Zidane’s Coaching Staff Could Be Triple the Size of Deschamps’ Operation

The worst-kept secret in world football is about to become official. Zinedine Zidane, who has been waiting patiently for this moment for years, is finally taking over the French national team. According to RMC Sport, the contract is ready to go — just not signed yet. That should happen within days of the World Cup wrapping up.

Didier Deschamps will coach his last game for Les Bleus on Saturday in the third-place playoff against England. That’s not how he wanted to go out. The plan was a Sunday final. But Spain sent those plans off the rails in the semifinals, and now Deschamps finishes his run with a consolation match instead of a trophy lift.

He took over in 2012 and has been there ever since. That’s a long run by international standards, and the federation has had Zidane waiting in the wings the whole time. The former Real Madrid manager turned down other jobs. Clubs called. He said no. He wanted France, and only France.

Here comes the staff

One interesting detail from the reports: Zidane isn’t coming alone. He’s expected to bring around 25 staff members with him. That’s a lot. Deschamps traveled with a smaller group, but Zidane wants to expand things. He also wants to add more women to the backroom setup, according to those same reports. That’s a deliberate choice, not an afterthought.

The French federation (FFF) wants the paperwork done by July 21. That timeline keeps things clean — the World Cup ends, a few days pass, and then the new era begins. No long awkward gap where everyone knows what’s coming but nobody says it out loud.

Zidane has never coached a national team before. His entire resume is at club level, and it’s a hell of a resume. Three Champions League titles with Madrid. Multiple La Liga trophies. He knows pressure. But international football is different. Fewer games. Longer gaps between them. Less control over the roster day to day. We’ll see how that suits him.

The speculation, frankly, has been exhausting for everyone involved. It’s been an open secret for years that Zidane wanted this job and that the FFF wanted him to have it. The only question was when Deschamps would step aside. Now we know.

Saturday’s game against England will be Deschamps’ 158th and final match in charge. After that, the Zidane era begins. France’s all-time leading scorer in World Cup history becomes the man on the sideline.