France, as per usual in recent years, will head into World Cup 2026 as one of the favourites to lift football’s ultimate prize.
That’s thanks to attacking talent like Kylian Mbappe – whose World Cup display for France against Argentina in 2022 is ranked at no.7 in FourFourTwo’s list of the greatest individual performances of all time – midfield maestros like Eduardo Camavinga and defensive stalwarts such as William Saliba.
But their recent success in major international competitions also has a lot to do with another man, who won’t be with the side beyond next year’s tournament.
Didier Deschamps announces departure from French national team
Les Bleus boss Didier Deschamps has revealed that he will be leaving his managerial post following World Cup 2026, provided his side qualify.
Speaking to French broadcaster TF1, he said: “I’ve been here since 2012, I’m scheduled until 2026, the next World Cup. It will stop there because it has to stop there at some point. In my head, it’s very clear.”
Deschamps captained France to their World Cup title in 1998 as a player, before taking up the hot seat in 2012 and repeating the feat as a manager 20 years later; one of only three people to have managed such a feat.
A report from French outlet L’Equipe revealed that Deschamps made his mind up about his departure some time ago, with his contract expiry looming in 2026.
The tournament – to be held across Canada, Mexico and the United States – still has qualifiers to be played. Depending on Nations League performance, France will either end Group D with Ukraine, Iceland and Azerbaijan, or Group L with Czechia, Montenegro, Faroe Islands and Gibraltar.
One name likely to gain a lot of traction for the post is a man who was in France’s 1998 squad with Deschamps: former Real Madrid boss Zinedine Zidane. He’s reportedly turned down a host of top jobs at clubs like Bayern Munich, Manchester United and Juventus since leaving his Madrid post in 2021, with Spanish outlet Marca also claiming that Zizou would only return to management for his old job or the vacancy Deschamps is now set to leave behind.
In FourFourTwo’s opinion, Deschamps will undoubtedly go down as a legend in the French history books for playing a key role in both times Les Bleus have lifted the Jules Rimet trophy, despite sometimes coming in for Gareth Southgate-flavoured criticism for playing too safe.
The scene looks set for Zidane to step in, but there’s a lot of time between now and the summer of 2026, so it will be far from a sealed deal. Should it come off, it’ll be interesting to watch Deschamps’ former team-mate attempt to follow in his footsteps.
