Twice, Zinedine Zidane seems to have been deceived by the French Football Federation for the French team. In 2021 and at the end of 2022, the 98 world champion and Real Madrid legend would have seen himself take over from Didier Deschamps. This was not the case and the main party was even extended by the FFF. Now, the way seems to be clear for 2026.
One May 2021, Zinedine Zidane left, for the second consecutive time, his position as coach of the Real Madrid after a first departure in June 2018. At the White House, “Zizou” has several successes to his credit including three Champions Leagues as well as two La Liga to name only these trophies. Afterwards, Zidane entered a sabbatical that he never thought would be this long.
Zidane thought he would be called upon to replace Deschamps after Euro 2021…
With the announcement of the departure of Didier Deschamps after the 2026 World Cup, Zinedine Zidane is announced as being the big favorite for his succession. However, the latter would have estimated that his appointment would take place in the wake of his departure from the Real Madrid. And for good reason, after the early elimination of the French team in the 1/8th final of theEuro 2021, Zidane was waiting for us to think about his profile to directly succeed Deschamps according to The Team.
…and had submitted his candidacy for the post-World Cup in Qatar!
A hypothesis which had obviously not been taken into consideration at the time since Noël Le Graët had kept Didier Deschamps in control of the selection. One year later, in June 2022, Zinedine Zidane explained to The Team that he dreamed of becoming the coach of theFrench team, while at the time there were only 5 months left on the contract Deschamps linking it to the French Football Federation. However, after the final reached by the Blues to the Qatar World Cupthe president of the FFF extended the lease of Didier Deschamps until the summer of 2026. Second disillusionment therefore for Zidane… If he were to succeed his teammate France 98, Zinedine Zidane will finally have completed five sabbatical years before returning to service.
