France’s 2018 World Cup-winning coach Didier Deschamps announced on Wednesday he will leave his post after the 2026 finals.
“It will be 2026,” Deschamps told French broadcaster TF1. “I have been there since 2012, it is planned that I will be there until 2026… the next World Cup.
“It will end there because it has to end at some point. It’s clear in my mind.
“I have done my time, with the same desire, the same passion to keep the France team at the highest level, but 2026 is good.”
Deschamps, 56, led France to World Cup glory in Russia in 2018 and guided them to the final of the 2022 World Cup in Qatar where they lost to Lionel Messi’s Argentina on penalties.
Following the heartbreaking loss to Argentina in Doha, the French Football Federation rewarded Deschamps with a four-year contract extension.
That decision was not universally welcomed and criticism grew following last year’s Euros when France were beaten in the semi-finals.
Deschamps also experienced a difficult end to 2024 with debate raging over the omission from the squad of star player Kylian Mbappe, who had a tough start to his time at Real Madrid and was, according to unconfirmed reports in Sweden, the focus of a rape allegation after a visit to Stockholm. The investigation has since been dropped.
Now that Deschamps has resolved the question surrounding his future he can focus on the Nations League quarter-final in March against the team they beat in the 2018 World Cup final, Croatia. Deschamps has already tasted success in the Nations League having guided France to the 2021 crown.
The only trophy missing from his cabinet is the European championship — France went closest when they lost to Portugal on home soil in 2016.
He must also guide France to qualification for the 2026 World Cup finals which take place in the United States, Canada and Mexico.
As a player, Deschamps captained France when they won the 1998 World Cup at home, defeating Brazil in the final.
Once dismissed as a “water carrier” by Eric Cantona during his playing career, Deschamps also captained France to the Euro 2000 title.
He was the midfield pivot for the great Marseille side that remains the only French team to have won the Champions League, when they beat AC Milan in the 1993 final.
Deschamps is one of only three men to have won the World Cup both as a player and as a coach — the other two, Mario Zagallo of Brazil and Germany’s Franz Beckenbauer, both died last year.
“One never wants to stop when something is a beautiful thing, but one has to realise when it is necessary to stop,” said Deschamps.
“There is life after it, I have no idea what it will be, but it will be really good as well.”
AFP
