Coach of the France team since 2012, Didier Deschamps will leave his post after the 2026 World Cup, for which the Blues are not yet qualified. The end of a fourteen-year era where the former captain built the most glorious track record in the selection.
He will remain the longest-serving coach on the bench of the France team. Arriving in 2012 to succeed Laurent Blanc after a difficult Euro 2012 (elimination in the quarter-final), Didier Deschamps will close a 14-year-long chapter after the 2026 World Cup, if the Blues qualify. Despite increasingly vocal criticism in recent months, the French coach has built an extraordinary track record by winning the 2018 World Cup, where he became the third in history after the Brazilian Mario Zagallo (1958 and 1962 then in 1970) and the German Franz Beckenbauer (in 1974 then in 1990) to win the World Cup as a player and coach.
“DD” also lifted the Nations League in 2021, while reaching the finals of Euro 2016 and the 2022 World Cup. Whether on the pitch or on the bench, Deschamps has won four of the team's eight titles of France and could go for two others: the League of Nations in 2025 (the Blues face Croatia in the quarter-final) but above all the 2026 World Cup, which would be the last Basque dance if France qualifies. A third star would make Deschamps a little more legendary, since no post-war coach has yet managed to win two world titles.
>> All the reactions after the announcement of the departure of Didier Deschamps
The announcement of his contract extension for four years, following the final of the last World Cup lost in Qatar against Argentina, aroused numerous criticisms at the time, especially concerning the duration of the contract. . But this allowed him to become the longest-serving technician with the French team.
The only coach with more than 100 victories
If the quality of the game developed by the Blues has often been at the heart of debates in recent months, particularly at Euro 2024, Didier Deschamps has been able to build a winning team. In 164 matches played, he has 105 victories, which no coach has done before him, 33 draws and 26 defeats. During his mandate, he was elected best coach by Fifa in 2018 and best coach by the IFFHS in 2018 and 2020.
The Basque has made the French team a reference in major competitions. With three World Cups and three Euros on his CV, Deschamps is the one who has reached the most semi-finals of major competitions (5 including the Nations League), ahead of Aimé Jacquet, Michel Hidalgo and Albert Batteux (2). The elimination against Spain during the last Euro is also the only semi-final lost by the Blues under the Deschamps era.
Not in the world top 10 in terms of longevity
The aura of Didier Deschamps extends beyond the French team since the French coach is the one who has achieved the most success in a major tournament (World Cup, Euro and Copa America combined) with 12 victories, ahead of Joachim Löw (11) and Mario Zagallo (9).
Number one in the ranking of French coaches who have remained in office the longest, Didier Deschamps is not in the world top 10 despite his 14 years in office. Before him, others have passed the 15-year mark at the head of a nation, such as Morten Olsen (Denmark, 163 matches between 2000 and 2015), Oscar Tabarez (Uruguay, 184 matches between 2006 and 2021) or Joachim Löw (Germany, 198 matches between 2006 and 2021). The record of the Argentinian Guillermo Stábile, at the head of the Albiceleste between 1939 and 1960, i.e. 21 years (123 matches) remains inaccessible for the moment.
