The French team and its staff have started their preparation for the next World Cup in the United States. The Blues found their base camp in Boston and scheduled their preparation matches in March (against Brazil and Colombia) as well as in June (against Ivory Coast and another nation to be determined). Everything is falling into place to allow Didier Deschamps to experience the end of his incredible 14-year mandate at the head of the national team as peacefully as possible. However, the question of the succession of Bayonnais begins to become more insistent.
After having considered announcing the name of the lucky winner before the 2026 World Cup, Philippe Diallo changed his mind and assured that the suspense would end at the end of the competition, in order not to disturb Deschamps and his gang. “I told you that I was considering two windows, the first in March-April or after the World Cup. Since the draw, I have continued my thinking and the trend is much more after the World Cup. I think we should rather leave the serenity of preparing for the competition to our French team and then we will have this sequence of a new coach.declared the president of the 3F in mid-December.
Questions around the staff
Behind the scenes, the FFF is obviously not going to wait until the end of the World Cup to look into this matter. The Team also reveals that she has already started secret negotiations with the big favorite for the position: Zinedine Zidane. The induction of the 1998 world champion has been announced for some time and the main person concerned had clearly indicated that he hoped to return to the sidelines soon. “Soon, I hope”he replied on November 10, during a legends match organized in Toulon. This evening, the sports daily tells us a little more.
Clearly, the FFF and the Zidane clan have started discussions concerning the composition of the future staff of the double Z. Unless there is a change in the situation, it is very likely that Zizou’s faithful assistant at Real Madrid, David Bettoni, will be involved. For the rest, no other names to report, apart from Zidane’s desire to have a rather large staff with the integration of a data cell. One hoped that it would be necessary to fit in with the federation’s choice not to blow up the budget devoted to the selection staff. The FFF also explains that it is moving forward cautiously, without ensuring that Zidane will necessarily be the next coach.
