Coaching the French national team is the only thing I wanted to do

Yesterday, the French Football Federation appointed Zinedine Zidane as the new coach of the French national team for the next four years, succeeding Didier Deschamps.

Zidane said, from the federation’s headquarters, after the official announcement of his appointment, “Coaching the French national team is the only thing I wanted to do.”

The 54-year-old former Roosters playmaker added: “It is a kind of continuity, and a dream in a way.”

Zidane, who has been without a position since 2021 after coaching Spanish Real Madrid, continued: “I received offers during the past four or five years to coach clubs, but I rejected them all for the sake of the French national team.”

The former playmaker assumes the task of succeeding his former colleague Deschamps, who led the national team since 2012, and his term ended with it finishing fourth in the 2026 World Cup, after winning the title in 2018 and reaching the final in 2022.

For his part, President of the French Federation, Philippe Diallo, said: “Zinedine Zidane will be coach of the French national team during the next four years.”

Diallo added: “As of February 2025, I met Zinedine Zidane and contacted him to offer him the task of leading the French national team.”

The number 10 holder, who played 108 international matches with the French national team, only coached Real Madrid, the club where he ended his career as a player, and then he coached in two periods (2016-2018 and 2019-2021).

“Zizou” was crowned world champion in 1998 and European champion in 2000, and led Real Madrid to win the Champions League title three times in a row (2016, 2017 and 2018), which is the most prestigious club competition on the European continent, in an unprecedented achievement for a coach, and his appointment to this position was expected for a long time, after his name was repeatedly mentioned during the past years, especially in the years 2018 and 2022. Before renewing confidence in Deschamps.

The first gathering of the French national team under Zidane will be held next September, before the start of the European Nations League competitions, with the first match being in Türkiye on September 25.