While the 2026 World Cup is looming as the final challenge of a golden era for the French team, a historic turning point is emerging on the horizon: Didier Deschamps will leave his functions as coach after the tournament in the United States. In post since 2012, the former 1998 world champions captain in January 2025 in January 2025 did not extend his contract, putting an end to more than a decade marked by a World Cup victory (2018), a final of the Euro (2016) and another from the World Cup (2022). “”You have to know how to say stop“, He said in an interview with TF1, evoking a long-matured decision. The French Football Federation, by the voice of its president Philippe Diallo, praised this planned outing as an act of responsibility, making it possible to avoid any instability in the preparation of the next cycle.
The announcement of the departure of Deschamps had immediately rekindled speculations around Zinedine Zidane, considered by many as the natural successor. Free since his departure from Real Madrid in 2021, Zidane has never hidden her ambition to direct the Blues. He also declined several offers from major European clubs, preferring to wait for the opportunity to take the reins of the national team. Deschamps himself called Zidane as “very good candidate, natural and expected“, While specifying that the final decision will return to Zidane and the president of the FFF. Although Philippe Diallo expressed his admiration for Zidane, he stressed that the question of the succession will only arise until the departure of Deschamps, in order to maintain serenity within the team. However, for many observers and former teammates, Zidane appears to be the obvious choice to embody the revival of the Blues at the end of the 2026 World Cup.
Zizou's big announcement!
Present at an event from the Adidas brand, organized this Monday at the Champs-Elysées store, Zinedine Zidane was invited to respond to rumors binding it to the future of the French Team. It is a secret of Polichinelle but the former Real Madrid coach is considered to be the big favorite for the succession of Didier Deschamps on the Blues bench, at the end of the 2026 World Cup. As a reminder, the current EDF coach has already announced his future departure. “”I put my career a little on Standby, but I feel entirely at 100% coach. As I feel legitimate, the French team, I played there, I did almost 12, 13 or 14 years of player. Of course it's a desire, it's a desire. But there, there is a coach who is in place, there is a team, we must respect all this, and that's what we do. Me, I have always respected football and people, so here it is, it's not quite the time. But when the moment will come, it will be with great pleasure if the possibility presents itself». A statement that may not go unnoticed on the world of world football. Zinedine Zidane's public announcement also had the effect of redistributing the cards in the race for the succession of Deschamps. While several French technicians, such as Thierry Henry or Hervé Renard, were regularly mentioned, the Declaration of Zidane now relegates any competition in the background.
His stature, his international aura and his list of coach speak for him, and he appears more than ever as the natural successor. Unless an unexpected turnaround, Zizou now appears to be the natural favorite to embody the new cycle of the Blues after 2026. But already, the hypothesis of seeing Zidane guide France at Euro 2028 and the 2030 World Cup gives birth to a form of gentle, almost romantic excitation. For many supporters, this announcement revives a flame of hope and enthusiasm, that of seeing one of the greatest symbols of French football write a new blue chapter, between passion and transmission. In the meantime, the French team remains focused on its immediate objectives, starting with the semi-finals of the League of Nations against Spain and then the North American World Cup. But already, in the shadow of the Arc de Triomphe where he spoke, the idea of a return from Zidane in blue begins to make a whole country dream. Like a last chapter to write between a legend and his love story with France.
