From 2006 to 2007, he managed the Finland national team, guiding them to their highest-ever FIFA ranking of 33rd place and coming close to qualifying for a major tournament for the first time in their history.

Hodgson's greatest continental achievement at Malmö came the following year in the 1989–90 European Cup, knocking Inter out in the first round, winning 1–0 at home and drawing 1–1 at the San Siro.

[30] The Swiss defeated a strong Romania team 4–1, qualifying for the Round of 16, where they lost 3–0 to Spain due to changing to an attacking formation after conceding an early goal.

"[35] Hodgson was one of three targets for Blackburn Rovers owner Jack Walker when Ray Harford resigned as their manager in October 1996, along with Terry Venables and Sven-Göran Eriksson.

[37] Hodgson's second season with Blackburn did not match the relative success of the first, due to numerous injuries,[38] dressing room unrest, and the failure to find an adequate replacement for departed central defender Colin Hendry.

[40] When England manager Glenn Hoddle faced calls for him to resign following a much-criticised serialised diary in a national newspaper and poor results in the opening games of Euro 2000 qualification, Hodgson was the favourite among the media and the bookmakers to take over.

After Kevin Keegan resigned as manager of the England national football team in October 2000, Hodgson was one of three shortlisted candidates to take over;[17][44] however, after having agreed to move to Copenhagen prior to the FA showing interest in interviewing him for the position, he was obliged to refuse any offer and the job went to Sven-Göran Eriksson.

With the club in ninth place and in the quarter finals of the 2001–02 Coppa Italia, Hodgson was fired in December 2001 after less than six months in charge after allegedly stating that he regretted taking up the post.

"[16] In 2012, the president of the interim committee of the United Arab Emirates Football Association, Yousuf al-Serkal, said: "From what I remember of the period he was here, he didn't have a good opportunity of preparing his team for any tournament.

Hodgson initially endured a run of very poor results with the club, including being knocked out of the FA Cup on penalties after two draws against League One side Bristol Rovers.

Goalkeeper Mark Schwarzer and midfielder Zoltán Gera arrived on free transfers, as did teenage defender Chris Smalling, who would go on to be sold to Manchester United for £12 million.

[71] There were calls for Hodgson to be given the Premier League Manager of the Year award[72] and he received much praise for the signings of Mark Schwarzer, Andy Johnson and Brede Hangeland and for the improvement in Bobby Zamora's performances.

[74] Players joining Fulham before the 2009–10 season included right back Stephen Kelly and midfielders Bjørn Helge Riise, Damien Duff and Jonathan Greening.

However, a goal from Bobby Zamora, a brace from Zoltán Gera and a late winner from Clint Dempsey meant that Fulham won the tie 5–4 on aggregate.

On 29 April 2010, Hodgson guided Fulham to their first major European final in their 130-year history, winning the home leg 2–1 after a 0–0 away draw to gain a 2–1 aggregate victory over Hamburg in the Europa League semi-final.

[89] Hodgson made further signings in goalkeeper Brad Jones, defenders Danny Wilson and Paul Konchesky, midfielders Christian Poulsen and Raul Meireles, as well as re-signing full-back Fábio Aurélio, who had been released by the club earlier in the summer.

[91] Prior to the home game against newly promoted Blackpool on 3 October, Hodgson responded to his critics, describing himself as "one of the most respected coaches in Europe" and said it was "insulting" to suggest he could not handle Liverpool's big-name players.

[101] Hodgson replaced Roberto Di Matteo, who had been dismissed after a poor run of form, which saw West Brom lose 13 of their previous 18 matches and slip to 17th in the table, only out of the relegation zone on goal difference.

Experience and height was added to the backline in the form of Northern Ireland international Gareth McAuley on a free transfer and recently relegated Preston North End's player of the season Billy Jones also arrived to add cover at fullback.

Prior to the start of the season, former Hawthorns hero Zoltán Gera also returned on a free transfer from Fulham and a summer-long chase for Shane Long was finally ended with the Irish international signing for an undisclosed fee reported to be in the region of £4million.

[106] Despite his side being continually beset with injuries to key players and the season-long loss of Zoltan Gera to a cruciate ligament injury in only his second start after returning, Hodgson's side always remained well above the relegation zone until the Christmas period when successive 2–1 home defeats to newly promoted duo Swansea City and Norwich City as well as to bottom club Wigan Athletic saw them move within three points of 18th-place Bolton Wanderers.

Although Italy dominated possession throughout the match, Hodgson's side were praised for being defensively well-organised and hard to beat,[136][137][138][139][140][141] and the team were reported to have either met or exceeded their expectations.

[143] England were drawn in Group H of the European Zone of qualification for the 2014 FIFA World Cup, alongside Moldova, Montenegro, Poland, San Marino and Ukraine.

[148] On 15 October 2013, England beat Poland 2–0 at Wembley, with goals from Wayne Rooney and Steven Gerrard, to qualify unbeaten for the 2014 FIFA World Cup in Brazil.

"[154] The 23-man squad included Everton's Ross Barkley and Liverpool's Raheem Sterling, but not Ashley Cole, who announced his retirement from international football after missing out.

Following the elimination, he endured media criticism for the team's negative performance, and for making several questionable selections and tactical decisions, such as the six changes made to the squad that had defeated Wales 2–1, which resulted in a 0–0 draw against Slovakia and a second-place finish in the group.

During it, in a match against Leicester City that Palace won 4–1, Hodgson beat Sir Bobby Robson's record as the oldest man to manage in the Premier League, at the age of 71 years and 198 days.

"[27]Wilson also noted that Hodgson, like his compatriot Bob Houghton, employed a zonal defence while coaching in the Allsvenskan, and that his teams pressed hard and maintained a high back-line, making use of the offside trap.

[27] Swedish academic Tomas Peterson believed that the managers "threaded together a number of principles, which could be used in a series of combinations and compositions, and moulded them into an organic totality — an indivisible project about how to play football.

"[27] In an article with The Blizzard, Hodgson noted that he and Houghton were attempting to introduce a different style of defending in Swedish football, rather than elements of English football, such as the long-ball game, stating: "Instead of playing with a team that was very spread out from one end of the field to the other, with a libero who stays in his penalty area and a centre-forward who never tracks back, we set up a system of zonal defence, a back four, people pushing up and, of course, getting the ball forward into the final area much more quickly."