England want to keep Gareth Southgate after Euro 2024 final win or lose

The Football Association wants Gareth Southgate to stay on as England manager past his current contract – whether or not his team win Sunday’s European Championship final.

Southgate’s contract runs until December with talks over his future past then shelved until after the Euros.

But  FA chiefs want Southgate to extend his contract and lead England into the 2026 World Cup, regardless of how they fare against Spain.

England have already created a piece of history by reaching the men’s team’s first major tournament final on foreign soil and Southgate’s side can also become the first to win a European Championship.

Under Southgate, England have now reached three semi-finals in the last four major tournaments and lost in the final of the last Euros on penalties to Italy.

Regardless of Sunday’s result, the FA will view this tournament as another success, with a full review planned for once it has finished.

Newcastle United manager Eddie Howe has been tipped as the potential frontrunner to succeed Southgate, were he to go, but the FA’s hope has always been that this summer’s Euros would go well enough for it to try to keep the incumbent.

FA chief executive Mark Bullingham confirmed at the start of the Euros that nobody had been approached to succeed Southgate, who signed his latest contract in November 2021.

The reasoning behind contracting Southgate until December this year was to give both him and the FA time to reflect on this summer’s Euros and their own positions before reaching any decision.

That move now looks wise, with Southgate not under any pressure to announce his future immediately after Sunday’s final. It also gives the FA time to put forward its case for him to stay.

Southgate looked destined to leave his post after the Euros, particularly when he had beer cups thrown at him by some angry England fans earlier in the tournament.

He may still decide the time is right to move on after eight years in charge, but the mood around Southgate and his team has changed dramatically over the past two games.

Southgate danced in delight in front of the England supporters after the quarter-final success against Switzerland and said he hoped the semi-final win against the Netherlands would be celebrated with a “few beers” by fans.

At the start of the Euros, Bullingham said: “I would say I think the world of Gareth, I think he has done a phenomenal job. I think he has transformed the fortunes of our team, and that’s not just off the pitch, and you can see the culture, but also the performances on the pitch.

“Since 1966, he has won about half of our knockout games, which is a measure we really use, so we value him massively.”

The FA now hopes that England will decide to stay on past the Euros, come what may on Sunday, and take the team to the 2026 World Cup in Canada, Mexico and the United States.