Sarina Wiegman rules out leaving England to coach USWNT amid speculation

Doug McIntyre

Soccer Journalist

Sarina Wiegman says she doesn’t have any plans of leaving England before her contract expires two years from now, the coach said in an interview on the eve of Sunday’s 2023 Women’s World Cup final between Wiegman’s Lionesses and Spain (coverage begins at 5 a.m. ET, with kickoff at 6 a.m. on FOX and the FOX Sports app).

Wiegman, a three-time FIFA women’s coach of the year, has burnished her credentials as the best manager in the women’s game this summer after leading England to its first World Cup decider, men’s or women’s, since 1966. She guided the Lionesses to the European title last year — her second consecutive continental championship after also winning the Euros with her native Netherlands in 2017. She’s lost just one major tournament game ever, when the Dutch were beaten by the United States in the 2019 World Cup final in France.

The U.S. is now looking for a new bench boss after losing to Sweden in the round of 16 at Australia-New Zealand 2023 — the worst World Cup showing in the country’s history. Wiegman is the dream candidate. That was the case even before USWNT coach Vlatko Andonovski stepped down from his post earlier this week, before England advanced to the title match. But there’s been so much speculation in recent days that both Wiegman and England’s Football Association have both spoken publicly about her future.

“We’ve seen lots of rumors, and she is a special talent. We know that,” said FA CEO Mark Bullingham. “We’re obviously huge supporters of her and hopefully she feels the same way. She’s someone we’d like to have with us for a very long time.”

With four World Cups and as many Olympic gold medals, the U.S. boasts the most successful program in women’s soccer history. After the debacle Down Under, it would be surprising if they didn’t target Wiegman. But it sounds like the 53-year-old would need some convincing, even if she stopped short of completely ruling out the possibility of taking on another challenge.

“I have a contract until ‘25 and I don’t have any plans of leaving England,” Wiegman told the BBC. “I’m really, really enjoying the job, I’m really enjoying the work that I do with the team and with the staff and with the FA, and I don’t have any plans to leave.”

Plans can also change. Wiegman was reportedly sounded out for the U.S. job before Andonovski was hired in 2019, but any conversations then were informal and clearly didn’t go very far. At the time, U.S. Soccer insisted on having coach willing to either move to Chicago, where the USSF is based, or commute there regularly, as Andonovski did from his home in Kansas City — a potential dealbreaker for several candidates.

While that’s still the fed’s preference, it’s no longer a set-in-stone requirement. The USSF’s goal is to recruit the best possible coach first and worry about logistics later, a source with knowledge of the organization’s thinking told FOX Sports on Friday.

For now, Wiegman’s sole focus is on winning Sunday’s finale against Spain.

“It’s going to be a big challenge,” she said. “I just hope that it will be an incredible game. It’s very special to be in a final but now we want to win it, too.”

Doug McIntyre is a soccer writer for FOX Sports. Before joining FOX Sports in 2021, he was a staff writer with ESPN and Yahoo Sports and he has covered United States men’s and women’s national teams at multiple FIFA World Cups. Follow him on Twitter @ByDougMcIntyre.