Watzke reveals he considered England boss Tuchel for Germany job after Qatar exit

Hans-Joachim Watzke would have liked to appoint current England boss Thomas Tuchel as Germany coach following the 2022 World Cup.

Photo by Lukas Schulze/Bongarts/Getty Images

German Football Association vice-president Hans-Joachim Watzke has revealed that he would have liked to replace Hansi Flick with current England boss Thomas Tuchel as Germany coach following the disastrous group-stage exit at the 2022 World Cup.

“I already had the idea. We were eliminated from the World Cup in Qatar rather miserably. And then? You start thinking, perhaps for a night or two, about what could happen next,” Watzke said on the Sky programme “Meine Geschichte”, according to Bild.

Ultimately, however, Watzke was unable to push through his idea with then-DFB sporting director Oliver Bierhoff, and Flick was allowed to remain in charge until he was sacked in 2023.

“Oliver Bierhoff was still there at the time, and now it’s Rudi Völler. It’s not my decision who becomes the Germany head coach. But the general feeling was simply: we’ll continue with Hansi Flick.”

Watzke has held a leading role at Borussia Dortmund for many years. Interestingly, Tuchel was dismissed as Borussia Dortmund head coach in 2017 following a disagreement between the two.