Zinedine Zidane is expected to take over as France head coach, and the reporting suggests the wait is almost over. According to RMC Sport, cited by Sportingpedia, Zidane's contract is prepared and awaiting his signature, with the deal set to be finalised around 21 July. Nothing has been confirmed by the French Football Federation yet. But the direction of travel is clear.
He is in line to replace Didier Deschamps, who steps down after 14 years in charge, a spell that brought the 2018 World Cup and the 2022 final. Deschamps confirmed before this tournament that the 2026 edition would be his last on the France bench.
A deal reported to be months in the making
This is not a snap decision. ESPN's Julien Laurens reported back in March that Zidane and the FFF had reached a verbal agreement, with the appointment to be made official once France's World Cup was over. Sources cited by Yahoo Sports, via OneFootball, go further, suggesting the choice had been settled since last November and that there was never any real doubt about Zidane taking the job.
France's tournament ended in the semi-finals, beaten by the Spain side that went on to lift the trophy against Argentina in Sunday's final. That exit set the clock ticking. With Deschamps gone, the federation is reported to be moving quickly to complete the formal signing this month.
What Zidane is walking into
For Zidane, this is a return to the touchline for the first time since he left Real Madrid, where he won three straight Champions League titles. He knows the shirt as well as anyone, having won the 1998 World Cup as a player. The national job is a different beast, less day to day, more tournament to tournament, but the expectations are no smaller.
The reported brief is long term. Yahoo Sports says the federation has handed Zidane a project built around the Nations League, Euro 2028 and the 2030 World Cup, with a start date of 1 September. That would line up with the autumn international window, giving Zidane his first camp within weeks of putting pen to paper. Sportingpedia reports a salary of around 300,000 euros before bonuses, and a plan to expand the backroom staff to roughly 25 people, with more women in senior roles.
He inherits a squad that is far from bare. France reached the last four in North America and still have the core to go further. What they lacked at the sharp end, on this evidence, was the extra idea. The question is whether Zidane's aura, and his standing with these players as a national icon, can add the final yard that Deschamps could not this summer.
Reported, not yet official
A note of caution runs through all of this. No signing has been announced, no press conference has been held, and the FFF has not put a name to Deschamps' successor on the record. When ESPN spoke to federation president Philippe Diallo in March, he would only say "I know who it is," stopping short of naming Zidane.
So this remains a reported appointment, not a done deal. The pieces, though, are lined up: a verbal agreement said to date back months, a contract described as ready to sign, and a start date already pencilled in.
If the reporting holds, France will soon have one of the game's most decorated figures back in a dugout, barely a week after the old era ended. The next move belongs to the federation, and it may not be far away.
Sources
- ESPN
- Sportingpedia
- Yahoo Sports
- Cover photo: Zinedine Zidane / CC/Wikimedia (see file page) via Wikimedia Commons.
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