The French Football Federation (FFF) has called a press conference for 11:00 today, Central European Summer Time, at its Paris headquarters, following an extraordinary meeting of its executive committee 1. Zinedine Zidane is expected to be presented there as France head coach. At the time of writing the conference has not taken place, and no communiqué from the federation, its president Philippe Diallo or Zidane himself confirms the appointment. Reports of a contract running to mid-2030 and a start on 1 September have not been confirmed by the federation.
Zidane would succeed Didier Deschamps, who announced in January 2025 that he would leave after this World Cup and whose France side lost the third-place playoff 6-4 to England in Miami. Deschamps has held the job since 2012, won the 2018 World Cup with it and reached the 2022 final, which makes him the longest-serving and most decorated France manager of the modern era. Zidane, who won the 1998 World Cup as a player and three consecutive Champions Leagues as Real Madrid's coach, has not managed a club or country since leaving Madrid in May 2021.
Deschamps gave the federation eighteen months' notice of his exit, and the FFF is convening to fill the post within a fortnight of the tournament ending. A federation that had waited for the result would have needed weeks of negotiation after the playoff; this one had an extraordinary committee meeting and a press slot booked while the squad was still travelling home. The FFF has also moved faster than the organiser, whose own tournament totals surfaced on the wires before Zurich said a word about them .
What is said at 11:00 will settle the appointment, the contract length and the start date, none of which the federation has yet put its name to. Until then the only confirmed facts are a scheduled meeting, a booked room and an outgoing manager who told everyone he was leaving a year and a half ago.
