Gary Lineker suspects Euro 2024 final will be Gareth Southgate's 'last game in management' as England icon calls Spain's triumph 'a victory for attacking football'

Southgate initially took the reins as Three Lions boss on an interim basis in September 2016 following the resignation of Sam Allardyce. He was handed a permanent four-year contract in late November and has gone on to take in over 100 games at the helm.

England have reached a World Cup semi-final and back-to-back European Championship finals, but remain without a trophy since 1966 in the men’s game. Change is now being predicted, with Lineker telling BBC Sport on the back of an agonising 2-1 defeat at the end of Euro 2024: “These moments are for Spain and they’re enjoying themselves. As for Gareth Southgate I suspect this might be his last game in management. What he has brought to this England team is a harmony, a likeability that I think has re-engaged the English public towards football.”

Lineker is, however, among those to have questioned Southgate’s tactics – which are considered to be overly defensive – and added on seeing the Three Lions come up short in another quest for silverware: “It is a hard defeat for England to take but in some ways, it is a victory for attacking football.”

Southgate is yet to make a decision on his future, with his contract due to expire at the end of the calendar year, and told BBC Sport in the immediate aftermath of a dramatic loss to Spain in Berlin: “Now is not the time for me to speak about that. I need to talk to the right people and give myself a bit of time. To get to another final... it was a privilege to have the opportunity. But to come up short is hard at the moment.”

Ex-Chelsea and Swansea boss Graham Potter tops the betting market when it comes to England’s next boss, with the likes of Eddie Howe – who is currently in charge of Newcastle – and Mauricio Pochettino, fresh from severing his own ties with those at Stamford Bridge, also said to be in the frame.