Zinedine Zidane named France men’s national team head coach in Paris; contract runs to 2030

Zinedine Zidane named France men’s football head coach – ‘Zizou’s’ legendary playing and managerial career in numbers

The 54-year-old former Ballon D’Or winner will lead the two-time world champions as head coach until 2030.

Zinedine Zidane is back at the helm of French football , as the former Ballon D’Or winner was named as the new men’s national team manager on Tuesday (28 July).

A FIFA World Cup and UEFA European Championship winner as a player, the 54-year-old will lead the two-time world champions as head coach until 2030. His contract begins on 1 August, while he will name his coaching staff in early September.

Zidane takes over the reins of Les Bleus from Didier Deschamps , the captain and his teammate from France’s maiden FIFA World Cup triumph in 1998. Deschamps led the national team from 2014 until the recent World Cup finals, becoming only the third man to lift the trophy as a player and a manager in 2018.

“Today, in a way, it’s a dream come true,” said Zidane at his unveiling in Paris. “What I can tell you is that over the past four or five years, while I was away from coaching, I received offers to return to club management, and I turned them all down because of the France national team. For me, the France national team was the only job I wanted.

“After my time at Real Madrid, this was the only role I wanted: to coach France. I grew up with this team. I joined the youth setup at the youngest levels, progressed through every age group and eventually reached the senior national team, which is the pinnacle. There is no better way to describe it.

“Today, I have the opportunity to become the head coach of this team, and I will give everything I have to ensure it continues to win. That’s what drives me above all else: helping France keep winning.

The Marseille man inherits a luxurious crop of French players led by Kylian Mbappé , now a two-time FIFA World Cup Golden Boot winner. It also includes a host of Paris 2024 silver medallists, such as Désiré Doué , Rayan Cherki and Michael Olise .

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Zinedine Zidane – from legendary player to managerial great

Born to Algerian parents on the south coast of France, Zidane began his professional career at Cannes as an academy graduate to the first team. In 1992, he made the move to Girondins de Bordeaux , where he set the French top division alight with his dazzling performances on the pitch.

Zidane moved abroad to Italian side Juventus in 1996 and guided the Bianconeri to six major titles, among them back-to-back Serie A crowns. He made history with his move to Real Madrid five years later, becoming the most expensive transfer in world football and forming part of the legendary ‘Galácticos’ side of the early 2000s.

The Frenchman won the UEFA Champions League in his debut season and scored one of the competition’s great goals in the final, a spinning volley into the top corner in Glasgow. He won six trophies before retiring in the Spanish capital in 2006.

Zidane was one of the finest players in French national team history and secured his national hero status with a brace in the 1998 World Cup final on home soil. Two years later, he helped Les Bleus to the EUROs title before playing his final match in the 2006 World Cup final defeat to Italy.

After an eight-year hiatus from the professional game, Zidane returned to Madrid in 2014 as a coach for Real Madrid Castilla, the club’s reserve team and final squad before the first team.

That pathway led ‘Zizou’ to the top job two years later, and for three years running, the Frenchman led the Spanish giants to three consecutive UEFA men’s Champions League titles. He remains the only man to achieve that feat as a head coach.

Zidane resigned in May 2018, but after Real Madrid suffered a dip in form and in the La Liga table, he retook the reins 10 months later. A second league title followed the following year before he left again in 2021; this is Zidane’s first managerial role since then , and his first outside of the club’s Valdebebas setup.

The next step brings Zidane back to his beloved France, a role he has dreamed of and chased after proving his managerial credentials in club football. The 2026–27 UEFA Nations League will serve as the first test ahead of qualification for the 2028 European Championship, while Zidane’s contract brings him up to the 2030 FIFA World Cup.

Zinedine Zidane (left) carried the Olympic Torch at the Paris 2024 Opening Ceremony, passing it on to Rafael Nadal.

World champion to European king: Zidane’s list of honours

UEFA Intertoto Cup: 1995, 1999

Italian Serie A: 1996-97, 1997-98

UEFA Super Cup: 1996, 2002

Supercopa de España: 2001, 2003

French Division 1 Player of the Year: 1995–96

Serie A Foreign Footballer of the Year: 1996–97, 2000–01

FIFA XI: 1997, 1998, 2000, 2002

FIFA World Cup All-Star team: 1998, 2006

FIFA World Player of the Year: 1998, 2000, 2003

UEFA European Championship Player of the Tournament: 2000

UEFA European Championship Team of the Tournament: 2000, 2004

Serie A Footballer of the Year: 2000–01

UEFA Team of the Year: 2001, 2002, 2003

La Liga Best Foreign Player: 2001–02

FIFA World Cup Dream Team: 2002

FIFA FIFPro World XI: 2005, 2006

FIFA World Cup Golden Ball: 2006

Supercopa de España: 2017, 2020

UEFA Champions League: 2015–16, 2016–17, 2017–18

UEFA Super Cup: 2016, 2017

FIFA Club World Cup: 2016, 2017

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