Zinedine Zidane achieves dream as he takes charge of France team

PARIS— Moments after being announced as France’s recent coach on Tuesday, Zinedine Zidane clenched his fists and his often measured voice trembled a bit of.

“I’m excited,” he said. “The France team makes you dream. We have now extraordinary players, a unprecedented team.”

Zidane coached Real Madrid until leaving in 2021. He replaces Didier Deschamps on the helm of France team he led to glory as arguably its biggest ever player.

“I’ve waited five years for this likelihood, in order that’s why I’m a bit emotional,” said Zidane, adding that it was the happiest day of his profession as coach.

“I’ve all the time watched this side as a fan and likewise as a future coach, I won’t hide it.” Zidane added. “That’s why I didn’t take a club side. I told myself that the one thing I desired to do after Madrid was taking the France team.”

French Football Federation president Philippe Diallo announced Zidane’s appointment on the FFF headquarters in Paris on Tuesday, saying he has been given a 4-year contract.

Diallo called the hiring of Zidane “an exceptional moment,” calling Zidane “certainly one of the legends of French soccer.”

The 54-year-old Zidane could have gone to a different club after leaving Madrid in 2021. But there was no way he would.

“I had some offers throughout the five years I used to be away to take charge of a club,” he said. “I turned all of them down for the France team. It was the one thing I desired to do.”

Zidane called it “an immense joy” taking charge.

“I even have so many emotions,” he said. “I’m ready for the challenge.”

Zidane praised Deschamps, who won the 2018 World Cup and stepped down after the recent edition, where Les Bleus lost within the semifinals to Spain.

“I’ll give the whole lot in order that this team can win,” Zidane said. “I might also prefer to congratulate DD (Deschamps) for these remarkable years.”

Diallo said he met Zidane for talks in February, 2025 after Deschamps said he would stand down following the 2026 World Cup. Zidane said France would play otherwise to the way it did under Deschamps.

“What motivates me is the sport, I used to be a No. 10, I like goals,” Zidane said. “I used to be a frontrunner on the sphere and now I would like to be a frontrunner by experience.”

His first game can be away to Turkey within the Nations League on Sept. 25, followed by a match in Belgium three days later.

Home fans have to wait until Oct. 2 for a glimpse of Zidane at Stade de France, when France plays Italy, 20 years after he was sent off against Italy within the 2006 World Cup final for headbutting Italy defender Marco Materazzi.

“I’ve noted the entire 4 matches to come back,” Zidane said, tapping his brow. “Italy is special, because I played there, because I do know people, because I speak Italian. All of those things.”

After the announcement, Zidane greeted a big gathering of fans outside the federation headquarters and so they cheered loudly when he arrived.

From Deschamps to Zidane

France’s head coach Didier Deschamps speaks during a news conference ahead of their third-place World Cup soccer match against England, Friday, July 17, 2026, in Miami Gardens, Fla. (AP Photo/Lynne Sladky)

France lost the World Cup final on penalties in 2022 and lost the European Championship final on home soil in 2016. Some Deschamps critics, amongst them former France teammate Christophe Dugarry, said he must have won more with the players he had.

Deschamps described an “an unbreathable atmosphere” at the top of his tenure, without detailing what the tensions were.

Zidane and Deschamps were several types of midfielders, but are ceaselessly linked by glory.

The industrious Deschamps was France’s captain and the mercurial Zinedine was the creative force when France won the 1998 World Cup and Euro 2000.

Affectionately nicknamed “Zizou” his face was beamed onto the Arc de Triomphe the night France celebrated its first World Cup triumph in ’98. An inspired Zidane scored two headers in the ultimate in a 3-0 win against Brazil at Stade de France and later that 12 months he won the Ballon d’Or.

Zizou’s rise

Born in Marseille to Algerian parents, Zidane grew up playing within the estate of La Castellane, which has a large mural of Zidane on one its tower blocks. It was on the estate’s concrete pitches where Zidane nurtured his incredible balance, to avoid falling on the rock-hard ground.

Zidane’s club profession took him from Cannes to Bordeaux after which to 2 of the world’s biggest clubs: Italian giant Juventus and Madrid.

His international profession began in 1994, when he scored two stunning goals against the Czech Republic after coming on instead, in front of his home fans in Bordeaux.

He won league titles with Juve and Madrid and scored an excellent volley to assist Madrid win the Champions League in 2002.

With Zidane carrying an injury, France flopped on the 2002 World Cup — going out within the group stage — but reached the 2006 final after Zidane got here out of international retirement.

His performance in a 1-0 victory over Brazil within the quarterfinals was Zidane at his balletic best: a hypnotic combination of drag-backs, stepovers, spins on the ball, and flicks over the shoulder.

The Brazilians were in awe and even Ronaldinho — a Ballon d’Or winner himself — seemed captivated.

His 108th and final game for France was against Italy in the ultimate and he scored early with a deft Panenka-style penalty for his thirty first, and last, international goal.

Then, with hundreds of thousands watching all over the world, an infamous moment saw him walk back up the sphere and slam his brow into Materazzi’s chest, sending the tall defender flying backward.

Zidane trudged past the gold-tinted World Cup trophy as he left the sphere in Berlin, his international profession over.

Now he has one other likelihood to guide Les Bleus to glory.