When is Thomas Tuchel's first match as England manager?
Your guide to when you can expect to see Thomas Tuchel in the Three Lions' dugout.
England have appointed a new manager. Thomas Tuchel will become the 16th England men's team boss in history – but not just yet.
The former Chelsea boss has been unemployed since leaving Bayern Munich last season, and will not assume the Three Lions manager position until January 2025.
During Tuchel's introductory press conference, the FA CEO Mark Bullingham said: "I think we always said to Lee [Carsley] he would have three camps, and we were very clear he would run the Nations League campaign.
"I think when we first spoke to Thomas, Thomas wanted to have the singular focus on the World Cup. So it just made sense from both sides to start on 1st January."
Tuchel faces a little longer in the stands before being welcomed down to the sidelines, but when will the big moment arrive?
RadioTimes.com brings you all the details about Thomas Tuchel's first match in the England hot-seat.
When is Thomas Tuchel's first match as England manager?
Thomas Tuchel's first match as England manager will be in March 2025, but the specific fixture and competition are yet to be specified. Much depends on England's current Nations League campaign.
If England win Nations League Group B2, they will not require any form of play-off match, and will move straight into World Cup qualifier mode in March 2025.
However, there's still a chance England could be drawn in a smaller group, and therefore the March games could include a friendly.
If England finish second in Nations League Group B2, Tuchel's first match would be a promotion-relegation play-off against a League A team in a bid to climb back to the top tier of the competition.
Bullingham repeated Tuchel's desire to put his full focus into the World Cup campaign trail.
He told reporters: "What was so impressive was his singular focus on us and the World Cup. We spoke about trying to put a second star on the shirt, and that project made sense for it to start on 1st January, and made sense for Lee to finish the campaign for the Nations League.
"We are very comfortable where we are and that’s what we’ll be doing."
Check out more of our Sport coverage or visit our TV Guide and Streaming Guide to find out what's on. For more from the biggest stars in TV, listen to The Radio Times Podcast.
Authors
Michael Potts is the Sport Editor for Radio Times, covering all of the biggest sporting events across the globe with previews, features, interviews and more. He has worked for Radio Times since 2019 and previously worked on the sport desk at Express.co.uk after starting his career writing features for What Culture. He achieved a first-class degree in Sports Journalism in 2014.