France coach Didier Deschamps says he’ll leave after FIFA World Cup 2026

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 helped them reach the 2022 World Cup final in Qatar, where they lost on penalties to Lionel Messi’s Argentina.

“It will be 2026”, Deschamps told French broadcaster TF1. It is planned that I will be there until 2026, the following World Cup, because I’ve been there since 2012.

It will end there because it will eventually end. 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 are yet to reach the World Cup in 2026.

The 56-year-old started in his role as a successor to Laurent Blanc and is France’s longest-serving national team coach.

Deschamps also won the 2021 Nations League title with Les Bleus after having won numerous awards with all the clubs he ran before taking over as France coach.

As a player, he captained France when they won the 1998 World Cup on home soil, defeating Brazil in the final.