“Of course it’s a dream”
National coach? Zinédine Zidane fuels rumors
October 13, 2025 – 11:39 a.mReading time: 1 min.
There have been rumors for a long time that Zinédine Zidane would be hired as France national coach. Now he comments on it himself.
Football legend Zinédine Zidane has fueled hopes of becoming the next French national coach. At an event organized by the Italian sports newspaper “Gazzetta dello Sport”, the former world footballer expressed his ambitions to take on the job.
“I’m not saying that it will happen now, but one day I would like to coach the national team,” said the French World Cup winner in 1998. The 53-year-old has long been considered the preferred candidate to succeed Didier Deschamps, who will step down after the 2026 World Cup in the USA, Canada and Mexico.
As a player, Zidane was an integral part of the national team for over ten years. “I feel at home in the French national team, where I spent practically 12, 13, 14 years as a player. Of course it’s a dream, I’m looking forward to it,” Zidane said a few weeks ago. He had recently rejected offers from abroad several times, including lucrative ones.
Zidane won the World Cup with Deschamps in Paris in 1998 and is one of the greatest players of his generation. He most recently worked as a club coach at Real Madrid – first from 2016 to 2018, then again between 2019 and 2021. With the Spanish record champions, he won the Champions League three times in a row, among other things.
The French association FFF has not yet commented on the speculation surrounding Zidane.