Zinedine Zidane’s next coaching job is “decided” and a public announcement is “very close”.
Zidane has been out of work since May 2021, when he resigned from his position at Real Madrid for the second time in his coaching career.
The 53-year-old Frenchman, who played for Real from 2001 to 2006, won three consecutive Champions League titles and one La Liga title in his first spell as coach between 2016 and 2018.
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He left the club in May 2018, but returned for a second term just ten months later and secured another La Liga title.
Zidane retired from the position after the team failed to win any trophies in the 2020/21 season. He has stayed away from the sidelines since leaving Real, but now it looks like he is ready to return as a coach.
According to RMC reporter Gilbert Brisbois, Zidane will take over from Didier Deschamps as France national team coach after the 2026 World Cup, and an announcement is “very close”.
He said via Defensa Central: “Didier Deschamps will leave in 2026. In a year we will have Zidane! What a pleasure! It has been decided, it has been decided.”
Earlier this year, Deschamps announced that he will step down as France national team coach after next summer’s World Cup in the United States, Canada and Mexico. The 56-year-old coach will then have been France’s national team manager for 14 years.
He led France to World Cup gold in 2018 and thus became only the third man to win the World Cup both as a player and coach.
What has Zinedine Zidane said about becoming France’s next national team manager?
Zidane had a legendary career for France as a player, winning the 1998 World Cup and the 2000 European Championship.
He scored two goals in the World Cup final on home soil, as France beat Brazil 3-0 at the Stade de France.
Zidane has long been linked with the job as France national team coach, and he has said that it would be a “great pleasure” if he is given the task.
“It’s a coach hired, it’s a team, and you have to respect everything – that’s what we do,” he said. “I’ve always respected football and people, so now is not the right time. But when the time comes, it will be a great pleasure if the opportunity presents itself. I’ve put my career on hold for a while, but I feel fully like a coach.”
French media have already delivered their verdict on Zinedine Zidane as France’s next national team coach
Zidane’s comeback as France’s national team coach would be big news in Europe, given his icon status.
The French press has already commented on his possible appointment.
Julien Laurens, who has appeared on TNT Sports in the UK, backs Zidane as Deschamps’ successor and claims there is “so much passion and love” between him and the national team.
“It’s a very special love story between him and the national team – playing in ’98 and 2000, then retiring in 2004 after the European Championship, before returning to save the nation and lead the team to another final in 2006,” he explained.
“We know how it ended [Zidane was sent off for a head kick during France’s loss in the final], but there is so much passion and love between him and the national team.
“It is inevitable that he is the favourite to become the country’s new manager.”
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