Wayne Rooney thinks the Football Association should stick with Thomas Tuchel as England head coach unless a move for Pep Guardiola is possible.

Tuchel has retained the backing of the FA after England’s 2-1 defeat to Argentina in Wednesday’s World Cup semi-final.

The German was criticised for his substitutions as England squandered a 1-0 lead late on, but says he intends to stay to lead the Three Lions into Euro 2028.

Despite backing Tuchel to remain as England head coach after the World Cup heartbreak, ex-England captain Rooney thinks the FA should “go and get” former Manchester City manager Pep Guardiola if he is available.

“I don’t see anyone else out there at the minute, unless you go and get Pep Guardiola. If Pep is available, then maybe you go and get him,” Rooney said on The Wayne Rooney Show.

“I think he is a top-class manager and what the top managers do, they learn from the mistakes and they improve and get better.

“If we sack him, what managers are we going to bring in? And I don’t think there’s anyone out there who’s as good as Thomas Tuchel, unless Guardiola.

“But the big thing for me is he’s not experienced at World Cups. We had the exact same with [Fabio] Capello.

“The World Cup is different and you need to feel that environment and now he’s felt it.”

Tuchel signed a two-year contract extension in February, having been appointed in January 2025 on an 18-month mission to win the World Cup.

The FA approached Guardiola before appointing Tuchel, with reports there was a verbal agreement in place., external

Rooney shared his views on the decision to give Tuchel a new contract: “I think the FA told us that Thomas Tuchel was coming in to win the World Cup and take us to the next level.

“It’s a little bit strange if its priority was to win the World Cup, but then you get a two-year contract before you actually go to the World Cup. That’s a bit strange.”

Leaving the likes of Trent Alexander-Arnold, Cole Palmer, Phil Foden, Morgan Gibbs-White and Adam Wharton out of the 26-man England squad was always going to be a cause for debate.

But with the likes of Jordan Henderson, Trevoh Chalobah and Ivan Toney selected instead, Rooney believes having players who are just “happy around the camp” was detrimental to England’s chances.

“I think he’s made mistakes with the squad selection,” Rooney said.

“You can’t expect to win a World Cup and have a squad that is just happy and happy around the camp.

“You need debate, you need players to, you know, have conversations and not agree with you.

“You need players with their own personalities, their own opinions, their own character to question the manager at times.

“Top managers like that, they like that, then you can debate it. So, yes, I think looking back, he’ll have regrets.

“But I still think he’s as good as any manager out there to lead us into the next tournament, in my opinion.”