Mark Bullingham pays tribute to Lee Carsley

The Football Association's chief executive, Mark Bullingham, has paid tribute to Lee Carsley, whose spell as interim head coach of the senior England men's team ended with today's 5-0 win over the Republic of Ireland.

Victory at Wembley Stadium connected by EE secured promotion back to League A of the UEFA Nations League, with the Three Lions having won five of Carsley's six matches in charge to top Group B2.

With Thomas Tuchel and Anthony Barry set to join the FA on 1 January, Carsley will now resume charge of the men's under-21 team, who will defend their UEFA U21 EURO title in Slovakia next summer having last month achieved qualification for the 2025 finals.

The Three Lions' attention now turns to the next FIFA World Cup, with the qualifying draw for the 2026 finals in Canada, Mexico and the United States taking place on Friday 13 December.

Bullingham said: "I would like to thank Lee Carsley and his coaching team for their hard work and results in the last six games.

"Lee has achieved the main objective from the six fixtures this autumn: securing promotion back to the top tier of the Nations League. He has selected some exciting new players and will be providing Thomas Tuchel and Anthony Barry with a very detailed handover as they start work on our qualifying campaign for the 2026 FIFA World Cup.

"The players have really enjoyed working with Lee and his team – they have made a real impact in their interim roles. Lee will now return to the Under-21s and will continue to play a vital role supporting the seniors by developing England’s best young players.

"His leadership and coaching gives us the best possible chance of back-to-back U21 EURO wins next summer, and he will continue to play a big part in elite football development across the FA."