Zidane Finally Gets the France Job After Years of Waiting

It’s happening. Zinedine Zidane is about to become manager of the French national team, and the only real surprise is that it took this long.

The French Football Federation is expected to announce the appointment within days, according to multiple reports. Zidane has already put together his coaching staff and is ready to sign the paperwork once Didier Deschamps officially steps aside after this weekend’s World Cup third-place match against England.

So yeah, Deschamps gets one more game. Then it’s Zidane’s show.

Why Now?

Deschamps leaves with a legacy that’s hard to argue with. He won the World Cup in 2018, added a Nations League title in 2021, and dragged France back to another World Cup final in 2022. But that run ended in a penalty shootout loss to Argentina, and this summer’s semifinal exit stung differently. The federation had been planning the succession for a while and decided the time was right to pull the trigger.

Zidane has been the obvious candidate since he left Real Madrid in 2021. He’s been waiting. France has been waiting. Now it’s finally lining up.

What Zidane Brings

He hasn’t coached in five years, which is wild when you think about it. But his resume is absurd. Three straight Champions League titles. Two La Liga trophies. Two Club World Cups. The guy basically did whatever he wanted in Madrid.

As a player, he’s obviously untouchable in France. The 1998 World Cup winner. Euro 2000. Ballon d’Or in ’98. That volley in the Champions League final. He’s a legend in cleats, and now he’s about to run the whole operation from the sideline.

The big question is style. France got ripped for playing pretty boring soccer at the World Cup — all defense, not enough attack. People are expecting Zidane to open things up. More possession. More freedom. That’s the theory, anyway.

He’ll have the talent to do it. Kylian Mbappe is still there. Aurelien Tchouameni, Eduardo Camavinga, William Saliba, Michael Olise — the squad is stacked. Zidane won’t have to rebuild. He just has to make them play like they actually want the ball.

Nations League starts soon, so he won’t get a long honeymoon. But if anyone can walk into a job with this much pressure and make it look easy, it’s probably the guy who won three Champions Leagues before turning 50.