Former England manager Sir Gareth Southgate says he turned down work as a pundit at the World Cup because he did not think it would be “helpful” to the side’s chances.<\/p>\n
Southgate resigned from his position<\/a> after England were defeated by Spain in the Euro 2024 final.<\/p>\n The 55-year-old led England for 102 games over eight years, guiding them to the finals of two European Championships and the 2018 World Cup semi-final.<\/p>\n “It’s obviously a very different tournament for me this one, I’ve been at the last seven World Cups as a player, as a broadcaster, a scout and then as the manager,” Southgate said in a post on Instagram, external<\/a>.<\/p>\n “So this time I took a conscious decision not to do the TV. I didn’t think it would be helpful for me to be talking about the team and I don’t want anything to be misconstrued or thrown at them at press conferences, so best for me to keep out of the way.”<\/p>\n England’s World Cup campaign begins on Wednesday (21:00 BST) when they take on Croatia in Arlington, Texas.<\/p>\n They then have matches against Ghana on Tuesday, 23 June (21:00 BST) and Panama on Saturday, 27 June (22:00 BST).<\/p>\n Sir Alf Ramsey, 1966 World Cup winner, is the only other manager to have guided England’s men’s team to a major tournament final.<\/p>\n