Sarina Wiegman has no intention of switching to the men’s game, despite cementing her status as one of the most successful coaches in women’s football. The 55-year-old guided the Lionesses to European Championship glory for the second time on Sunday, with England pipping Spain in a nail-biting penalty shootout in the final in Basel.
Wiegman – uniquely the only manager in the history of both men’s and women’s football to reach the final of all five major tournaments she’s coached in – has frequently been linked with a move to the men’s game. However, the Dutchwoman has made her position clear in the past: she’s exactly where she wants to be. “My thoughts now are totally not in men’s football, my thoughts are with the women’s game and what we can do,” she said back in 2023. “I am just really happy in the role I work in now and I am really enjoying it… I really love my job for the FA and with England. This is the highest level.”
She did, however, predict that it wouldn’t be long before a female coach lands a high-profile job in men’s football. “I think it is a matter of time and I think when the first one [takes a high-profile men’s job], it will be really big – but I think then more will follow,” Wiegman told the BBC.
“I think it will happen, I’m not sure how long it will take but I think it would be good. I think it’s a matter of time and that comes with the development of the game.
“When I was a little kid I was not allowed to play football as a girl. But now everyone says: ‘Oh why not?’ Hopefully in 20 years we say: ‘Why did we think females couldn’t coach males?’ Hopefully that will change quickly.
“Women are everywhere, women are head of countries and in business too. The balance of women in high-ranked positions, that should be a little more balanced between men and women. In football, we’re not used to having women coaching men at the highest level.”
For now though, the chances of Wiegman being the first big name to cross the divide look slim, particularly if FA chief executive Mark Bullingham’s recent comments are anything to go by. “She’s not for sale at any price,” he said ahead of Sunday’s Euros final. “When I spoke to [the media] before the tournament I said we were lucky to have her and I still feel that way. I think she has been incredible. She’s a really special coach and we’re delighted to have her with us.
“We are committed to her until 2027 and she is committed to us. We have a new [coaching] team coming in for her. We haven’t quite started working on the plans for [the 2027 World Cup] but I know her focus, hopefully after success on Sunday, will shift quite quickly to that.”
While female managers have broken into the men’s game in countries like France, Italy, and Germany, opportunities in the UK remain scarce. So far, only Hannah Dingley has taken charge of a men’s team in Britain – albeit briefly – as interim manager of Forest Green Rovers in 2023.
Globally, just one woman has ever held a top-flight managerial role in men’s football: Helen Nkwocha, who was named caretaker manager of Tvoroyrar Boltfelag in the Faroe Islands Premier League in 2021.
Wiegman took charge of the Lionesses in 2021 following a highly successful spell with the Netherlands, where she led her home nation to victory at the 2017 Euros and a runners-up finish at the 2019 World Cup. Her early tenure with England mirrored that success, delivering the Euro 2022 title before narrowly losing the 2023 World Cup final.
With England’s triumph at the 2025 Euros, Wiegman has become only the second manager in women’s football history to win three major international titles, joining Germany’s Tina Theune, who guided her nation to three consecutive European crowns between 1997 and 2005.
Wiegman, who had a short spell on the coaching staff of Dutch men’s team Sparta Rotterdam in 2016, was one of several names considered as a potential successor to Gareth Southgate following his resignation as England men’s manager after Euro 2024. In the end, the FA opted for former Chelsea boss Thomas Tuchel instead.