Wayne Rooney wants Thomas Tuchel to stay but only if Pep Guardiola can’t be hired

Ever since England’s semifinal ouster earlier this week at the FIFA World Cup, coach Thomas Tuchel’s job is under scrutiny.

Updated on: Jul 18, 2026, 17:45:25 IST

Written by Prateek Srivastava

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England legend Wayne Rooney has made it clear that he wants Pep Guardiola to coach the Three Lions after their semi-final exit at the hands of Argentina at the 2026 FIFA World Cup.

Wayne Rooney has made his position clear. (REUTERS)

Wait, there is a caveat: If England can not bring the former Manchester City manager on board, they should stick with the current coach, Thomas Tuchel.

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

"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.

"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 it's Guardiola.

"But the big thing for me is he's not experienced at World Cups. We had the exact same with [Fabio] Capello [who coached the Three Lions in the 2010 World Cup to a Round of 16 appearance].

"The World Cup is different, and you need to feel that environment, and now he's felt it," the former England striker added.

Another heartbreak!

England went into the World Cup with loads of hopes, having not won any major trophy since 1966. There were many players in the squad who featured in the last two finals of the Euros. Plus, they had a talismanic captain in Harry Kane. And at one time they appeared on course leading 1-0, thanks to Anthony Gordon's goal in the 55th minute, but then they conceded two goals at the fag end of the match, in the 85th minute and in the second minute of stoppage time. Enzo Fernandez and Lautaro Martinez instantly became heroes for Argentina as the English team was shown the door. Tuchel, earlier this year in February, signed a two-year contract extension, which surprised Rooney a lot since at the time of his appointment in January 2025, the Football Association said Tuchel was coming on board only to win the World Cup.

"I think the FA told us that Thomas Tuchel was coming in to win the World Cup and take us to the next level.

"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," Rooney said.

ABOUT THE AUTHOR
Prateek Srivastava
Prateek Srivastava is a senior sports journalist having been in the profession for two decades now. He started his print career with the India Today Group and later also worked for the Asian Age. In 2009, sensing the wind of change, he switched to the digital media and joined Mobile ESPN. There, he covered the 2011 Cricket World Cup and 2010 Hockey World Cup as a venue reporter. He did plenty of voice-over work too, over there. After leaving Mobile ESPN, Prateek went on to work for Cricketnext, Gocricket and Cricbuzz. At Gocricket (Times Internet Limited), he covered the 2014 T20 World from Bangladesh. There he also received a team leadership award, given at the end of the month. Prateek has also covered the 2016 T20 World Cup in India, this time working for Sportz Interactive. He also worked for Chinese giants Alibaba over two years and led their ""Short News"" content team at UC Browser. While cricket is Prateek’s expertise, he has also done a lot of golf. In fact, he has covered India’s first two European Tour events back in the late noughties. He has also done extensive writing on football having been associated with the Indian Super League for three seasons. Finally, Prateek is a literature aficionado and swears by Philip Roth and Gabriel Garcia Marquez, and when he doesn’t joke, he is usually quiet and at work.Read More

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