KEY DATES 10/03 - FA meets with Curbishley for informal discussions 27/02 - Three-man team report to FA chairman Geoff Thompson 02/02 - The FA appoints three-man team to find new boss 26/01 - Barwick signals intention to appoint successor before World Cup 23/01 - Eriksson reveals he will stand down after World Cup

The Swede will step down after the World Cup finals in Germany this summer.

FA chief executive Brian Barwick (pictured right), international committee chairman Noel White and Premier League chairman Dave Richards are the three men who have been appointed to find a new boss.

BBC Sport rounds up the latest news and speculation surrounding the vacant England job.

Lyon coach Gerard Houllier has ruled himself out of the running, though it is questionable whether he ever actually was in the running.

The former Liverpool boss believes the Football Association should instead pick a homegrown manager to succeed Eriksson.

"Because of my strong ties with Liverpool, England will always be a special place for me - a second home if you like," said Houllier.

"But the national manager should be an Englishman. I am very happy at Lyon."

Meanwhile, England captain David Beckham has backed Eriksson to be the new coach at Real Madrid when he leaves his post at Soho Square.

"Sven is one of the best managers around and his name was bound to come into the equation. I think he would work well," said Beckham.

Gerard Houllier:
29 March - "I have not put my name forward and I have not been interviewed."

Sam Allardyce:
26 March - "I don't think there is another manager in this country who has achieved as much as I have."

Guus Hiddink:
24 March - "I've decided to stop as trainer with PSV at the end of this season, and that's about it."

Peter Taylor:
24 March - "My meeting was about the role, but I'm sure Alan Curbishley's meeting would have been for the role."

Fabio Capello:
24 March - "Within three years I will pack in coaching at club level and then I want to realise the dream I have always had inside me - England."

Luiz Felipe Scolari:
23 March - "I had an informal meeting with the English federation. I do not feel I am in a race to be the next England boss."

Alan Curbishley:
22 March - "I'm sure it will be stepped up in the next couple of weeks but I don't think anyone knows how."

Steve McClaren:
15 March - Studiously avoided answering questions about the latest speculation surrounding the England job before his Middlesbrough team beat Roma to reach the Uefa Cup quarter-finals.

Stuart Pearce:
13 March - "England is not a distraction for me, I don't take a great deal of interest in it."