Zinedine Zidane has emerged the favourite to succeed Didier Deschamps as the coach of French national team. Zidane, one of France's greatest players, has not managed a side since ending his second spell at Real Madrid in 2021. With Deschamps confirming that the 2026 FIFA World Cup will be his last in charge of the Les Bleus, Zidane's availability has become a talking point.

"It will be 2026," Deschamps told French broadcaster TF1. "I have been there since 2012, it is planned that I will be there until 2026... the next World Cup. It will end there because it has to end at some point. It's clear in my mind. I have done my time, with the same desire, the same passion to keep the France team at the highest level, but 2026 is good," Deschamps said.

Zidane has yet to comment about replacing his 1998 World Cup-winning teammate in the French dugout. France play Croatia in a two-legged Nations League quarterfinal in March before they set out to qualify for the World Cup that will be played in the United States, Canada and Mexico in June-July 2026.

French national football team's head coach Didier Deschamps (left) and French President's wife Brigitte Macron (right) answer journalists' questions outside Bordeaux's main post office in Bordeaux, southwestern France, on January 8, 2025, as they launch the 2025 edition of the charity fund called "Operations pieces jaunes" (operation yellow coins), with its foundation aiming to improve the conditions of hospitalized children. Photo: AFP/ Philippe Lopez
French national football team's head coach Didier Deschamps (left) and French President's wife Brigitte Macron (right) answer journalists' questions outside Bordeaux's main post office in Bordeaux, southwestern France, on January 8, 2025, as they launch the 2025 edition of the charity fund called "Operations pieces jaunes" (operation yellow coins), with its foundation aiming to improve the conditions of hospitalized children. Photo: AFP/ Philippe Lopez

Deschamps legacy
When Deschamps took over from Laurent Blanc more than a decade ago, the French were at a low ebb. Since then, France have been finalists in the last two World Cups, winning the 2018 edition in Russia, before losing the title in Qatar 2022 to Lionel Messi-led Argentina. France, under Deschamps, also lifted the Nations League in 2021.

Deschamps famously led the French side starring Zidane to the 1998 World Cup title on home soil. Only two other men have won the World Cup both as a player and a coach, the others were Brazil's Mario Zagallo and Germany's Franz Beckenbauer, who died last year.

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