France has chosen Zinédine Zidane to lead its men’s national team. Following an Executive Committee meeting on Tuesday, the French Football Federation formally handed him the role, closing a succession process that began under Didier Deschamps. His four-year tenure will carry the team through the 2030 World Cup.
The handover closes Deschamps’s 14-year tenure. His last assignment, match No. 185, was a 6-4 World Cup third-place defeat to England on July 18. The official France account thanked him and his staff three days later, marking the public close of his time in charge.
He’ll be the 18th man to coach Les Bleus. His appointment takes effect Aug. 1, giving him nearly eight weeks in the role before France plays again. The federation has committed for four years, tying his tenure to the 2030 World Cup.
The appointment returns him to the touchline for the first time since May 2021, when he left Real Madrid. His managerial honors there total 11 trophies. Three came in the UEFA Champions League; La Liga, the Spanish Super Cup, the UEFA Super Cup and the FIFA Club World Cup supplied two apiece. A closer look at Zidane’s best wins at Real Madrid shows the range of knockout and league demands behind those totals.
Those Real Madrid trophies were won inside club football’s daily rhythm. The France role will be structurally different. Zidane won’t have the same repetition, so his early decisions must be made in brief camps, with selection and tactical clarity carrying more weight because rehearsal time is scarce.
The first test comes in Turkey
Turkey will provide the opening assignment in an away 2026-27 UEFA Nations League fixture on Sept. 25. France meets Belgium three days later, then Italy on Oct. 2 and Belgium again on Oct. 5. The calendar resumes against Italy on Nov. 12, followed by the second meeting with Turkey on Nov. 15.
The six-game opening run is entirely competitive. He’ll encounter three opponents twice across less than two months, a setup that rewards quick learning and visible adjustments between meetings. Less than two months separate Aug. 1 from his first competitive lineup, so the initial roster and the September doubleheader will provide the first evidence of his priorities.
For five years, Zidane’s Real Madrid honors remained the final line of his managerial record. The next six entries are scheduled with France, where a concentrated calendar leaves little distance between an initial idea and its first revision. The results will arrive quickly, while the choices he repeats against Turkey, Belgium and Italy will define the system he intends to keep.
Deschamps leaves behind 185 matches and a 14-year standard of continuity. Zidane starts with a four-year mandate tied to the 2030 World Cup and a competitive schedule already in place. On Aug. 1, the appointment moves from announcement to preparation. Fifty-five days later in Turkey, the first version of Zidane’s France will be on the field.
