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The French Football Federation (FFF) announced Thursday that it will hold a news conference on July 28 to reveal the next coach of the national team. Zinedine Zidane, although not named in the FFF statement, is the overwhelming favorite to succeed Didier Deschamps as France head coach.
Zidane, 54, has long been viewed as the leading candidate for the role and has been waiting for an opportunity to take charge of the national team for several years.
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He is expected to replace Deschamps, whose tenure began in 2012 and ended on Saturday after France finished fourth at the 2026 World Cup.
Deschamps' side, led by captain Kylian Mbappe, topped their group and beat Sweden, Paraguay and Morocco in the knockout phase before losing to Spain in the semifinals.
France then suffered a 6-4 defeat to England in the third-place playoff on July 18, in a match one report described as one of the most extraordinary World Cup bronze finals ever played, ending Deschamps' 14-year tenure on a painful note.
Zidane has not held a coaching role since his second spell at Real Madrid ended five years ago but has never hidden his ambition to one day manage France.
He is set to follow in the footsteps of former international teammates Laurent Blanc, who coached the national side from 2010 to 2012, and Deschamps. The former France playmaker, who won the 1998 World Cup and the 2000 European Championship as a player, has coached only one club, Real Madrid.
During his time with the Spanish giants, he led them to three consecutive Champions League titles in 2016, 2017 and 2018, an unprecedented achievement in the competition's modern era.
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