Didier Deschamps, the greatest Blues coach in history

This June 8, 2014, around the Pierre-Mauroy stadium in Lille, the atmosphere is light. The Blues will soon be leaving for Brazil and before the last preparation match for the World Cup against Jamaica (8-0), we are celebrating on the square. The fashion is for stickers and we are snapping up one sticker in particular: “I Love D.D.” Before takeoff, the next day, for Ribeiro Preto, the supporters celebrate their coach who has become, in a little over a year, the hero of this new French team. He embodies much more than Griezmann, who is only a rookie, Pogba, Benzema or Lloris, these new Blues, reconciled with their public.

Four years after Knysna, two years after Samir Nasri's finger on the mouth celebration and other small shocks, a few months after the “Fernandel and Screwdriver” by Patrice Evra, the coach has reestablished the image of a selection adrift. Well before taking off for Brazil, Didier Deschamps succeeded in his first mission, undoubtedly the most fundamental too. Without that, and without, well Of course, the Homeric victory in the return play-off against Ukraine in 2013 (3-0), nothing would have been possible.

As the finish line is in sight, we must remember this difficult start and this first major accomplishment. During Deschamps' mandate, France loved its Blues. And even the most explosive affairs, such as sex tape blackmail within the walls of Clairefontaine, have not altered the new popular momentum. This is where the results also helped. Because in addition to being a pampered team, France has once again become a winning team.

The results are unique in the history of the Blues: four semi-finals, three finals and one victory in major tournaments in 8 years, France had never been so consistent over such a long period. To put it another way, France became Germany with a relentless, or almost, presence in the final moments of the World Cups and Euros.

It took a post in 2016 and a leg from Emiliano Martinez in 2022 for the already copious spoils (a World Cup and, more anecdotally, a Nations League) to turn into an absolute triumph. More than trophies, Deschamps brought back ambition and demands. He made the French team the best in the world in the space of a few years and, since he took control of his destiny, only Argentina has accompanied him in its consistency at the very highest level. It is precisely this demand for results which has fueled the discontent against him in recent months.

His men have again reached the semi-finals of the Euro but that is not enough or, more precisely, it is no longer enough. In 2024, Deschamps experienced his most delicate period on the Blues bench in 10 years. This wave of discontent, fueled by soporific performances in Germany last summer, says everything about the new habits which escort the selection under his orders and he ended up falling into the trap that he himself constructed.

It must be said that the lows were rare. In 2021, it was brief and quickly erased. Whatever happens now in 2026, barring an improbable sporting and moral disaster, the accomplishments of Didier Deschamps are such, the trajectory of the French team so spectacular under his mandate, that no one, neither Michel Hidalgo nor even Aimé Jacquet, can challenge him for the title of greatest Blues coach in history.

His exceptional longevity (more than 5,000 days at the head of the Blues), far ahead of Michel Hidalgo (3,014 days), is further proof. Only Joachim Low (Germany) and Oscar Tabarez (Uruguay) will have played more matches than him on the bench for an international team. The stickers “I Love D.D.” have undoubtedly yellowed under the weight of years and wear. They may even have been taken off. But the coach's mark will remain unique in the great and rich history of the France team.