Didier Deschamps’ French team has a small chance of facing a national team led by a compatriot during the 2026 World Cup. Better, what if the Blues found Belgium now led by Rudi Garcia on the road to a third final in a row? The Red Devils validated their qualification for the World Cup 26 organized in Canada, the United States and Mexico by winning 7-0 against Liechtenstein on Tuesday evening.
Hans Vanaken (3rd) and Jérémy Doku with a recovery then a small festival (34th and 43rd) brought the audience at the Maurice Dufrasnestadion in Liège to their feet in the first period. Then the Belgians increased the score after returning from the locker room thanks to Brandon Mechele (52nd), Alexis Saelemaekers (55th) and Charles De Ketelaere twice (57th and 59th). Kevin De Bruyne, unavailable for several months, enjoyed the show in the stands.
Belgium will be among the top seeds in the draw for the World Cup on December 5 (12 p.m. in Washington DC, 6 p.m. in France). The French team is also in the first hat and will therefore wait until the knockout phase to challenge Rudi Garcia and his players.
Deschamps, Garcia, but also Renard, Regragui or Faé
Other French coaches could appear on the Blues course from the group stage. Starting with Walid Regragui, the Franco-Moroccan at the head of the Atlas Lions, the scarecrows of hat 2. In addition to this native of 91, we find a Nantais and a Savoyard: the Franco-Ivorian Emerse Faé is at the helm of the Elephants and Hervé Renard is back with Saudi Arabia. We also note that the Senegalese coach Pape Thiaw is a native of Dakar who has French nationality (he joined the AS Saint-Etienne training center at the age of 17).
Finally, three other French technicians can still qualify for the 2026 World Cup: Sébastien Desabre leads the DRC, which is one of the two top seeds in the intercontinental play-offs. The Leopards only have one final to win to qualify. Sébastien Migné is the coach of Haiti, which is still in the race for direct qualification in the Concacaf zone or via the play-offs.
Finally, New Caledonia will be part of these intercontinental play-offs in March 2026 (organized in Mexico). In charge: Johann Sidaner, a 48-year-old from Nantes who was responsible for the pre-training of the Canaries for 10 years before flying to the Pacific in 2022. This French territory has a national team with Fifa because it has a quasi-independent government.
