David Beckham: "My dream job? England manager"

David Beckham has described the role of England manager as "a dream job". The 44-year-old won 115 senior caps for the Three Lions, 58 of which came while he held the captain's armband between 2000 and 2006. The ex-Manchester United and Real Madrid star decided not to pursue a coaching career after retiring in 2013, with his most recent involvement in football coming through his MLS franchise Inter Miami, who are expected to start life in the United States' top tier in 2020. However, it seems Beckham could be persuaded to try his hand at management if the England job became available.

Beckham would leap at the chance to manage England

When asked if he had ever considered managing old club United, he told GQ: "I think some people within the FA saw me possibly as a future England manager, just because maybe I had had a successful career being England captain. If someone turned around to me and said, 'If the England job came up, would you take it?', I mean, of course I would think about it, because I'm a passionate Englishman and I'm passionate about our national side, but would I be any good at it? Who knows?"

The team's in good hands

For now, Beckham is happy to leave the national team under the guidance of Gareth Southgate, a former team-mate of his at international level. "It's a dream job, but Gareth is doing the most incredible job for us right now. He's brought energy and excitement back into the game and the fans – myself included – are enjoying that."

Under Southgate, England reached the World Cup semi-finals for the first time since 1990, losing 2-1 to Croatia after extra time in Moscow at the 2018 tournament. They then qualified for the inaugural Nations League Finals, which took place in Portugal this year, where they finished third after a penalty shoot-out win over Switzerland in the bronze-medal match.

England face Bulgaria on 7 September and Kosovo three days later in this month's Euro 2020 qualifying matches.