Early career Tuchel began his coaching career in 2000, hired by
Ralf Rangnick as youth team coach at
VfB Stuttgart, where he aided in player development;
Mario Gómez and
Holger Badstuber became club regulars under him. Tuchel coached the club's under-19 side to the
Bundesliga title in the 2004–05 campaign. He was hired despite lacking a
UEFA Pro Licence, which he gained in a six-and-a-half month course in
Cologne under
Erich Rutemöller. Tuchel held the position as coordinator for three years, transitioning into senior club management after accepting the position as first team coach at
FC Augsburg II for the 2007–08 season. With Augsburg II, he coached a team which included
Julian Nagelsmann, himself an injury-prone defender, who transitioned to a coaching career after Tuchel instructed him to scout for the club in 2008. Tuchel also garnered a reputation for his combustibility towards referees during games, often receiving fines from the
Bavarian Football Association (BFV) as a result.
Mainz 05 Tuchel's time as the coach of Augsburg II impressed many top-level German clubs, and he went on to be appointed by
Bundesliga club
Mainz 05 in 2009, replacing
Jorn Andersen. Having signed an initial two-year contract, he was promoted into the role after acting as a youth coach at Mainz for the previous 12 months, during which he had won the U-19 Bundesliga. An initial disciplinarian, Tuchel reportedly forbade his players to leave the canteen while others were still eating, deeming it ill-mannered. Tuchel's tactics based on pressing and positional play led Mainz to a ninth-placed finish in
his first season as manager. In the
following campaign, Tuchel's Mainz enjoyed a perfect start to the season, winning seven of their first seven games, including an away victory over
Bayern Munich. This coincided with Tuchel's employment of
René Marić and Martin Rafelt, founders of the tactics blog
Spielverlagerung, to compile occasional scouting reports on Mainz's opponents. Only four Bundesliga sides scored more goals than Mainz in the 2010–11 campaign, who had scored 52 goals in total. Of those goals, fifteen had been scored by rising star
André Schürrle, and ten by
Sami Allagui, who was a key part of Tuchel's pressing machine. Allagui's lack of form added to Mainz's issues in attack, although new signing
Eric Maxim Choupo-Moting was able to score ten goals, and midfielder
Julian Baumgartlinger's organization and discipline helped the team and "marked him out" as a future club
captain. At the beginning of the season, he had brought in Japanese forward
Shinji Okazaki. Deployed in a central striking role, he went on to have a prolific season, scoring 15 goals in the Bundesliga, a record for a Japanese player. Despite approaches by
Schalke 04 and Bayer Leverkusen for his services in the latter-half of the 2013–14 season, Tuchel remained at Mainz until the end of the campaign. However, in May 2014, he asked to be released from his contract, later stating that he "couldn't see how [the team] could reinvent [itself] once more the coming summer". Tuchel explained that he had already made the decision to leave Mainz at the end of the season in autumn of 2013. Tuchel concluded his Mainz career with a record of 72 wins, 46 draws, and 64 losses, from 182 games, with a win percentage of 39.56%; only the big four German clubs —
Bayern Munich,
Schalke 04,
Borussia Dortmund and
Bayer Leverkusen — amassed more league points than him, and he achieved a better points record at Mainz than
Jürgen Klopp.
Borussia Dortmund 2015–2016: League runner-up In April 2015, coach
Jürgen Klopp announced that he would leave
Borussia Dortmund following the
2014–15 season. Dortmund, inquiring over the availability of various coaches, quickly decided on Tuchel, eager to incorporate a similar press-based footballing philosophy made a club trademark under Klopp. Tuchel's appointment as the club's new head coach for the following season occurred on 19 April. Signing a three-year deal effective from 1 July, he returned to coaching after over a year without a club. Both Klopp and Tuchel completed the same path of moving from Mainz to Dortmund. He addressed the issue of star players who were in a dilemma between staying and leaving, rapidly convincing them that Dortmund could meet their ambitions. After securing the futures of several important players, Tuchel identified targets that could help the squad compete and "bridge the gap at the top". Another major off-field decision at Dortmund included replacing well-loved pasta dishes with wholemeal products to refine the players' diets. Tuchel and his team ended trophyless in the
2015–16 season, despite an appearance in the
2016 DFB-Pokal final, in which they lost to Bayern Munich on penalties. The team also suffered elimination at the quarter-final stage of the
UEFA Europa League at the hands of
Liverpool, who were now coached by Klopp. However, the campaign was notable for further promotions of youth talent, with American teenager
Christian Pulisic largely starring during the latter stages of the season. Dortmund scored 82 goals in the
2015–16 Bundesliga, a club record, and the team's average league possession of 61% and an average pass accuracy of 85% were significant improvements from the team's counterpressing days with Klopp. Their point total of 78 was also the second highest in club history, and would have secured a league title in all but three of the previous 52 seasons. however, Tuchel was criticised at the season's end for missing the club's 50th anniversary of their
1966 European Cup Winners' Cup victory.
Ousmane Dembélé,
Marc Bartra,
Emre Mor,
Mario Götze and
Raphaël Guerreiro were notably brought in for a total sum of €64 million. Dortmund went on to return
the final of the DFB-Pokal, where Tuchel won his first ever major honor as a coach, as well as the club's first trophy in five years, as they beat
Eintracht Frankfurt 2–1, with goals from both Dembélé and Aubameyang. The team finished the season third in the Bundesliga, and was eliminated in the quarter-finals of the Champions League by
Monaco. Despite the victory, the DFB-Pokal was to be Tuchel's only honour with the club, as he was dismissed three days later on 30 May 2017. His tenure as first-team coach was marred with controversy, with a strained relationship with the club's hierarchy, notably CEO
Hans-Joachim Watzke, who described Tuchel as a "difficult person". In February 2020, Jan-Henrik Gruszecki, a former ultra who became a consultant to the Dortmund board, claimed Tuchel mistakenly sent an angry text message about sporting director Michael Zorc that was meant to go to Tuchel's agent, Oliver Meinking. Tuchel aimed to sign defender
Ömer Toprak in 2016, a move allegedly blocked by Watzke and chief scout
Sven Mislintat, the latter of whom was effectively banished from the training ground after an argument with Tuchel. The club also reportedly chased midfielder
Óliver Torres behind Tuchel's back in 2017. Tuchel left Dortmund with a record of 68 wins, 23 draws, and 17 defeats in 108 games, with a win percentage of 62.96%.
Paris Saint-Germain 2018–2019: First season in Paris, Ligue 1 title In May 2018, Tuchel signed a two-year contract with
Paris Saint-Germain (PSG), replacing
Unai Emery. He reportedly rejected
Bayern Munich to join PSG. To offset this large acquisition, and to adhere to
UEFA Financial Fair Play regulations, Tuchel sanctioned the departure of several players, including first-team players
Yuri Berchiche and
Javier Pastore, as well as promising youngster
Gonçalo Guedes. After also generating profits through the sales of other bit-part players, the club signed free agent goalkeeper
Gianluigi Buffon on 6 July. A month later, the team signed German defender
Thilo Kehrer for €37m, and PSG concluded their activity in the summer transfer market by signing Spanish left-back
Juan Bernat for €15m on deadline day, while also reuniting Tuchel with former player Choupo-Moting. Despite these acquisitions, Tuchel publicly lamented the club's inability to improve at both
full-back areas. against
Dynamo Dresden in 2019 Tuchel's first match in charge also yielded his first honor at the club, as PSG defeated Monaco 4–0 to win the
Trophée des Champions on 4 August. After enjoying a brief unbeaten record, Tuchel suffered his first defeat in Paris on 18 September, losing 2–3 away to Liverpool in a Champions League group stage game. However, by November, Tuchel would break the record for the most wins to start to a domestic league season, as he registered twelve straight victories. The record was later extended to include two additional victories, prior to the club ending its 100% start to the season on 2 December, after PSG drew 2–2 away to
Bordeaux. Tuchel then guided PSG to top spot in the club's Champions League group, with a 4–1 win over
Red Star Belgrade on 12 December. By securing victory over
Nantes on 22 December, Tuchel also broke the record for most points by Christmas in Ligue 1, with 47 after 17 games. In January 2019, Tuchel was eliminated from his first competition at PSG, falling to
Guingamp on 9 January, in the quarter-finals of the
Coupe de la Ligue. However, he would defeat the same opposition by a margin of 9–0 ten days later in the league, the biggest home win in PSG's history. Prior to deadline day, on 29 January, the club delved into the winter transfer market to sign Argentine midfielder
Leandro Paredes for a rumored fee of €40m. However, these transfers failed to progress the club in Europe, as PSG crashed out of the Champions League in the first knockout round against
Manchester United. The club secured a 2–0 victory away from home in the first leg, but lost 1–3 at home, exiting the competition on
away goals. With only the league and the
Coupe de France to play for, PSG won the former on 21 April, six gameweeks before the end of the season, marking Tuchel's first league title victory as a coach. Six days later, PSG lost the
2019 Coupe de France final to
Rennes on penalties, which occurred after a stretch of three consecutive league defeats: this was the first time PSG lost three league games consecutively since 2012.
2019–2020: Domestic quadruple and Champions League final After the season's end, Tuchel signed a one-year contract extension, scheduled to end in 2021. In his second transfer window, Tuchel strayed from recruiting stars and instead pushed for the recruitment of hardworking Spanish midfielders
Ander Herrera and
Pablo Sarabia, as well as youth prospect
Mitchel Bakker. Meanwhile, the club let go of strong personalities in Buffon,
Dani Alves, and
Adrien Rabiot, and profited from the sales of several fringe players, including
Moussa Diaby,
Timothy Weah, and
Grzegorz Krychowiak. Additionally, the club signed central defender
Abdou Diallo from Tuchel's former club Borussia Dortmund, combative midfielder
Idrissa Gueye, and completed the transfer of goalkeeper
Keylor Navas, as well as a loan move for forward
Mauro Icardi, on deadline day. With a number of additional sales, this marked the first transfer window since PSG's takeover by
Qatar Sports Investments in 2012 during which the club made a profit in the transfer market. , who was a regular in Tuchel's team Tuchel began his
second season at PSG by retaining the Trophée des Champions on 3 August 2019, in a 2–1 win over Rennes. He also won his first league game of the season, defeating
Nîmes 3–0 at home. However, PSG lost 2–1 against Rennes in the club's second league game. In the club's first game in that season's UEFA Champions League, Tuchel received praise for his tactical setup as PSG defeated thirteen-time winners
Real Madrid 3–0 at home; the victory occurred without recognised first-team players
Neymar,
Edinson Cavani, and Mbappé. He later guided the team to qualification to the first
knockout stage with two group games to spare, following a 1–0 win over Belgian club
Club Brugge on 6 November. Just under three weeks later, Tuchel led the club to top spot in their group after securing a 2–2 draw against Real Madrid. The club then embarked on an unbeaten run, recording a number of high-scoring victories; PSG scored six goals against
Linas-Montlhéry and
Saint-Étienne in the domestic cup competitions in January, while they scored five against
Montpellier in the league. Notably, the latter game contained controversy, as Tuchel was seen to be in a heated conversation with Mbappé following his substitution. On 18 February 2020, PSG sustained a 2–1 defeat against Tuchel's former club Dortmund in the first leg in the round of 16 in the Champions League. Under a month later, Tuchel guided the club to the last eight, overturning the deficit in a 2–0 victory at home in the second leg. This was the club's first game
behind closed doors due to the
COVID-19 pandemic; this was the reason the domestic league was canceled on 30 April, while their Champions League fixtures, the Coupe de France, and the Coupe de la Ligue finals were postponed. PSG returned to competitive football on 24 July, winning the Coupe de France after beating Saint-Étienne 1–0 in the final. The game was marred by Kylian Mbappé suffering an ankle sprain, which ruled him out for three weeks. On 31 July, PSG defeated
Lyon 6–5 on penalties in the
2020 Coupe de la Ligue final to complete a domestic treble. On 12 August, PSG scored two late goals to beat
Atalanta 2–1 in the quarter-finals of the Champions League, marking the club's first appearance in the semi-finals of the competition since the
1994–95 season. In the semi-final, PSG defeated
RB Leipzig 3–0 to reach their first ever
Champions League final, and their first European final since 1997. They would go on to lose the match by a single goal to Bayern Munich on 23 August.
2020–2021: Final season in Paris In his third transfer window, PSG released a number of players, including club stalwarts
Thiago Silva and Cavani. Meanwhile, Mauro Icardi's loan was made permanent for €50 million, and the club supplemented this with the loan acquisitions of
Alessandro Florenzi,
Danilo Pereira, and
Moise Kean. PSG began their league title defence with a 1–0 defeat to newly promoted
Lens away on 10 September 2020; the club were missing newly appointed captain
Marquinhos, Icardi, Neymar, Mbappé, Navas, Paredes, and
Ángel Di María due to
COVID-19 protocols or for testing positive for COVID-19. The club went on to lose their second league game by the same scoreline in
Le Classique, marking the first time PSG lost their opening two league games since the
1984–85 season. The game became infamous for its disciplinary issues, with 17 cards shown (the most in a single Ligue 1 game in the 21st century), while five were sent off following an injury-time brawl. Tuchel secured the club's first win of the league season by defeating
Metz 1–0 on 16 September, although the game was marred by another red card to PSG. This began a streak of 8 straight wins, before succumbing to a 3–2 away defeat to Monaco on 20 November; another game where PSG saw a red card. After only managing to secure 3 more league wins, and with PSG third in Ligue 1, behind Lyon and eventual winners Lille, Tuchel was dismissed on 24 December, despite placing top of their Champions League group. His dismissal occurred a day after beating
Strasbourg 4–0, surprising many at the club, including assistant coach
Zsolt Lőw. Tuchel's tenure at Paris Saint-Germain was marred by a fractured relationship with the club's hierarchy. In an interview with German television station
Sport 1, he said he felt "[more like] a politician in sport" than a coach. These comments, as well as his previous criticism over the club's transfer activity, were condemned by PSG's sporting director
Leonardo, who said Tuchel "[must] respect the people above [him]", and labelled the comments as damaging for the club. Before leaving Paris, Tuchel facilitated the medical expenses for his housemaid's child's heart surgery and helped her return home to the Philippines by purchasing her family a property in the country.
Chelsea On 26 January 2021, Tuchel signed an 18-month contract (with the option for an additional year) with
Premier League club
Chelsea, replacing
Frank Lampard. He became the first German to be appointed as head coach of the club. Although expressing a desire to not come in mid-season so as to have a
pre-season with his new team, Tuchel accepted the position after
Ralf Rangnick rejected the proposal of
interim head coach. Tuchel previously interviewed to become Chelsea coach in June 2016, with the club eventually appointing
Antonio Conte. Tuchel won his first game on 31 January, defeating
Burnley 2–0 at home, and then won his first
London derby (and his first away game) by defeating
Tottenham Hotspur 1–0 on 4 February. On 11 February, Tuchel guided Chelsea to the quarter-finals of the
FA Cup with a 1–0 away win over
EFL Championship side
Barnsley, extending his unbeaten run to five games. This run was eventually extended to eight games after Chelsea defeated
Atlético Madrid 1–0 away in the first leg of the round of 16 in the UEFA Champions League, with
Olivier Giroud scoring an overhead kick. This marked Tuchel's first European victory as Chelsea manager. On 8 March, Tuchel's unbeaten run extended to eleven games after a 2–0 home league win over
Everton, becoming the first head coach in Premier League history to keep consecutive home clean sheets in their first five home matches. After a 2–0 home victory against Atlético Madrid in the second leg of the round of 16 in the Champions League on 17 March, Tuchel extended his unbeaten run to 13 games, setting the record for the longest unbeaten run by a new head coach in Chelsea's history. This was considered to be due to the change to a three-man defence and partly attributed to a pragmatic approach to games; Tuchel's team took as many shots as Lampard's team per game (13.8 v 13.9), but created fewer chances, leading to 1.1 goals scored on average per game, compared to 2.1 under Lampard. He was then awarded his first
Premier League Manager of the Month in October. The unbeaten run concluded at 14 games, with a 5–2 home defeat against
West Bromwich Albion on 3 April. During that 14-game unbeaten run, the club conceded just two goals in 1,260 minutes. Chelsea would eventually lose the final 1–0 to
Leicester City. Tuchel also guided Chelsea to the
Champions League final following a 3–1 aggregate win over Real Madrid in the semi-finals, becoming the first coach to reach consecutive finals with two different clubs. He eventually led Chelsea to European glory with a 1–0 win over Manchester City in the final. Following this, Tuchel signed a contract extension, with his new contract due to run to 2024.
2021–22: Club World champion, Ukraine sanctions, Cup finals In his first transfer window at Chelsea to prepare for the 2021–22 season, the club signed experienced goalkeeper
Marcus Bettinelli on a free transfer from West London rivals
Fulham on 28 July, thus marking Tuchel's first signing as Chelsea head coach. Tuchel also began incorporating academy player
Trevoh Chalobah into the first team, and Chelsea then later re-signed
Romelu Lukaku for a club-record £97.5 million (€115 million). He also signed
Saúl Ñíguez on a season-long loan from Atlético Madrid (which included an option to buy for £30 million) on deadline day. Chelsea began the season with an eight-game unbeaten streak, winning the
UEFA Super Cup, before suffering their first defeat of the season, against Manchester City, on 25 September. On 20 October, Chelsea recorded their highest scoring victory under Tuchel, a 4–0 home victory over
Malmö in the Champions League; this was bettered three days later following a 7–0 win against league strugglers
Norwich City. Chelsea then embarked on a 12 match unbeaten run in all competitions, which culminated in a 3–2 away loss against
West Ham United on 4 December. A month later, Tuchel led Chelsea to the
EFL Cup final following a 3–0
aggregate semi-final victory over city rivals Tottenham Hotspur; Chelsea would go on to lose the final against Liverpool on penalties. On 12 February, after a 2–1 extra time win over
Palmeiras, Tuchel won the
FIFA Club World Cup, Chelsea's first Club World Cup win. {{quote box On 12 March, Chelsea F.C. was frozen as an asset of
Roman Abramovich as part of the
war sanctions on Russian businesses. Tuchel, who was reluctantly the face of the club amidst off-field turmoil, was praised by Jacob Steinberg of
The Guardian for being "a voice of calm and reason throughout the most unsettling period in Chelsea's history". He then reaffirmed his commitment to the club, despite interest from
Manchester United and
Barcelona, although renewing player contracts was made difficult due to the restrictions, with the deals for
Antonio Rüdiger and
Andreas Christensen running out at the season's end. After a six-game win streak in all competitions, Chelsea lost 4–1 at home to newly promoted
Brentford on 2 April; the club then registered their highest scoring away win under Tuchel by winning 6–0 at
Southampton a week later. However, on 12 April, Chelsea lost 5–4 on aggregate after extra time against Real Madrid and were knocked out of the Champions League, following which, Tuchel criticised several refereeing decisions, including a disallowed goal for
Marcos Alonso and referee Szymon Marciniak's "smiling and laughing" with Real Madrid coach
Carlo Ancelotti at the game's conclusion. Four days later, Tuchel led Chelsea to their second
successive FA Cup final with a 2–0 victory over
Crystal Palace. However, Chelsea went on to lose to Liverpool in the
final on penalties, repeating the outcome of that year's EFL Cup final three months prior.
2022–23: Dismissal from Chelsea On 30 May 2022, Chelsea were acquired by the American consortium
BlueCo, and the club's previous sanctions on acquiring players were lifted. To prepare for the 2022–23 season, Tuchel and Chelsea had spent over £250 million – the highest spend in that season's Premier League and a British record for spending in one transfer window – on
Raheem Sterling,
Kalidou Koulibaly,
Gabriel Slonina,
Carney Chukwuemeka,
Cesare Casadei, and Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang, as well as near club record outlays on
Marc Cucurella and
Wesley Fofana. The club also secured the loan of
Denis Zakaria on transfer deadline day on 31 August. Several first team players also departed, including
Antonio Rüdiger and
Marcos Alonso, academy graduates
Andreas Christensen and
Callum Hudson-Odoi (who left on loan), and former heavy money signings
Timo Werner and Romelu Lukaku (who left on loan). The club began their league season with a 1–0 win over Everton on 6 August 2022. Eight days later, Tuchel was sent off following a 2–2 draw against
Tottenham Hotspur after an angry confrontation with
Antonio Conte at the end of the match. He was fined £35,000 and given a one-match touchline ban by the
Football Association (FA) for improper conduct. Tuchel was subsequently handed an additional £20,000 fine after comments suggesting that referee
Anthony Taylor should no longer referee Chelsea matches after he made some controversial decisions in the Tottenham game. The FA stated that Tuchel's comments had constituted improper conduct and that they "imply bias, question the integrity of the match referee, and bring the game into disrepute". On 7 September 2022, Tuchel was dismissed as the team's manager following the club's 1–0 away loss to
Dinamo Zagreb in their opening Champions League fixture the previous day (a match attended by new Chelsea chairmen
Todd Boehly and Behdad Eghbali); Chelsea also sustained league defeats against
Leeds United and Southampton prior to the loss to Dinamo Zagreb. According to
The Athletic, Tuchel was reportedly dissatisfied over his increased involvement in Chelsea's day-to-day transfer activity as a result of the dismissals of club director
Marina Granovskaia and technical advisor
Petr Čech (with whom Tuchel had a strong working relationship); Tuchel was said to have delegated his presence at recruitment meetings to his agent. Sources close to Tuchel claimed he disagreed with the club's transfer strategy and targets, such as not being involved in the loan signing of Zakaria and that he personally expressed interest in transfers for
Matthijs de Ligt,
Raphinha,
Frenkie de Jong, and
Presnel Kimpembe. Sources connected with Chelsea claimed Tuchel was inconsistent regarding transfers, expressing both reluctance and support towards potential moves for
Gabriel Jesus,
Edson Álvarez,
Roméo Lavia, and
Cristiano Ronaldo. Tuchel had also fallen out with and isolated several first team players, such as Ziyech, Pulisic, Werner, Lukaku, and Hudson-Odoi, from gametime; Tuchel also reportedly argued with Werner following a pre-season defeat to
Charlotte FC on 20 July. In March 2023, Tuchel revealed he suspected his dismissal on his morning commute to the training centre, and said the meeting with the ownership "turned out to be very short. It lasted three to five minutes". He reiterated his fondness for his time in England in an interview in May 2024, saying, "It is no secret I loved it at Chelsea, I loved it in England and I loved it in the Premier League. It was a very special time and I remember it very well". Tuchel departed Chelsea with a record of 60 wins, 24 draws, and 16 defeats in 100 games with a win percentage of 60%, the fourth highest win-rate by a Chelsea manager who managed at least 100 games, after
José Mourinho (67.03%), Antonio Conte (65.09%), and Carlo Ancelotti (61.09%). Tuchel was succeeded by
Graham Potter.
Bayern Munich 2022–23: First Bundesliga title On 24 March 2023, Tuchel was announced as head coach at
Bayern Munich on a two-year deal, replacing his former player
Julian Nagelsmann, who was dismissed. Tuchel was presented at a club press conference the following day, where he said "the squad assembled [here] is one of the most talented and best in Europe. We are here to win all the titles". Four days later, the club made a formal approach to Chelsea first-team assistant coach
Anthony Barry, who worked with Tuchel (primarily on set pieces) during his time at Chelsea. Barry joined just under one month later. Tuchel's first game in charge was a 4–2 home win against his old club Borussia Dortmund on 1 April. In his second game, Bayern were knocked out in the quarter-finals of DFB-Pokal, on 4 April, after losing 2–1 at home to
SC Freiburg. Bayern were also eliminated in the quarter-finals of the Champions League later that month, losing 4–1 to Manchester City on aggregate. Despite accumulating five wins from his first eight Bundesliga matches, Bayern lost 3–1 at home to RB Leipzig on 20 May, dropping to second place below Dortmund, with one match remaining in the season. On the final matchday, Dortmund fell to a 2–2 draw at home to Mainz 05, while Bayern won 2–1 away to
FC Köln thanks to a late
Jamal Musiala winning goal: these results secured an 11th consecutive Bundesliga title for Bayern, and Tuchel's third league title in his career. At the season's end, Bayern dismissed
Oliver Kahn as CEO and
Hasan Salihamidžić as
sporting director: the pair had recruited Tuchel two months prior. In advance of Tuchel's first full season, Bayern recruited defender
Kim Min-jae for a reported €50 million and broke the Bundesliga transfer record by signing
Harry Kane for €100 million, which was also supplemented by the arrival of backup goalkeeper
Daniel Peretz.
2023–24: Champions League semi-finals and departure Bayern lost in 3–0 to RB Leipzig in the
2023 DFL-Supercup on 12 August but began a strong start to the Bundesliga season (which included one defeat in their first sixteen matches), albeit, they were eliminated from the
DFB-Pokal in an upset on 1 November against
1. FC Saarbrücken. The team also topped their Champions League group. However, consecutive league defeats to Bayer Leverkusen and
VfL Bochum in February 2024 left them eight points behind Leverkusen by matchweek 22. Bayern were beaten 1–0 by Lazio in the first leg of their Champions League last-16 tie on 14 February, despite enlisting mid-season squad reinforcements in the form of
Eric Dier on loan and
Sacha Boey for €30 million. This defeat marked Tuchel's tenth in his 43 games, which was as many defeats as Nagelsmann accumulated in his first 84 games. One week later, it was announced Tuchel would mutually depart at the end of the 2023–24 season as part of a "sporting realignment". Bayern recovered in the second leg on 5 March, defeating Lazio 3–0 to advance to the Champions League quarter-finals. In their next two league games, Bayern scored 13 goals (including recording an 8–1 victory against Tuchel's former club Mainz) but defeats to
rivals Borussia Dortmund (Dortmund's first win at the Allianz Arena since 2014) on 30 March and
Heidenheim on 6 April (and Leverkusen's victory against
Werder Bremen the following week) confirmed Bayern would be unable to win the Bundesliga, their first season without doing so in 11 years. However, the club progressed to the
semi-finals of the Champions League (the club's first semi-final appearance since 2020) after defeating
Arsenal 3–2 on aggregate on 17 April, with Tuchel receiving praise for implementing a flexible, defensive structure in the midfield and wide areas to disrupt Arsenal's build-up play. He also became the first German coach to reach that stage with three different clubs. One week later, after
Ralf Rangnick confirmed talks to take over as Bayern head coach, club supporters petitioned to retain Tuchel; the petition amassed over 10,000 signatures. A day later, Tuchel reiterated his departure, stating, "[The petition] is not allowed to be a priority as [I am focused] on football, nothing else. I [can't] allow myself to be influenced by it". Bayern were then eliminated from the Champions League in a 2–1 defeat to
Real Madrid on 8 May after assistant referee Tomasz Listkiewicz controversially ruled offside on an equaliser from
Matthijs de Ligt, with the decision then not checked by
video assistant referee (VAR). Tuchel labelled it as "against the rules" and "disastrous" and said it "felt like a betrayal", while de Ligt said that Listkiewicz conceded the decision was made in error. After a 2–0 victory against Wolfsburg four days later, Tuchel's final Bayern game was a 4–2 defeat against Hoffenheim on 18 May: the defeat saw Bayern finish third, their worst league finishing since 2010. According to
The Athletic, Tuchel's departure was influenced by several factors: he was reportedly unable to strike up a bond with a majority of players after "implicitly questioning their credentials" on several occasions. There was criticism for his pragmatic style of play (such as his instruction to fullbacks Raphaël Guerreiro and
Noussair Mazraoui to remain deep and forwards
Leroy Sané and Musiala to stay wide) to prevent counterattacks after conceding in the first leg of their Champions League knockout tie against Lazio. Tuchel also broke up the previous season's midfield partnership of
Joshua Kimmich and
Leon Goretzka reportedly on the basis of a lack of defensive balance and wanted to recruit a specialist holding midfielder: a deal to sign
João Palhinha collapsed on deadline day. This was also reportedly Tuchel's reasoning for signing Dier, who began to play ahead of de Ligt, while figures at the club noted Tuchel's "disregard for team hierarchy and the status of leaders within the team". Tuchel was also criticised by media outlets for his tactical decisions, who said his style of play was "predicated on individualism" instead of representing a collective effort. Tuchel denied some of the claims in an interview on 23 February, stating he does not think he is "the only problem" at Bayern and believes the "clarity [from the announcement of his departure] brings freedom". Reports also emerged detailing that Tuchel felt his cautious tactical approach to games was "because he felt he had to, not because he wanted to", with attempts to sideline or sell Goretzka or Kimmich being blocked by the club. Tuchel was also reportedly further limited in his influence on squad composition as, despite being on a joint "transfer committee" featuring former board members
Uli Hoeneß and
Karl-Heinz Rummenigge, most of Tuchel's desired targets were not signed. Tuchel signed his 18-month contract eight days prior, and after interviewing with
Manchester United the previous summer. Tuchel is England's first German and third foreign head coach, after
Sven-Göran Eriksson and
Fabio Capello. His backroom team, which was integrated at
St George's Park, consisted of his own and existing
FA staff: staff included Tuchel's former Chelsea and Bayern Munich assistant coach
Anthony Barry, his Chelsea goalkeeping coach
Hilário, and his PSG and Bayern Munich performance coach Nicolas Mayer. In February 2025, Brentford coach
Justin Cochrane joined as an assistant coach and James Melbourne joined as an analyst from Chelsea. Tuchel's contract reportedly stipulates a financial bonus for winning the
FIFA World Cup. In March, Tuchel selected his first 26-man squad for England's initial
2026 FIFA World Cup qualifiers against
Albania and
Latvia. This included uncapped senior call-ups for
Dan Burn,
James Trafford,
Myles Lewis-Skelly and
Jarell Quansah, as well as the return of
Marcus Rashford,
Jordan Henderson and
Reece James to the national team since March 2024, November 2023, and March 2023, respectively. According to Bellingham, Tuchel reached out to 55 players before deciding his final squad, as well as spending three months travelling to club matches to meet potentially selected players. Tuchel led England to a 2–0 victory against Albania on 21 March and to a 3–0 victory over Latvia three days later. Tuchel lost his first game as England coach on 10 June, losing 3–1 in a
friendly against
Senegal. For his squad for the September 2025 World Cup qualifiers, Tuchel was noted for calling up 24 players rather than the 26 allocated selection spaces, citing his desire for a "tighter, more competitive squad". On 14 October, Tuchel's England beat
Latvia 5–0 away from home, registering a 100% win record for their
2026 FIFA World Cup qualifiers and becoming the first European team to qualify for the
2026 FIFA World Cup. The team did not concede a single goal during qualification, becoming the first European team in history to achieve this. In November, Tuchel spoke on his desire to extend his tenure with England beyond 2026, saying, "[This is] a lot of fun, a lot of fun... There's nothing to announce at the moment, but I am very happy with the way things are going". On 5 December, England were drawn into
Group L for the World Cup, alongside
Croatia,
Ghana, and
Panama. England will be based at
Swope Soccer Village in
Kansas City,
Missouri for the duration of the World Cup. In March 2026, England played
Uruguay in a 1–1 draw and lost to
Japan 0–1 four days later, both in friendlies at Wembley. The fixture against Uruguay was notable for featuring the return of
Ben White playing for England since 2022. Prior to the World Cup, England are set to play warm-up fixtures against
New Zealand and
Costa Rica in June. On 12 February 2026, it was announced that Tuchel's contract with England was to be extended until after
UEFA Euro 2028, with Tuchel saying he had "loved every minute so far" of the "dream job". ==Manager profile==