Didier Deschamps confirmed that he would be leaving his position as coach of the French team in 2026, this Wednesday, January 8, in an interview with TF1, considering that he had “had his day” at the helm of Les Bleus.
The end is now official. After so many years, the coach will not extend the adventure with the Blues. “It will be 2026. I've been here since 2012, I'm scheduled until 2026… The next World Cup. It will stop there, because it has to stop at some point. In my head it's very clear”, declared the 56-year-old technician during a joint interview with Brigitte Macron broadcast on the 1pm news as part of the operation “Pièces Jaunes”, of which LCI, the group's news channel, revealed an excerpt in the morning.
“I've done my time too, with the same desire, the same passion to keep the French team at the highest level, but 2026 is very good”, DD explained, who will therefore end his tenure at the end of the next World Cup organized in the United States, Canada and Mexico, for which France has not yet qualified.
With his departure, the most glorious chapter in the history of Les Bleus will close. Deschamps has indeed built an extraordinary record at the head of the French team by winning the 2018 World Cup in Russia and the League of Nations in 2021, while reaching the finals of Euro-2016 and the World Cup-2022.
200% Deposit Bonus up to €3,000 180% First Deposit Bonus up to $20,000“You have to know how to say stop”
After the final of the last World Cup lost in Qatar against Argentina, the Basque's contract was extended by four years, a period which at the time attracted much criticism. Which did not weaken during the last Euro-2024 due to the hardly exciting game offered by the French, despite reaching the semi-finals.
In the process, the manager of the technician had fueled the debates during the second half of the year, between the difficult management of the Kylian Mbappé case, then in the grip of difficulties on a sporting and personal level following a rape investigation, since closed, after his time in Stockholm.
In the meantime, Antoine Griezmann had announced to everyone's surprise his international retirement.
Read also: French football team: Didier Deschamps decides to put an end to his functions in 2026
“We never want it to end”
Before taking his leave, however, Deschamps has no shortage of goals. The Tricolores must play the quarter-finals of the League of Nations against Croatia in March. If successful, they will play the “Final Four” of this competition in June before moving on to qualifying for the next World Cup, the ultimate challenge for the former captain of Les Bleus, world champion as a player in 1998.
“You never want it to end when it's a great thing, but you have to know when to say stop. There is life after, I don't know what it will be, but it will be very good too”, he concluded.