Karim Benzema Backs Zinedine Zidane for Les Bleus
Karim Benzema doesn’t hesitate.
Asked about the man poised to reshape French football, he leans straight into it.
“He’s a legend, he’s the big brother,” Benzema says of Zinedine Zidane, the figure now standing on the brink of taking over Les Bleus.
The words land with weight. They come not from a distant admirer, but from a striker who lived Zidane’s methods, thrived under his authority and shared some of the most dominant nights in modern European football at the Santiago Bernabeu.
Benzema backs Zidane – and leaves the door ajar
Speaking to Konbini in their “In or Out” segment, Benzema could barely hide his anticipation about what Zidane’s arrival would mean for the national team and its tactical identity.
“Am I happy about him becoming the manager of Les Bleus? I don't know for sure if it’s him, but if it is him, yes, I am seriously happy.”
That last line lingers. It’s not just about nostalgia. It’s about possibility.
France are standing at a fault line. The Deschamps era, defined by pragmatism, resilience and a World Cup title, is edging to a close after a flat 2026 World Cup semifinal exit. The French Football Federation has moved quickly: an extraordinary executive committee meeting on Tuesday morning, a press conference scheduled for later that day, and FFF president Philippe Diallo ready to step out in front of the cameras.
The federation has not yet stamped Zidane’s name on the contract in public, but Diallo already promised an announcement before the end of the month. All signs point to Tuesday as the moment France finally turns the page.
A legend returning to a different France
If Zidane walks into Clairefontaine as head coach, he won’t be inheriting the same landscape he left as a player. The attack has shifted, almost completely.
Kylian Mbappé is now the face of the team. Ousmane Dembélé has matured into a senior figure. Around them, a new generation is pushing through: Michael Olise, Bradley Barcola and others bringing fresh angles, fresh speed, fresh hunger.
That evolution is why Benzema’s own future with Les Bleus instantly becomes a talking point the moment Zidane is unveiled.
He is 38. On paper, that should push him into the realm of tributes and farewells. On the pitch, he refuses to play that role. At Al-Hilal this season he has nine goals in 13 appearances, numbers that echo his long-standing reputation as one of the most ruthless finishers of his era. Before that, he buried 57 goals in 87 games for Al-Ittihad, carrying his scoring touch from Madrid to the Gulf.
The debate writes itself: can a 38-year-old Benzema still fit into a frontline built around Mbappé and a new wave of wide forwards? Or does his understanding with Zidane offer France a different kind of weapon for the next cycle?
The answer lies with one man.
Any comeback, any late twist in Benzema’s international story, depends entirely on Zidane’s vision — how he sees the balance of his attack, how much room he wants for experience alongside the new blood, how he plans to manage egos and roles in a squad already brimming with star power.
The bond that changed Madrid
What makes this more than a sentimental reunion story is their shared history.
Across Zidane’s two spells in charge of Real Madrid (2016–18 and 2019–21), Benzema became one of his most trusted lieutenants. He scored 108 goals under Zidane, a total surpassed only by Cristiano Ronaldo in those squads, but the numbers only tell part of it.
Benzema did the dirty work and the delicate work. He linked play, dragged centre-backs out of position, opened space for Ronaldo and Gareth Bale in the famed “BBC” forward line, then stepped into the spotlight himself once Ronaldo departed. Zidane understood him, trusted him, and built attacking structures that allowed Benzema to flourish without ever needing the loudest spotlight.
The reward was historic: three consecutive Champions League titles from 2016 to 2018, two LaLiga crowns, a stack of UEFA and Spanish Super Cups, plus FIFA Club World Cup trophies. Those Madrid sides didn’t just win; they imposed themselves. Zidane on the touchline, Benzema on the pitch, both reading the game with the same cold clarity.
That shared past is why Benzema’s praise now cuts through the usual clichés. When he calls Zidane “the big brother,” it reflects years of tactical conversations, dressing-room battles and nights when a single decision from the bench changed the fate of a season.
A new era, familiar faces
France now stand on the verge of handing Zidane the same kind of authority he wielded in Madrid, only this time on the international stage he once dominated as a player.
Diallo will sit at the top table on Tuesday, field questions about Deschamps’ legacy and Zidane’s mandate. The FFF has built up to this moment carefully, but the direction is clear: a historic transition, a new voice, a different idea of how France should play.
Some decisions will be straightforward. Others, like the Benzema question, will define the tone of this new reign.
Does Zidane lean fully into the youth movement, letting Olise, Barcola and their generation grow alongside Mbappé? Or does he reach back to a forward who still scores relentlessly, a player he knows better than almost any coach knows any striker?
For now, Benzema waits in Riyadh, still scoring, still watching, still talking about Zidane with the warmth of family.
If the “big brother” does walk back into French football at the head of Les Bleus, the next call he makes could reshape not just the team’s future — but the final chapter of Benzema’s own.
