Zinedine Zidane is the new head coach of the France national team. The 54-year-old was presented to the press on the morning of 28 July 2026 at a French Football Federation press conference in Paris, ending months of speculation about who would succeed Didier Deschamps (BBC Sport; L'Équipe).

Zidane will officially take over on 1 September, with a contract running through the 2030 World Cup qualifying campaign. His first competitive match is a Nations League — a tournament between European national teams, played in blocks outside the regular qualifying calendar — trip to Turkey on 25 September (BBC Sport; Yahoo Sports).

The appointment brings Zidane back to the international stage he graced as a player. He scored twice in the 1998 World Cup final, helping France lift the trophy on home soil. As a manager, though, his résumé belongs to club football: three consecutive Champions League titles with Real Madrid between 2016 and 2018, before he stepped away from the Bernabéu for a second time in 2021. He has been out of management since (BBC Sport).

He replaces Didier Deschamps, who left after 14 years in charge following France's semi-final exit to Spain at the 2026 World Cup. France finished fourth at that tournament. Deschamps' tenure was the most successful in the national team's history: three major finals, including victory at the 2018 World Cup in Russia (BBC Sport).

Yet Deschamps' departure was not purely about results. He had announced in January 2025 that he would step down after the World Cup (FIFA.com). In the weeks that followed his exit, Deschamps spoke openly about the pressure. He described the surrounding atmosphere as "unbearable" and said he made the decision "for the good of the French team" (Marca; Reuters).

FFF president Philippe Diallo introduced Zidane as "a legend" of French football (BBC Sport). Former France and Paris Saint-Germain coach Laurent Blanc echoed that sentiment the day before the announcement, asking rhetorically: "What does he have to be afraid of?" (L'Équipe).

For French fans, the appeal is obvious. Zidane the player carried the national team to its greatest night; Zidane the manager delivered European club football's biggest prize three years running. Now he is being asked to do both jobs at once — manage the egos of a squad packed with world-class talent and carry the weight of a nation that expects to win every tournament it enters.

The work starts in September. The 2030 World Cup is four years away. Zidane has time. Whether the patience around him lasts that long is another matter entirely.