Zinedine Zidane Takes Over as France National Team Coach
Zinedine Zidane has come home.
The French Football Federation confirmed on Tuesday that the 54-year-old will take over as head coach of the national team, ending years of speculation and delivering one of the most anticipated appointments in international football.
His arrival follows the end of Didier Deschamps’ long reign, brought to a close two weeks after France finished fourth at the World Cup. Deschamps’ final match in charge was a chaotic 6-4 defeat to England, a wild ending to a tenure built on control, pragmatism and relentless tournament consistency.
End of an Era
Deschamps leaves behind a monumental body of work. Fourteen years in the job.
- 185 matches.
- 120 victories.
More than numbers, he leaves a trophy cabinet that changed the modern identity of French football: the 2018 World Cup, the 2020-21 UEFA Nations League, and runs to the Euro 2016 and 2022 World Cup finals. Under him, France became a tournament machine, a side opponents feared in knockout football.
Now that machine passes to a man who once provided its most elegant spark.
From Icon on the Pitch to Architect on the Touchline
Zidane’s relationship with the France shirt runs deep. He was the conductor of the 1998 World Cup-winning team on home soil, scoring twice in the final and lifting the Ballon d’Or that same year. Deschamps, the captain then, lifted the trophy alongside him. They were the twin pillars of that golden summer: one the metronome in midfield, the other the general behind him.
Their paths now intersect again, this time in succession rather than partnership.
Zidane arrives with the aura of a serial winner from his time at Real Madrid, where he translated his on-field genius into a formidable coaching presence. The expectation in France will be simple and unforgiving: keep the trophies coming, but do it with the kind of flourish that once defined him as a player.
A New Cycle Begins
Zidane is expected to begin his reign with an away UEFA Nations League match against Turkiye, a fixture that will offer an immediate glimpse of his ideas, his selections, his tone. After that, France return to the Stade de France on October 2 to host Italy, a classic European clash and a fitting early test of his command.
The handover could hardly be more symbolic. One 1998 hero steps aside after building an era of stability and silverware. Another steps in, carrying both nostalgia and enormous pressure.
France know what it is to be world champions under Deschamps.
Now they will find out what it looks like under Zidane.
