November 23 – England manager Gareth Southgate has signed a new contract to keep him in the role until the end of 2024.
Southgate, whose previous deal was set to run out after the 2022 winter World Cup in Qatar, is the country’s most successful manager for more than half a century having taken over in November 2016.
By reaching the semi-finals of the 2018 World Cup and the final of this year’s European Championship – England’s best men’s performance in 55 years – Southgate has revitalised the nation’s fortunes and is keen to try and go one better in Qatar next year.
“When you’ve done work culturally and where they can challenge (for titles), you want to bring that to fruition,” Southgate said. “We’ve only won one World Cup but we have to believe that’s possible, it’s an aim we have as a team.
“There was never a consideration I wouldn’t go to Qatar. I wanted to be sure I was wholly committed beyond that. Tournaments take a lot out of you and the way it ended for us (losing on penalties to Italy at Euro 2020) took a lot of emotion and energy, and we were so quickly back in World Cup qualifying and I wanted to allow myself that consideration.”
Last week England qualified as group winners for next year’s World Cup with a 10-0 away victory against San Marino and will be one of the favourites to become world champions for the first time since 1966.
“It remains an incredible privilege to lead this team. We have a great opportunity in front of us,” Southgate said.
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