{"id":563570,"date":"2026-07-28T13:40:13","date_gmt":"2026-07-28T13:40:13","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/563570\/"},"modified":"2026-07-28T13:40:13","modified_gmt":"2026-07-28T13:40:13","slug":"hes-back-zinedine-zidane-named-france-head-coach-in-long-awaited-homecoming-france","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/563570\/","title":{"rendered":"\u2018He\u2019s back\u2019: Zinedine Zidane named France head coach in long-awaited homecoming | France"},"content":{"rendered":"

For Tuesday\u2019s front page, L\u2019\u00c9quipe simply went with \u201cIl revient\u201d \u2013 \u201cHe\u2019s back\u201d \u2013 echoing their 2005 headline when Zin\u00e9dine Zidane came out of international retirement. At the time, the midfielder\u2019s upcoming return was seen as a major boost to Les Bleus\u2019 ailing World Cup qualifying campaign. There was a similar sense of anticipation now as the roads around the French Football Federation (FFF) headquarters in Paris were closed off for Zidane\u2019s unveiling as head coach. A crowd of France<\/a> fans had gathered outside by the overground metro tracks with flags, flares, and drums, as over a hundred journalists and TV cameras were ushered into the building.<\/p>\n

The fact Zidane would be next in line to lead France after Didier Deschamps had been an open secret for several years, and by the end of the World Cup his arrival was all but confirmed. The new head coach would enter the press conference room on Tuesday morning only minutes after his appointment was confirmed by the FFF\u2019s executive committee, but the feeling in France was that the occasion was a couple of decades in the making.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s a new cycle,\u201d FFF president, Philippe Diallo, proclaimed following a preamble in which he paid tribute to Deschamps\u2019 14-year tenure. Talks with the 1998 World Cup hero, Diallo said, began in February 2025, the month after Deschamps announced he would step down this summer. \u201cZin\u00e9dine Zidane is one of the legends of French football, and he had made it known that it was one of his dreams to manage the French national team,\u201d Diallo then explained. \u201cWe wanted someone with the aura, the ability, and the hearts of our fans and the French people to manage what is one of the best national teams in the world.\u201d<\/p>\n

For Zidane, this announcement was the culmination of nearly half a decade of waiting in the wings. \u201cI had several offers from clubs in the last four to five years, but I turned them all down for France,\u201d the former midfielder and Real Madrid insisted. \u201cThe national team is the only thing I wanted. I\u2019ve been with the French teams since I was a kid, all the way up to the senior team. I\u2019m a bit emotional. You might not be able to tell, but I am incredibly excited.\u201d Zidane went as far as declaring that it was the greatest day of his managerial career. \u201cIt\u2019s an immense joy,\u201d he said. \u201cI am ready for the challenge.\u201d<\/p>\n

The five years that have passed since the end of Zidane\u2019s second spell in Madrid will have been spent preparing to take over Les Bleus. \u201cI\u2019ve been watching France as a supporter, but also as a future manager,\u201d he explained. \u201cI don\u2019t think there are any traps. It\u2019s new to me, but I\u2019m not scared. This is what I wanted.\u201d<\/p>\n

France supporters gather in Paris to celebrate the confirmation of one of the greatest players in Les Blues\u2019 history as their new head coach. Photograph: Teresa Su\u00e1rez\/EPA<\/p>\n

The 54-year-old\u2019s first public appearance as head coach was light on the details of his plans for the national team. He notably side-stepped a question about whether Kylian Mbapp\u00e9 would retain the armband, insisting that he would have to meet the team and its \u201cextraordinary players\u201d first of all. \u201cWe need to keep this team winning,\u201d he said, adding that he was impressed with what he had seen during the World Cup.<\/p>\n

\u201cI was a No 10 in my playing days,\u201d the new head coach responded when asked about the style of play he would look to implement. Whether his answer implies a continuation of Deschamps\u2019 attacking shift remains to be seen, but his answers did hint at some kind of change of direction. \u201cLaurent [Blanc] was Laurent [Blanc], Didier was Didier, and Zizou is Zizou,\u201d he playfully added.<\/p>\n

One of Zidane\u2019s long-term objectives will be to compete with the reigning World champions, who have now beaten France in three consecutive tournaments semi-finals. \u201cI spent 25 years in Spain, and you know what that means,\u201d he acknowledged, before pointing out that the task ahead went beyond beating La Roja. \u201cI know Spanish football very well, but they won\u2019t be the only opponents. You have to beat all of the teams.\u201d<\/p>\n

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Zidane\u2019s four-year contract will begin next month, with his extended staff to be unveiled a few weeks before the first international break of the new season. \u201cWe\u2019ll see each other again in September to talk about it,\u201d he went on. \u201cIt\u2019s a good thing that we\u2019ll have three weeks with the players.\u201d The focus for now, Zidane insisted, is on his first match in charge, which will be at the end of September in Turkey.<\/p>\n

His homecoming, meanwhile, will be against Italy, just over 20 years after his dramatic exit from the international stage. If the raucous reception as he stepped out of the FFF headquarters is anything to go by, it will be one of the more memorable evenings in the Stade de France\u2019s history.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"For Tuesday\u2019s front page, L\u2019\u00c9quipe simply went with \u201cIl revient\u201d \u2013 \u201cHe\u2019s back\u201d \u2013 echoing their 2005 headline…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":563571,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[9],"tags":[85,46,105],"class_list":["post-563570","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-sports","tag-il","tag-israel","tag-sports"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/563570","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=563570"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/563570\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/563571"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=563570"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=563570"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=563570"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}