief: win the World Cup. The FA had already explored the Guardiola dream before turning to Tuchel, with reports of a verbal agreement that never quite turned into a signature.

Rooney has not forgotten that either, and he did not shy away from questioning the timing of the new deal.

"I think the FA told us that Thomas Tuchel was coming in to win the World Cup and take us to the next level," he said. "It's a little bit strange if its priority was to win the World Cup, but then you get a two-year contract before you actually go to the World Cup. That's a bit strange."

England now stand at a familiar crossroads: trust the project and the manager who has just taken the country to a World Cup semi-final, or chase the one coach Rooney believes sits above the rest. The FA went for Tuchel once when Guardiola was out of reach. The real intrigue lies in what happens if that equation ever changes.