​Thomas Tuchel’s extended England contract contains World Cup performance conditions, but at the time the new deal was announced the Football Association refused to confirm if it included a break clause.The Press Association understands the FA still sees the German head coach as the man to lead England into a home Euros in 2028 despite criticism over his game management when England went 1-0 up against Argentina in Wednesday night’s semi-final in Atlanta.AdvertisementAdvertisementAdvertisementEngland sat back and ultimately conceded two late goals to deny them a first men’s World Cup final place since 1966.Critics have questioned the decision to hand Tuchel a new deal ahead of the World Cup, with the announcement made in February, on the day of the draw for the 2026-27 Nations League in Brussels which begins in September.Asked at the time what would happen if England had a disastrous World Cup, FA chief executive Mark Bullingham said: “We’ve appointed him with a view to him being our coach for 2028. Every single person has performance conditions in their contract, you wouldn’t expect me to go into those.“I’ve got them as well, but we’re really clear that we want him coaching us in 2028.”AdvertisementAdvertisementAdvertisementBullingham said at the time he would “not go into” whether the contract contained a break clause.Asked why the FA had not waited and made a decision after the World Cup, Bullingham replied: “I just don’t think that’s realistic. When you look at anyone in any business on a fixed-term contract, clearly when you get to the end of that fixed-term contract, they will already be considering their future.“From our point of view, we felt like we had a world-class coach doing a really good job for us and we wanted him to carry on.”Bullingham said the move would end speculation before and during the tournament concerning Tuchel’s future.AdvertisementAdvertisementAdvertisementThe month before the deal was announced, Manchester United had sacked Ruben Amorim and speculation had linked Tuchel with a move to Old Trafford.“Whenever we’ve got any tournament, we want to know where we are a few months ahead,” Bullingham said.“We’ve seen that with (England women’s head coach) Sarina (Wiegman) before and with Gareth (Southgate) previously as well.“We tend to want to know where we are, to remove that uncertainty when you’re going into a tournament, it gives everyone – the support team and the players – that certainty.”Bullingham said the conversation around an extension had “evolved very naturally” after England sealed World Cup qualification last year.Speaking on the same day in Brussels, Tuchel said: “We wanted to commit further to a full cycle of World Cup and Euros. The FA wanted it and I wanted it, so it was an easy one.”