Gareth Southgate’s tenure as England manager has come to an end following England’s defeat to Spain in the Euro 2024 final.
The 53-year-old Southgate has overseen more than 100 international matches during his eight-year tenure and has led England to more wins than any other manager in his history.
While the Football Association is yet to announce a replacement, rumours are already circulating, with names such as Eddie Howe, Graham Potter and Jurgen Klopp all being floated.
But has ‘Mr Handbrake’ been underrated? and will England miss him?
I We look at Southgate’s record with England and particularly how he compares with previous England managers.
Is this the best record since 1966, or just a lucky break?
For all the criticism levelled at him, there is certainly an argument to be made that Southgate is, statistically at least, the best England manager of the last 50 years.
After all, England’s tournament history during his time in charge included their first World Cup semi-final since 1990, then two consecutive Euros finals and their first appearance in a major tournament final since 1966.
This makes him the only manager to have led the England men’s national team to multiple international finals.
Gareth Southgate’s England record in major competitions
- 2018 World Cup: Semi-final (4th place)
- European Championships 2020: Final (runner-up)
- 2022 World Cup: Quarter finals
- 2024 Europe Championship: Final (runner-up)
Southgate has won nine of his 15 knockout matches (including two on penalties after matches officially recorded as draws), surpassing England’s total of seven knockout victories in all 25 tournaments since the 1996 World Cup.
More than a quarter (27%) of England’s goals in major tournaments have been scored during Southgate’s tenure and he has also led England to finish in the world’s top five for six years – the longest England had been in the top five before he took charge was seven months.
Southgate’s record against ‘big teams’
But much has been made about the path of England’s opponents in the knockout stages and how Southgate’s side have struggled against other strong sides.
And when you look at England’s performances under his management in major tournaments against countries ranked in the world top 10, it’s easy to see why.
That part of Southgate’s record reads as follows: 7 games, 2 wins, 5 losses.
- 2018 World Cup Group StageLost to Belgium
- 2018 World Cup 3rd place matchLost to Belgium
- Euro 2020 Semi-finals: Beat Denmark
- Euro 2020 FinalLost to Italy
- 2022 World Cup QuarterfinalsLost to France
- Euro 2024 Semi-finalsBeat the Netherlands
- Euro 2024 finalLost to Spain
Those two wins came against Denmark, then ranked 10th in the world, at Euro 2020 and against the Netherlands, then ranked 7th in the world, at Euro 2024.
At the 2018 World Cup, England suffered two consecutive losses to Belgium, then ranked third in the world, and also lost to Croatia, then ranked 20th in the world.
En route to the Euro 2020 final, England beat countries such as Croatia (then ranked 14th in the world), Germany (12th) and Denmark (10th) and drew with Scotland, ranked 44th in the world, but this remains the only blemish on England’s record.
But despite scoring 11 goals and conceding just two in the tournament at home, Southgate’s side were unable to beat Italy (ranked seventh in the world) on penalties.
At the 2022 World Cup, England won comfortably against Iran, Wales and Senegal, but drew with the United States, their highest-ranked group stage opponent (ranked 16th in the world), and was eliminated in the quarterfinals by eventual finalists France (ranked 4th in the world).
England then went unbeaten at Euro 2024 until their defeat on Sunday, but their path to the final was the easiest of Southgate’s five major tournaments based on their opponents’ average pre-tournament rankings.
Denmark (ranked 21st in the world) were England’s highest-ranked opponent this summer in the group stage. England also faced Serbia (32nd), Slovenia (57th), Slovakia (45th) and Switzerland (19th) before beating the Netherlands (7th) in the semi-finals before losing to Spain (8th) in the final.
How Southgate’s record compares with previous England managers
- Overall results: P 102; width 61, depth 24, length 17
- Win Rate: 59.8 percent
Southgate’s win rate of 59.8 per cent puts him at the helm of very few former England managers and of those, few can match what he achieved with the men’s national team.
However, their win rate in major tournaments has dropped slightly to 53.8 per cent, with England winning 14, drawing seven and losing five of his 26 matches in charge at the World Cup and Euros.
England have scored a total of 213 goals and conceded 72 under Southgate, but scored 44 and conceded 20 in major competitions under their former manager, meaning England’s averages of 2.1 goals per game and 0.7 conceded are also slightly worse in major competitions.
However, England have never failed to qualify for a major tournament under Southgate’s tenure – a feat not achieved by any of his predecessors.
Sir Alf Ramsay
- Overall results: P 113; width 69, depth 27, length 17
- Win Rate: 61.1 percent
and Sir Alf Ramsay He is the only manager to have led England to a World Cup victory and there is a strong case to be made that he is England’s greatest manager of all time.
Ramsey won 61 percent of his 113 matches in charge of England between 1963 and 1974, including the 1966 World Cup final.
His England team also finished third at the 1968 Euros and reached the quarter-finals of the 1970 World Cup and the 1972 Euros, but failed to qualify for the 1974 World Cup.
The best of the rest
Then there is Sam Allardyce, Southgate’s direct predecessor and the only England manager to boast a 100% win rate – although, of course, that was only when he was in charge in 2016.
Excluding Allardyce and the caretaker manager, who has the highest win rate among English managers? Fabio Capello66.7 percent.
The Italian manager won 28 of his 42 games in charge, reached the last 16 of the 2010 World Cup and guided England to qualification for Euro 2012 but resigned in protest over the FA’s decision to strip John Terry of the captaincy.
Since 1966, no England manager has had a better winning percentage than Southgate: Glenn HoddleTheir best result in the tournament was reaching the quarterfinals of the 1998 World Cup. Ron GreenwoodHowever, he failed to lead England out of the group stages at either Euro 1980 or the 1982 World Cup.
Meanwhile, behind Southgate in terms of overall win percentage are Sven-Goran Eriksson and Roy Hodgson.
The former led England to three consecutive quarter-finals in major tournaments – at the 2002 and 2006 World Cups and Euro 2004 – winning 40 of 67 matches, while the latter won 33 of his 56 matches in charge and guided England to the quarter-finals of Euro 2012 but stepped down after being eliminated by Iceland at Euro 2016 and failing to progress from the group stage at the 2014 World Cup.
Terry Venables reached the semi-finals of Euro 1996 with just two losses in 24 games as England manager, but the team also managed to win fewer than half of their games in those 24 attempts.
Sir Bobby Robson also guided England to the semi-finals of the 1990 World Cup, only to lose on penalties with Venables and co six years later.
Below is a list of every England manager, from Ramsey to Southgate, ordered by win percentage.
- Sam Allardyce: 100%*
- Fabio Capello: 66.7%
- Sir Alf Ramsay: 61.1%
- Glenn Hoddle: 60.7%
- Ron Greenwood: 60%
- Gareth Southgate: 59.8%
- Sven-Goran Eriksson: 59.7%
- Roy Hodgson: 58.9%
- Steve McLaren: 50%
- Sir Bobby Robson: 49.5%
- Don Revie: 48.3%
- Graham Taylor: 47.4%
- Terry Venables: 45.8%
- Kevin Keegan: 38.9%