Ranking every England manager by their win percentage | OneFootball

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It's no secret that being the manager of the England national football team is one of the hardest jobs in the world, with the media attention and expectations being higher than almost any other position in the sport.

Over the years, there have been several great names that have led the Three Lions out onto the pitch, from the World Cup-winning Sir Alf Ramsey to the legendary Sir Bobby Robson, with Gareth Southgate now in charge. With just the one major trophy, the debate around who the greatest England manager ever is can only go so far if judging purely on silverware terms - but when it comes to win rates, it's a different story altogether.

Statistics can of course only go so far in defining managerial eras (as will become extremely evident later on), but this measure does provide a yardstick for quite how much success was enjoyed under each head coach. For this list, we won't be including anyone who managed less than 5 games for England - so yes, that does mean Sam Allardyce's '100% win rate' will be excluded from our ranking, for relatively obvious reasons.

That leaves us with 15 men to have taken charge of the team on multiple occasions since the managerial position became a full-time one in 1946, all of whom endured wildly different times at the helm.

For reference, we've taken these figures from myfootballfacts.com, with it including all games when each manager was in charge. So without further ado, here is every single England manager ranked by their win percentage with the national team.

15 Kevin Keegan - 38.9%

Somebody has to be last on these lists, and unfortunately for the former Newcastle, Fulham and Manchester City manager Kevin Keegan, he occupies this spot.

Taking charge of 18 games, he oversaw seven wins, including achieving qualification for Euro 2000 - although given the fact England came home after the group stage with two losses out of three, the less said about that the better.

14 Joe Mercer - 42.9%

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Given he occupies 14th place on this list, it is not much of a surprise Joe Mercer isn't a well-known name, especially given he only took charge of seven matches on a caretaker basis back in 1974.

Having taken over from the recently-resigned Sir Alf Ramsey, Mercer did technically win a trophy with the team, lifting the British Home Championship (albeit sharing it with Scotland), but with the job only a short-term one, he left not long afterwards.

13 Graham Taylor - 47.4%

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Given the way things ended for Graham Taylor as England manager, it's easy to forget that he began with a very promising start, losing just once in his first 23 games in charge and securing qualification for Euro 1992.

Unfortunately, losing six times in the 15 matches that followed proved to be his downfall, and after not beating San Marino by a large enough margin to qualify for the 1994 World Cup, Taylor resigned just a few days later.

12 Terry Venables - 47.8%

As the manager of an England team playing in their first home tournament since 1966, Terry Venables will always be a memorable figure among Three Lions' supporters, even despite his short time as boss.

Taking England to the semi-finals of any major tournament is no mean feat, which is what Venables did at Euro 96, where they exited to old foes Germany on penalties, with a certain Gareth Southgate missing his spot kick.

11 Don Revie - 48.3%

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Having enjoyed so much success with Leeds United, Don Revie was seen as a smart choice when appointed as England manager, but given both his win rate and record in major tournaments, that view proved to be a premature one.

Revie failed to lead England to any major tournament, not qualifying for Euro 76, before resigning from the job midway through the 1978 World Cup qualification campaign, citing the clamour from outside the FA setup for him to do so.

10 Bobby Robson - 49.5%

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As one of the country's longest-serving managers, Bobby Robson's role at the helm cannot truly be defined by a win rate, with the fourth-placed finish at the 1990 World Cup still England's joint-best finish at the tournament to date.

He was also the man in charge at the 1986 World Cup when Diego Maradona's infamous 'Hand of God' incident led to Robson's side exiting the competition at the quarter-final stage, but in truth, it is Italia 90 that he will be most remembered for.

9 Steve McClaren - 50.0%

It is hard to look at Steve McClaren's period of management at the national team with anything other than disappointment, given the fact he was only in charge for 18 games and did not qualify for a European Championship tournament for the first time in over 20 years.

Perhaps going to show that win percentage isn't everything, McClaren's 50% success rate does not provide the important context of a rainy November 2007 day, when England simply needed to avoid losing to Croatia - who had already qualified - to get to Euro 2008.

The result? A 3-2 loss, and headlines of 'Wally with the Brolly' that would prove the end of his short stint in charge.

8 Walter Winterbottom - 56.1%

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Ask someone to name every England manager they know and few would be able to pick out Walter Winterbottom, who was the first man to have the job as a full-time position, managing more games (139) than any other in the history of the role.

The best it ever got for Winterbottom were two World Cup quarter-finals - one in 1954 and another in 1962 - but his influence in defining the role of England manager for years to come (including persuading the FA to let him pick his own teams!) gives him an important place in history.

7 Roy Hodgson - 58.9%

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It all started so promisingly for Roy Hodgson. With expectations not particularly high ahead of Euro 2012, England showed themselves to be a tough team to beat, only losing on penalties in the quarters to Italy, with qualification for the World Cup two years later being a formality.

However, from 2014 onwards things spiralled downwards for Hodgson, first finishing bottom of their World Cup group, before suffering the ignominy of being knocked out of Euro 2016 by Iceland - a country with a population 0.6% the size of England's.

6 Sven-Göran Eriksson - 59.7%

LISBON, PORTUGAL - JUNE 24: A pensive Sven Goran Eriksson of England during the UEFA Euro 2004, Quarter Final match between Portugal and England at the Luz Stadium on June 24, 2004 in Lisbon, Portugal. (Photo by Alex Livesey/Getty Images)

As the first non-British manager of England, there was some trepidation surrounding Sven-Göran Eriksson's appointment in 2001, but the Swede did start well, with a famous 5-1 victory over Germany in Munich being an early highlight.

When it came to major tournaments, it was a story of quarter-finals, as the Three Lions were knocked out at the same stage in three successive major competitions, twice to Portugal on penalties, but Eriksson's overall record was certainly not something to be too ashamed of.

5 Ron Greenwood - 60.0%

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As the man credited with nurturing the likes of Bobby Moore and Geoff Hurst at West Ham, Ron Greenwood seemed a perfect fit for the England role, but though he had a relatively high win rate, his record at major tournaments was disappointing.

Euro 1980 saw England knocked out in the group stages (albeit with a different format to today's competition), whilst the 1982 World Cup was one in which the Three Lions were unbeaten, but the fact they were mostly draws rather than wins saw them exit early on once more.

4 Glenn Hoddle - 60.7%

Glenn Hoddle's time in charge of England was very much a case of 'what might have been', given that he only took charge of the team at one major tournament - the 1998 World Cup - where they lost in the Round of 16 on penalties to Argentina.

Just a few months afterwards though, Hoddle came under fire for comments which appeared to suggest disabled people were suffering karma for a past life, promptly leading to his contract being terminated as he left in disgrace.

3 Alf Ramsey - 61.1%

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Moving into the top three now, and it's arguably the greatest manager England has ever had, with Sir Alf Ramsey still being the only person to lead the Three Lions to World Cup glory, back in 1966.

His stint in charge lasted over 10 years, in which time he also helped achieve a third-place finish at Euro 1968, but with such a high win rate and a piece of silverware under his belt, it is hard to deny him the accolade of one of the best England have ever had.

2 Gareth Southgate - 61.6%

Gareth Southgate has faced his fair share of criticism as England manager, but with such a high win rate it could be argued that such opposition is more than a little unfair, especially given the success at both the 2018 World Cup and Euro 2020.

Admittedly, the losses in both those tournaments - as well as the recent defeat to France at the 2022 World Cup - were painful to take and perhaps a sign of inexperience, but it is clear from this statistic that Southgate is one of the best the Three Lions have had in some time.

1 Fabio Capello - 66.7%

Finally, coming in at first place is Italian manager Fabio Capello, who, across his 42 matches at the helm, lost just six games, though only led the team to one major tournament, that being the 2010 World Cup.

There, England were sent home by Germany in the Round of 16, with Capello resigning from his position 18 months later, but given his strong record, it does beg the question of whether Capello was judged too harshly after all.