Kicking off his quest to bring global glory to Wembley again, newly-appointed England head coach Thomas Tuchel will be leading the Three Lions out for the first time on Friday evening.
The former Chelsea, Bayern Munich and Paris Saint-Germain head coach oversees the start of England’s World Cup 2026 qualifying campaign, beginning with the visit of Albania to Wembley in Group K before Latvia also touch down in the capital next Monday.
Tuchel became the 15th different head coach in the history of the England men’s team when he took the reins from Gareth Southgate, but how many of his predecessors managed to triumph in their opening encounters?
Here, Sports Mole looks at how every previous permanent England men’s manager fared in their first game in charge, omitting caretaker managers such as Lee Carsley, Stuart Pearce, Peter Taylor, Howard Wilkinson and Joe Mercer.
Walter Winterbottom – Northern Ireland 2-7 England (September 27, 1946)
Holding the esteemed honour of being the first-ever permanent head coach of the England men’s team, Walter Winterbottom’s inaugural match was fittingly a thriller, a nine-goal extravaganza with Northern Ireland.
Seven of those strikes came via the boots of the Three Lions in a phenomenal 7-2 victory in the British Home Championship, where Wilf Mannion bagged a hat-trick and the legendary Sir Tom Finney also got his name on the scoresheet.
To date, no man has overseen more matches (139) as England men’s manager than Winterbottom, who also led the Three Lions to World Cup quarter-finals in 1954 and 1962, but he was at the helm for the nation’s heaviest-ever defeat too, 7-1 to Hungary in 1954.
Alf Ramsey – France 5-2 England (Feb 27, 1963)
Following an eight-year stint as Ipswich Town head coach, Sir Alf Ramsey was sworn in as Winterbottom’s successor in 1963, but the iconic figure did not get off to a flying start in the England dugout.
Indeed, his side were thrashed 5-2 by France in a 1964 Euros qualifier and in fact failed to win any of their first three matches under his wing, but that was quickly forgotten when he became the greatest head coach in England’s history… so far.
Nothing more needs to be said about 1966, especially with the men’s years of hurt approaching 60, but after England failed to even make the 1974 global gathering, Ramsey’s golden era was up.
Don Revie – England 3-0 Czechoslovakia (October 30, 1974)
Talk about a tough act to follow – once Mercer’s caretaker spell came to an end, former Leeds United head coach Don Revie was chosen to fill Ramsey’s boots following 13 years and 632 matches in charge of the Whites, with whom he won seven trophies including two English top-flight titles.
Revie’s first match ended in a straightforward 3-0 win versus Czechoslovakia during qualification for Euro 1976, as Colin Bell struck a brace after Mick Channon‘s opener, but the Three Lions could only finish second in their section and failed to qualify for the final tournament.
Revie’s fast start soon turned sour, and he failed to win any of his last five games before quitting in incredibly acrimonious circumstances to take on a lucrative role as UAE manager.
Ron Greenwood – England 0-0 Switzerland (September 7, 1977)
In spookily similar circumstances to Revie, Ron Greenwood had also spent a full 13 years in charge of one club (West Ham United) from 1961 to 1974 before answering the FA’s call in 1977.
However, there was little to write home about in Greenwood’s maiden match, a goalless friendly draw with Switzerland in 1977, and his side crashed out of Euro 1980 in the group stage.
Greenwood’s Three Lions could also only progress to the second group stage of the 1982 World Cup before his tenure fittingly ended as it started; back-to-back 0-0 stalemates with Spain and Germany spelled the end of England’s campaign and Greenwood’s spell as head coach.
Bobby Robson – Denmark 2-2 England (September 22, 1982)
An impossible act to follow for nearly three decades, Sir Bobby Robson took the reins from Greenwood straight after the World Cup in 1982, despite being offered an Erling Haaland-esque 10-year contract extension by Ipswich Town.
Like his immediate predecessor, Robson’s first game also ended honours even, a 2-2 friendly draw with Denmark where Trevor Francis helped himself to a brace in the controversial absence of Kevin Keegan.
Then came the Hand of God, the Goal of the Century and Paul Gascoigne‘s infamous tears at Italia 90, where Robson became the first England men’s manager since Ramsey himself to lead his nation to a World Cup semi-final.
Graham Taylor – England 1-0 Hungary (September 20, 1990)
Initial concerns over Graham Taylor’s appointment as England head coach were eventually proven right, but not before the late Nottinghamshire native brought the customary new manager bounce in 1990.
Taylor’s England beat Hungary 1-0 in his first game thanks to a Gary Lineker goal and even went unbeaten in their first 12 matches under his wing, but his decline was both sudden and painful to witness.
The Three Lions crashed out of Euro 1992 without winning a game, and to top it all off, the 1990 World Cup semi-finalists failed to qualify for the 1994 tournament under Taylor, who quickly resigned from his post amid humiliating attacks from the press.
Terry Venables – England 1-0 Denmark (March 9, 1994)
‘El Tel’ as he will forever be affectionately dubbed, Terry Venables briefly brought the feel-good factor back to England following previous managerial experience with the likes of Barcelona and Tottenham Hotspur.
On March 9, 1994, Venables’s inaugural England game ended in a 1-0 friendly win over Denmark courtesy of a solitary David Platt strike, and Euro 1996 allowed the nation to believe again before another excruciating semi-final exit on penalties to Germany.
Venables never managed another England game after that – although he was Steve McClaren‘s assistant during that forgettable era – but his crop of Three Lions players could only speak in glowing terms about the late manager’s tactical innovation and flexibility.
Glenn Hoddle – Moldova 0-3 England (September 1, 1996)
Leaving his Chelsea comforts behind to succeed Venables following Euro 96, Glenn Hoddle spearheaded England’s qualifying campaign for the 1998 World Cup, bidding to avoid the same fate that Taylor suffered before the 1994 edition.
An opening 3-0 win over Moldova – where Gascoigne, Alan Shearer and Nick Barmby made the net bulge – saw Venables’s reign commence in ideal fashion, and England would go to the 1998 World Cup.
However, after a bitterly painful last-16 exit to Argentina on penalties – featuring the notorious David Beckham–Diego Simeone incident – Hoddle managed just four more England games before being dismissed by the FA in the wake of tasteless comments about people with disabilities.
Kevin Keegan – England 3-1 Poland (March 27, 1999)
The second-shortest reign as permanent England men’s manager belongs to Kevin Keegan, who stepped into Hoddle’s shoes in 1999 and got off to a quick start with a 3-1 Euros qualifying win over Poland.
Hat-trick hero Paul Scholes netted all of the Three Lions’ strikes at Wembley that day, but that was not a sign of things to come, as defeats to Romania and Portugal saw England eliminated from Euro 2000 at the first hurdle.
Keegan did not leave his role in the immediate aftermath of the Euros, but following a 1-1 friendly draw with France and 1-0 loss to Germany in their opening World Cup 2002 qualifier, he soon cleared out his office.
Sven-Goran Eriksson – England 3-0 Spain (February 28, 2001)
The first-ever foreign manager to be appointed England men’s head coach – and a highly charismatic one at that – Sven-Goran Eriksson quickly endeared himself to the Three Lions faithful in February 2001.
Indeed, Barmby, Emile Heskey and Ugo Ehiogu found the back of the net in a brilliant 3-0 friendly win over Spain, in the first of 67 matches that the Swede would be responsible for as England boss.
Eriksson could not shake the quarter-final curse at either of the 2002 or 2006 World Cups or Euro 2004, though, and he spent his final months bravely battling pancreatic cancer before his death at the age of 76 in August 2024.
Steve McClaren – England 4-0 Greece (August 16, 2006)
The less said about Steve McClaren’s extremely ill-fated reign as England manager the better, but the former Manchester United coach did raise expectations when he initially sat in the hotseat.
McClaren’s opener saw John Terry, Frank Lampard and Peter Crouch (2) breach the Greece net in a 4-0 friendly win, but not even the golden generation at his disposal slipped up against the likes of Croatia, Israel and Macedonia in Euro 2008 qualifying.
On a rain-soaked evening at Wembley in November 2007, a final 3-2 loss to Croatia condemned England to a European Championship-less 2008, as McClaren and his umbrella quickly vacated the FA’s headquarters.
Fabio Capello – England 2-1 Switzerland (February 6, 2008)
Reverting to a foreign manager after the failed McClaren experiment, England convinced ex-Real Madrid boss Fabio Capello to lead their World Cup 2010 qualifying bid, prior to which his tenure began with a friendly against Switzerland.
Jermaine Jenas and Shaun Wright-Phillips‘s efforts ensured that Capello’s reign began positively with a 2-1 success at Wembley, but come South Africa, it was the same old knockout story for the 1966 World Cup winners.
Would things have been different had goal-line technology been introduced before Lampard’s ghost goal? Hindsight is a wonderful thing, but Capello did not stay on for Euro 2012, resigning in protest against the FA’s decision to strip Terry of the captaincy amid racism allegations against the ex-Chelsea captain.
Roy Hodgson – Norway 0-1 England (May 26, 2012)
Capello’s Euro 2012 qualifying exploits meant that the hard work was done before Hodgson took over in early 2012, where his England side ran out 1-0 winners over Norway in his opening battle.
Ashley Young was responsible for the Three Lions’ only goal on that day, but as was previously customary with all England managers not named Ramsey, Robson or Venables, the major tournaments were forgettable.
A last-16 exit at Euro 2012 was not entirely embarrassing, but a World Cup group-stage elimination in 2014 and Euro 2016 loss to Iceland most certainly were, and Hodgson’s position became untenable after the latter result.
Sam Allardyce – Slovakia 0-1 England (September 4, 2016)
If nothing else, Sam Allardyce can proudly lay claim to being the only England manager with a 100% winning record.
The Premier League survival specialist took over from Hodgson in late 2016, and similarly to his predecessor also oversaw a 1-0 away win first up, as Adam Lallana‘s strike was enough to sink Slovakia.
However, that would be the first and last time that Allardyce would manage his country, as he subsequently resigned on account of a “significant error of judgement” after being filmed giving undercover reporters advice on how to get around third-party ownership and player transfer rules.
Gareth Southgate – England 2-0 Malta (October 8, 2016)
![England manager Gareth Southgate pictured on June 30, 2024 [IMAGO]](https://eurofootball.news/wp-content/uploads/2025/03/gareth-southgate_3.jpg "England manager Gareth Southgate pictured on June 30, 2024 [IMAGO]")
Desperately seeking some stability after the Allardyce affair, not many tipped the FA to find it with Southgate, who was initially only appointed on an interim basis while the governing body carefully considered their next steps.
However, after a positive audition – which commenced with Dele Alli and Daniel Sturridge‘s goals seeing off Malta 2-0 – Southgate was given the keys to St George’s Park on a permanent basis, where he would lay the foundations for an exceptional eight years.
From a World Cup semi-final to two Euros runners-up medals, Southgate’s player selection and perceived negative tactics were always the subject of intense scrutiny, but Sir Gareth has our thanks for making us dream the biggest dreams again.
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