Tuchel's England Falls Short: Foreign Coach Jinx Continues at World Cup

Once again, the pinnacle of world football remains out of reach for foreign managers.
As the home of football, England, failed to reach the final of the 2026 FIFA North and Central America World Cup, the long-standing jinx that no nation led by a foreign coach can win the tournament continues.
The England national team, led by German manager Thomas Tuchel, suffered a 1-2 comeback defeat against defending champion Argentina in the tournament's semifinal match held at Atlanta Stadium in Georgia, USA, today (July 16).
With this result, the winner of this tournament will be decided in the final showdown between Argentina, aiming for a second consecutive title, and Spain, seeking its first championship in 16 years, at the New Jersey Stadium in New York, USA, on July 20 at 4:00 a.m.
Furthermore, the record remains that every winner of the World Cup since its inception in 1930, now in its 23rd edition, has been led by a manager from their own country.
Argentina's manager Lionel Scaloni and Spain's manager Luis de la Fuente are both domestic coaches.
Including France's Didier Deschamps, who lost to Spain in the semifinals, England was the only nation among the four semifinalists to be led by a foreign manager.
In the history of the World Cup, the best result for a country led by a foreign manager is a runner-up finish.
Only two foreign managers have led their teams to the final—George Raynor (England) with Sweden in the 1958 tournament and Ernst Happel (Austria) with the Netherlands in the 1978 Argentina tournament—but both fell just short of the title.
There was significant interest in whether this jinx would be broken in this North and Central America World Cup.
Out of the 48 countries participating in this tournament, 26 nations (54%) were led by foreign managers.
This figure represents a 26 percentage point increase from the Qatar tournament four years ago, where 9 out of 32 participating countries (28%) had foreign head coaches.
In the Qatar tournament, only South Korea, led by Paulo Bento (Portugal), managed to pass the group stage and reach the round of 16 among those 9 countries.
In particular, there was higher anticipation than ever that the 96-year-old record would be broken in this tournament, as 10 of the 26 countries led by foreign managers were ranked in the top 25 according to the FIFA rankings just before the opening.
However, foreign managers have once again failed to lift the World Cup trophy.
Powerhouses were eliminated one after another, including Brazil, the most successful team in World Cup history (5 titles) led by world-renowned manager Carlo Ancelotti (Italy), and Portugal, led by Roberto Martinez (Spain), who guided Belgium to third place in the Russia World Cup eight years ago; both were knocked out in the round of 16.
Following their exits, even Tuchel, who remained the last hope for a foreign manager to win the title, had to bow out.
Tuchel, the third foreign manager in England's national team history following Sven-Goran Eriksson (Sweden) and Fabio Capello (Italy), told the British BBC after the loss to Argentina, "It is disappointing."
He identified the cause of the defeat, saying, "We were close to winning, but after we scored the opening goal, we became too passive, and as a result, we gave the opponent many opportunities."
He added, "We couldn't regain possession, and in the end, we allowed too many crosses, chances, and shots," reflecting that "we couldn't maintain our performance after scoring."
(Photo: AP, Yonhap News)
※ Please note: This article was translated by AI and may contain errors.