The England coach Gareth Southgate and his assistant Steve Holland, who qualified the 'Three Lions' for the 2022 World Cup in Qatar, have renewed their contract until the end of 2024, announced the English Football Association (FA) on Monday.
Southgate, whose contract was due to expire at the end of July 2022, led England "to the World Cup semifinals and the Euro final this summer," the FA said in its statement, noting that it was the "best performance in 55 years."
The coach will reach five years in charge at the end of the month. Southgate will also be in charge of the English team during the Euro 2024, whose qualifying phase begins in March 2023.
"It remains an incredible privilege to manage this team," said Southgate, quoted in the statement.
"We have a great opportunity ahead and I know (the players) and the fans are all excited about what this team can achieve in the future," he added.
Southgate, 51, took over the senior team in 2016 after Sam Allardyce's tenure, who was dismissed in just two months due to corruption allegations, and after the humiliating elimination against Iceland (2-1) in the round of 16 of the Euro 2016.
Southgate rejuvenated the team, especially by leaving out Wayne Rooney, to rely on players he had coached in the youth ranks, such as goalkeeper Jordan Pickford.
His calmness, his ability to communicate, his humility quickly won over the authorities, the players, and the fans, even though his style of play is sometimes criticized for being timid given England's offensive potential.
But the results speak in his favor and have erased the image of a cursed hero that had followed him since Euro 1996 when he missed the decisive penalty against Germany in the semifinals.
A trauma that he managed to overcome to make England a power and place them among the favorites to win the World Cup in Qatar.