French national football team coach Didier Deschamps announced today that he will retire from his post after the 2026 World Cup.
"I've been here since 2012, I should be here until 2026, until the next World Cup, but everything will end there because it has to end at some point," Dešan said in an interview with TF1 television.
Dešan (56) replaced Laurent Blanc as a coach, and in 2018 he won the world championship with the French national team. Four years later, he reached another World Cup final, but this time his team was defeated by Argentina on penalties.
With France, he also won silver in 2016 at the domestic European Championship, while five years later he won the trophy in the League of Nations.
"I'm not here for the record. The most important thing is that the French team stays at the top, as it has been for many years," said Dešan, adding that he still has no plans for the future.
Depending on the outcome of the Nations League quarter-final match against Croatia, France will play in Group D or Group L of the 2026 World Cup qualifiers.
In case of victory over Croatia, France will be in group D with Ukraine, Iceland and Azerbaijan, while in case of defeat, they will play in group L with Montenegro, Czech Republic, Faroe Islands and Gibraltar.
Placement to the World Cup will be ensured by the winners of the groups, while the second-placed selections will go to a play-off with the four best-ranked national teams from the League of Nations that did not win a place through the qualifications.
The World Cup will be played from June 11 to July 19, 2026 in the United States of America, Canada and Mexico. This will be the first global competition with 48 national teams, of which Europe will have 16 representatives.
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