World Cup 2026: Former England boss Gareth Southgate not TV pundit as he thinks ‘best to stay out of the way’

Former England manager Sir Gareth Southgate says he turned down work as a pundit at the World Cup because he didn’t think it would “help” the team’s prospects.

Southgate Resigned After England were defeated by Spain in the Euro 2024 final.

The 55-year-old captained England in 102 games over eight years, leading them to two European Championship finals and the semi-finals of the 2018 World Cup.

“It’s obviously a very different tournament for me, having been at the last seven World Cups as a player, a broadcaster, a scout and then a manager,” Southgate said in a post. Instagram, outsider.

“So this time I made a conscious decision not to do TV. I didn’t think it would be helpful for me to talk about the team and I don’t want them to be misconstrued or thrown at the press conference, so it’s better for me to stay out of that way.”

England’s World Cup campaign begins on Wednesday (21:00 BST) when they face Croatia in Arlington, Texas.

They then have matches against Ghana on Tuesday, June 23 (21:00 BST) and Panama on Saturday, June 27 (22:00 BST).

Sir Alf Ramsey, the 1966 World Cup winner, is the only other manager to have taken the England men’s team to the final of a major tournament.