Zinedine Zidane, newly appointed coach of the France national soccer team, attends a media conference on the headquarters of French Football Federation headquarters in Paris, Tuesday, July 28, 2026. (AP Photo\/Aurelien Morissard)<\/p>\n<\/div>\n
PARIS\u2014 Moments after being announced as France\u2019s recent coach on Tuesday, Zinedine Zidane clenched his fists and his often measured voice trembled a bit of.<\/p>\n
\u201cI\u2019m excited,\u201d he said. \u201cThe France team makes you dream. We have now extraordinary players, a unprecedented team.\u201d<\/p>\n
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.<\/p>\n
\u201cI\u2019ve waited five years for this likelihood, in order that\u2019s why I\u2019m a bit emotional,\u201d said Zidane, adding that it was the happiest day of his profession as coach.<\/p>\n
\u201cI\u2019ve all the time watched this side as a fan and likewise as a future coach, I won\u2019t hide it.\u201d Zidane added. \u201cThat\u2019s why I didn\u2019t take a club side. I told myself that the one thing I desired to do after Madrid was taking the France team.\u201d<\/p>\n
French Football Federation president Philippe Diallo announced Zidane\u2019s appointment on the FFF headquarters in Paris on Tuesday, saying he has been given a 4-year contract.<\/p>\n
Diallo called the hiring of Zidane \u201can exceptional moment,\u201d calling Zidane \u201ccertainly one of the legends of French soccer.\u201d<\/p>\n
The 54-year-old Zidane could have gone to a different club after leaving Madrid in 2021. But there was no way he would.<\/p>\n
\u201cI had some offers throughout the five years I used to be away to take charge of a club,\u201d he said. \u201cI turned all of them down for the France team. It was the one thing I desired to do.\u201d<\/p>\n
Zidane called it \u201can immense joy\u201d taking charge.<\/p>\n
\u201cI even have so many emotions,\u201d he said. \u201cI’m ready for the challenge.\u201d<\/p>\n
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.<\/p>\n
\u201cI’ll give the whole lot in order that this team can win,\u201d Zidane said. \u201cI might also prefer to congratulate DD (Deschamps) for these remarkable years.\u201d<\/p>\n
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.<\/p>\n
\u201cWhat motivates me is the sport, I used to be a No. 10, I like goals,\u201d Zidane said. \u201cI used to be a frontrunner on the sphere and now I would like to be a frontrunner by experience.\u201d<\/p>\n
His first game can be away to Turkey within the Nations League on Sept. 25, followed by a match in Belgium three days later.<\/p>\n
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.<\/p>\n
\u201cI\u2019ve noted the entire 4 matches to come back,\u201d Zidane said, tapping his brow. \u201cItaly is special, because I played there, because I do know people, because I speak Italian. All of those things.\u201d<\/p>\n
After the announcement, Zidane greeted a big gathering of fans outside the federation headquarters and so they cheered loudly when he arrived.<\/p>\n
From Deschamps to Zidane<\/h2>\n![\"France](\"data:image\/svg+xml,%3Csvg%20xmlns=\")
![\"France](\"https:\/\/sports.inquirer.net\/files\/2026\/07\/AP26198578170652.jpg\")
<\/p>\nFrance\u2019s 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)<\/p>\n<\/div>\n
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.<\/p>\n
Deschamps described an \u201can unbreathable atmosphere\u201d at the top of his tenure, without detailing what the tensions were.<\/p>\n
Zidane and Deschamps were several types of midfielders, but are ceaselessly linked by glory.<\/p>\n
The industrious Deschamps was France\u2019s captain and the mercurial Zinedine was the creative force when France won the 1998 World Cup and Euro 2000.<\/p>\n
Affectionately nicknamed \u201cZizou\u201d his face was beamed onto the Arc de Triomphe the night France celebrated its first World Cup triumph in \u201998. 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\u2019Or.<\/p>\n
Zizou\u2019s rise<\/h2>\n
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\u2019s concrete pitches where Zidane nurtured his incredible balance, to avoid falling on the rock-hard ground.<\/p>\n
Zidane\u2019s club profession took him from Cannes to Bordeaux after which to 2 of the world\u2019s biggest clubs: Italian giant Juventus and Madrid.<\/p>\n
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.<\/p>\n
He won league titles with Juve and Madrid and scored an excellent volley to assist Madrid win the Champions League in 2002.<\/p>\n
With Zidane carrying an injury, France flopped on the 2002 World Cup \u2014 going out within the group stage \u2014 but reached the 2006 final after Zidane got here out of international retirement.<\/p>\n
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.<\/p>\n
The Brazilians were in awe and even Ronaldinho \u2014 a Ballon d\u2019Or winner himself \u2014 seemed captivated.<\/p>\n
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.<\/p>\n
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\u2019s chest, sending the tall defender flying backward.<\/p>\n
Zidane trudged past the gold-tinted World Cup trophy as he left the sphere in Berlin, his international profession over.<\/p>\n
\n\n
<\/p>\nFrance\u2019s 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)<\/p>\n<\/div>\n
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.<\/p>\n
Deschamps described an \u201can unbreathable atmosphere\u201d at the top of his tenure, without detailing what the tensions were.<\/p>\n
Zidane and Deschamps were several types of midfielders, but are ceaselessly linked by glory.<\/p>\n
The industrious Deschamps was France\u2019s captain and the mercurial Zinedine was the creative force when France won the 1998 World Cup and Euro 2000.<\/p>\n
Affectionately nicknamed \u201cZizou\u201d his face was beamed onto the Arc de Triomphe the night France celebrated its first World Cup triumph in \u201998. 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\u2019Or.<\/p>\n
Zizou\u2019s rise<\/h2>\n
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\u2019s concrete pitches where Zidane nurtured his incredible balance, to avoid falling on the rock-hard ground.<\/p>\n
Zidane\u2019s club profession took him from Cannes to Bordeaux after which to 2 of the world\u2019s biggest clubs: Italian giant Juventus and Madrid.<\/p>\n
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.<\/p>\n
He won league titles with Juve and Madrid and scored an excellent volley to assist Madrid win the Champions League in 2002.<\/p>\n
With Zidane carrying an injury, France flopped on the 2002 World Cup \u2014 going out within the group stage \u2014 but reached the 2006 final after Zidane got here out of international retirement.<\/p>\n
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.<\/p>\n
The Brazilians were in awe and even Ronaldinho \u2014 a Ballon d\u2019Or winner himself \u2014 seemed captivated.<\/p>\n
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.<\/p>\n
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\u2019s chest, sending the tall defender flying backward.<\/p>\n
Zidane trudged past the gold-tinted World Cup trophy as he left the sphere in Berlin, his international profession over.<\/p>\n