Sarina Wiegman confident 'no update' on her England future won't 'distract' Lionesses as focus turns to 2027 Women's World Cup qualification

Just last week, England men's head coach Thomas Tuchel signed a contract extension with the Football Association, with his previous deal only set to run until the end of the 2026 World Cup. The German will now be in charge of the Three Lions until the end of Euro 2028, despite his tenure being near-impossible to judge right now, given it has yet to take in a major tournament.

Facing the media for the first time since that news was revealed, it was perhaps no surprise that Wiegman was asked about her own future on Tuesday, as she announced her first England squad of 2026. The Dutchwoman signed a four-year deal when she took over in September 2021 and extended that at the beginning of 2024, to run until 2027, despite being coy over her future when asked about it after the 2023 Women's World Cup.

Now, it's that time again to talk about whether Wiegman could take in another cycle with an England team that she has enjoyed incredible success with, winning two European titles and reaching a World Cup final.

Asked if there was any update on her future in Tuesday's press conference, Wiegman said: "No, there's no update. It's pretty far away, the World Cup. I've said before, we are in conversations all the time and we're still very happy from both sides. We are now really focusing on this qualification. We want to qualify and the best possible way to do that is [by securing automatic qualification] in June. We're going for that and let's first do that."

Pressed further on the topic, Wiegman was asked how she makes sure any speculation around her future with the Lionesses does not become a distraction for her team as they focus on qualifying for the tournament in Brazil as quickly as possible. She replied: "Well, there is no distraction whatsoever. Everyone's really focused on this qualification. We're really excited to get started. It's also really nice to play Ukraine and Iceland [next month, in the first qualifiers], two teams this generation has not played. I'm excited about that, the team is excited about that and I haven't heard anyone in my team or staff that has been occupied with [the topic of my future]."

England's bid to qualify for the 2027 Women's World Cup begins at the start of March, with the Lionesses drawn in a very tough group alongside Spain, who they beat to win Euro 2025 and lost to in the 2023 Women's World Cup final. Few would dispute the idea that England and Spain are the best two teams on the continent right now, so for them to be battling it out for just one automatic qualification spot is going to be fascinating.

Ukraine and Iceland are the other two teams in Group A3 and it is in that order that England will face them in the first week of March. The Lionesses will travel to Turkey to face Ukraine, playing in Antalya on March 3, while Nottingham Forest's City Ground will be the venue for their home game against Iceland. England haven't played Ukraine since 2014, while a clash with Iceland hasn't occurred since way back in 2009.

Should the Lionesses fail to top their qualifying group, a route through the play-offs will be necessary instead. That would require the European champions to take on a lower-ranked team over two legs in October of this year, before then facing another two-legged play-off tie in the final international break of 2026. One would still back England to come through that path, given their experience and title-winning qualities, but it would certainly be more complicated.