France’s FIFA World Cup-winning coach Didier Deschamps has announced that he will leave his post after the 2026 edition of the tournament.
Deschamps led France to World Cup glory in Russia in 2018 and guided them to the final of the 2022 World Cup in Qatar where they lost to Lionel Messi’s Argentina on penalties.
“It will be 2026,” Deschamps told French broadcaster TF1. “I have been there since 2012, it is planned that I will be there until 2026 … the next World Cup.
“It will end there because it has to end at some point. It’s clear in my mind.
“I have done my time, with the same desire, the same passion to keep the France team at the highest level, but 2026 is good.”
The Les Bleus have yet to qualify for the 2026 World Cup.
The 56-year-old started in his role as a successor to Laurent Blanc and is France’s longest-serving national team coach.
Having had won trophies with every club he managed before becoming France coach, Deschamps also claimed the 2021 Nations League title with Les Bleus.
As a player, he captained France when they won the 1998 World Cup on home soil, defeating Brazil in the final.
He is one of only three men to have won the World Cup both as a player and as a coach – the other two, Mario Zagallo of Brazil and Germany’s Franz Beckenbauer, both died last year.
