Sport Question

On August 9, 2024, Lee Carsley was appointed interim head coach of the England men’s senior national football team following the departure of Gareth Southgate. Although not guaranteed the position on a permanent basis – the Football Association (FA) is apparently considering the likes of Eddie Howe, Graham Potter and Frank Lampard – Carsley has made a perfect start to his tenure at the helm of the Three Lions, albeit against modest opposition. A 2-0 victory over the Republic of Ireland at the Aviva Stadium in Dublin on September 7 was followed by a similar result against Finland at Wembley Stadium three days later and the caretaker manager has four more UEFA Nations League fixtures in which to impress the powers that be.

A defensive midfielder as a player, Carsley, 50, was encouraged to take his coaching badges during his time at Everton by then-manager David Moyes. He had his first taste of senior football management during two caretaker spells with Coventry City in 2012/13 before, briefly, becoming assistant manager to former Everton teammate David Weir at Sheffied United in 2013/14. Spells on the senior coaching team at Brentford, as manager, caretaker manager and assistant manager, followed, in the latter case in combination with a role as assistant manager to England under-19s, alongside Aidy Boothroyd. Fast forward to 2018/19 and Carsley was reunited with Boothroyd as assistant manager to England under-21s. He succeeded Boothroyd as manager in 2021/22 and held the post for three years until his most recent, possibly temporary, promotion.

The Fédération Internationale de Football Association (FIFA) exists to govern and develop the game of football around the world. Since December 1992, FIFA has calculated a ranking for all its affiliated men’s national teams, based on points accumulated in recognised matches. Nowadays, the ranking is sponsored by the Coca-Cola Company and hence known, for sponsorship purposes, as the FIFA/Coca-Cola World Ranking.

All told, the FIFA/Coca-Cola World Ranking includes 211 men’s national teams, of which just one, Eritrea, is unranked. The Eritrean National Football Federation (ENFF) has been beset by various problems, not least the number of players refusing to return home and seeking asylum following away matches. Consequently, the national team has failed to play a match, of any description, since a 1-0 defeat in friendly against Sudan in Asmara on January 25, 2020 and has no FIFA ranking.

Bottom of the pile of the remaining 210 FIFA-affiliated national teams remains San Marino. To be fair, the tiny, landlocked country has the population equivalent to that of a medium-sized British town and the national team did not play its first “official” match until November 14, 1990. Nevertheless, that initial 4-0 defeat by Switzerland in a Euro 92 qualifying match at San Marino Stadium in Serrvalle rather set the tone for the next three and a half decades. Barring a 1-0 win against fellow European minnows Liechtenstein in a friendly match at the same venue on April 28, 2004, San Marino has won just one other match, by the same scoreline, against the same opponents, at the same venue, but in a competitive UEFA Nations League clash, on September 5, 2024.

On July 16, 2024, less than 48 hours after England were beaten in a second successful European Championship final, Gareth Southgate announced his resignation as manager, bringing to an end his eight-year tenure at the helm of the Three Lions. A late winner by second-half substitute Mikel Oyarzabal, four minutes from time, consigned England to a 2-1 defeat – actually their first in 14 Euro final matches under Southgate – by Spain at the Olympiastadion in Berlin, extending the quest for their first major tournament success since 1966 beyond 58 years.

As a player, Southgate won 57 caps for England, but will always be best remembered, unfairly, for missing a crucial penalty against Germany in the semi-final of Euro 96, ironically at the pre-renovation Olympiastadion. With the match tied 1-1 after extra time and the penalty shootout tied 6-6, and into the sudden death phase, he saw his weak, side-footed effort saved by goalkeeper Andreas Köpke and German captain Andreas Möller converted the next spot-kick to eliminate England 7-6.

Nevertheless, Southgate, 54, had worked at the Football Association since 2011. Aside from his 57 caps as a player, he took charge of the England men’s under-21 team for 37 games and the men’s senior team on 102 games (of which he won 61, drew 24 and lost 17), making a total of 196 games in which he was involed with the national team, one way or another. Southgate was originally appointed manager of the senior team on a temporary, caretaker basis in September 2016, but went on to take charge of more games than anyone bar Walter Winterbottom and Sir Alf Ramsey.