Sven-Goran Eriksson became the first overseas manager to take charge of England 24 years ago as the Swede led the Three Lions out at Villa Park for a 3-0 friendly win over Spain. The team would go on to reach three successive international tournament quarter-finals. Ahead of Thomas Tuchel's debut as the latest non-English manager for the side, we look back at where it all began for Eriksson.
When England play Albania in a World Cup qualifying match in 2026, Thomas Tuchel will lead the team for the first time as manager. After all the discussion around his appointment, anthems and his first squad selection, eyes will be on Wembley to see how the German performs in the role for the very first time.
It was the perfect start to life in charge for Eriksson, with Nick Barmby chasing down a Michael Owen flick to stab past the onrushing Iker Casillas for 1-0.
As was to become a feature of international friendlies, Eriksson made several half-time changes and substitute Emile Heskey made it 2-0 ten minutes after the break.
Another sub, the late Ugo Ehiogu, headed in a third with 20 minutes to play, wrapping up a comfortable first win for Eriksson and getting England fans giddy with excitement over what was to potentially follow.
As Tuchel’s first team prepare for action, we look back at the very first starting XI that England’s first foreign manager named and what happened next.
Neville – Right-back (59 caps)
The younger Neville sibling was largely a squad player for The Three Lions but was omitted for both the 2002 and 2006 World Cups.
He did feature at Euro 2004, however, and briefly played under McClaren, with his final match coming against Estonia in 2007.
Neville left Manchester United in 2005 for Everton before his 2013 retirement and, as well as part-owning Salford City with his fellow United ‘Class of 92’ alumni, has had managerial spells with England Women, Inter Miami and is currently in the dugout at Portland Timbers.
Chris Powell – Left-back (5 caps)
Despite impressing on this, his debut for his country, at 31, Powell would not go on to be a mainstay in the team, mostly only featuring in friendlies over the next year.
The Charlton legend would later have spells with West Ham, Watford and Leicester before moving into coaching and management, most notably leading Charlton to League One promotion in 2012.
He has also managed Huddersfield, Derby and Southend, as well as taking on coaching roles at ADO Den Haag, Spurs, England, and is currently at Sheffield Wednesday.
Gothenburg has always been one of Sweden's best teams, along with AIK and Malmo. In 1979, they hired an unknown 30-year-old player, which caused a lot of skepticism. “Here was this really shy man, who had been the manager of a little team called Degerfors, and now he was suddenly in charge of the biggest club in the country,” remarked defender Glenn Hysen. “We had never heard of him and it took us a while to respect him.”
Sampdoria gave the green light for Eriksson to move to England in December 1996, but he ultimately went back on his promise to join Blackburn Rovers at the end of that season, with Hodgson inheriting the Ewood Park hot seat instead. Family ties kept Eriksson in Italy, and he signed a contract with Roma's arch-rivals Lazio in the summer of 1997.
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