Years of rumour, one World Cup fourth-place finish, and now — according to Foot Mercato — a Tuesday announcement. Zinédine Zidane is set to be confirmed as France national team manager, the French outlet reports, bringing the longest-running open secret in international football to its apparent conclusion.
Foot Mercato reports that the official confirmation of Zinédine Zidane as Équipe de France head coach is expected on Tuesday. The timing is no coincidence: France's 2026 World Cup campaign ended at the semi-final stage, with the nation finishing fourth as Spain beat Argentina 1-0 after extra time in the final on 20 July to claim the trophy.
Fourth place is not a disaster by most countries' standards. For France — with the squad depth they carry into every tournament — it is the kind of finish that accelerates decisions. Zidane, who has been linked with the role on and off for the better part of a decade, now appears to be the answer.
Zidane managing France is not a romantic gesture dressed up as a football decision — it carries genuine weight on both sides of the argument. As a player he won the 1998 World Cup and Euro 2000 on home soil and abroad. As a coach he won three consecutive Champions League titles with Real Madrid, a run that remains one of the most remarkable in club football. He knows what winning at the highest level looks like, and he knows what it costs.
What he has never done is manage at international level. The step from club football — where you control the training ground every day — to the condensed, political world of a national setup is a real one. France's federation will be banking on the idea that Zidane's authority in that dressing room is simply non-negotiable.
He walked into the Bernabéu and made it look easy. The FFF are clearly willing to find out if he can do the same at Clairefontaine.
Foot Mercato is a credible outlet in French football circles, but this report currently stands as a single source. No second outlet has independently confirmed the Tuesday timeline, and the French Football Federation has made no official statement. Until that confirmation lands, the appointment remains reported rather than done.
If it does land on Tuesday, Zidane will inherit a squad that reached a World Cup semi-final and a generation of players — Kylian Mbappé among them — who are entering what should be their peak international years heading into Euro 2028. The cycle is right. The moment, if Foot Mercato's reporting holds, is now.
Years of rumour, one World Cup fourth-place finish, and now — according to Foot Mercato — a Tuesday announcement. Zinédine Zidane is set to be confirmed as France national team manager, the French outlet reports,…
Fuentes
Foot Mercato
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“Stays on France — different angle, same beat.”
SELECCIONESFive years of silence, no club, no dugout, no press conferences — and then, when Zinedine Zidane finally decides to come back, he goes straight for the biggest job in French football. According to The
“Stays on France — different angle, same beat.”
SELECCIONESFive years of silence, no club, no dugout, no press conferences — and then, when Zinedine Zidane finally decides to come back, he goes straight for the biggest job in French football. According to The
