Zinedine Zidane Takes Over as France National Team Coach

Zinedine Zidane is back where French football has always seemed to be steering him.

The French Football Federation confirmed on Tuesday, via a brief announcement on X, that the former midfield maestro will take over as head coach of the national team, ending years of speculation and turning an almost inevitable storyline into reality.

His arrival comes just two weeks after the end of Didier Deschamps’ long reign, which closed with France finishing fourth at the World Cup and a wild 6-4 defeat to England in his final match in charge. One era ended in chaos; the next begins under a man synonymous with control.

From Deschamps’ dynasty to Zidane’s turn

Deschamps leaves a monumental legacy. Fourteen years at the helm.

• 185 matches.
• 120 victories.

He delivered the 2018 World Cup, the 2020-21 UEFA Nations League title, and took France to the Euro 2016 and 2022 World Cup finals. For more than a decade, Les Bleus moved to his rhythm: pragmatic, disciplined, relentlessly competitive on the biggest stages.

Now the team passes to a very different kind of leader, but one who knows the weight of the shirt as well as anyone alive.

Zidane, 54, will begin his tenure with an away UEFA Nations League fixture against Turkiye, before France return to the Stade de France to host Italy on October 2. Two fixtures, two stern tests, and an immediate sense of occasion for a coach whose every move will be scrutinised.

A bond forged in 1998

This is not just a simple changing of the guard. Deschamps and Zidane share one of the most iconic chapters in French sporting history.

They were teammates and central figures in the 1998 World Cup-winning side on home soil, a triumph that reshaped the country’s football identity. Zidane’s two headed goals in the final, his orchestration throughout the tournament, and his Ballon d’Or later that year turned him into a global symbol of French excellence.

Deschamps, the captain and anchor, lifted the trophy. Zidane, the artist, lit the stage. Now the captain passes the dugout to the artist.

A different kind of authority

Zidane arrives not as a nostalgic choice but as a proven modern manager. His time at Real Madrid, where he collected trophies and managed egos at the very highest level, built a reputation for calm authority and tactical clarity.

The challenge with France will be different: not a club he can shape through transfers, but a national team he must mould in short bursts, under relentless expectation, with a fanbase that already views him as royalty.

He inherits a squad used to competing deep into tournaments, conditioned by Deschamps to survive and advance. The question now is how Zidane’s vision overlays that foundation: more expression, more risk, or a refined version of the same ruthless machine?

The dates are set. Turkiye away, Italy at home, the Stade de France waiting once more for the man who once electrified it.

France have changed coaches, but not their ambitions. Under Zidane, they will be judged only one way: by the size of the trophies they bring home.