In Clairefontaine, where the French national side usually arrives beneath a forest of cameras, Zinedine Zidane has begun by changing the view as well as the voice. His first squad as France coach has been announced, with the former Real Madrid manager set to take charge of Les Bleus for the first time away to Turkey on Friday after five years outside the game.
The appointment brings Zidane to the role he had long identified as the summit of his coaching ambitions. He succeeds Didier Deschamps, whose 14-year reign delivered the 2018 World Cup, a runners-up finish in 2022 and, most recently, a place in the 2026 World Cup semi-finals. Yet even through those achievements, Zidane’s name remained close to the France job, supported by a public that had imagined him in the post since his retirement as a player in 2006.
He had said as far back as 2012 that he expected to coach France one day, given what the national team meant to him. His route since then has been unusual: development work with Real Madrid’s reserve side, followed by a remarkable first spell in charge of the senior team, when Madrid became the first club to win three consecutive Champions League titles from 2016 to 2018. A second Madrid tenure ended in 2021, leaving that elite-level experience both hugely successful and, until now, his only senior managerial chapter.
For the past five years Zidane stayed largely out of the daily football conversation, despite approaches reported from Paris Saint-Germain, Manchester United, Juventus and Bayern Munich. He maintained commercial partnerships, acted as an ambassador for luxury brands, and expanded his Z5 network of five-a-side football and padel venues in France. He also appeared at major public occasions, including the opening ceremony of the Paris Olympics in 2024, and travelled to support his son Luca Zidane when the goalkeeper represented Algeria at the 2026 World Cup.
A new hand on a gifted France side
France’s depth gives Zidane an enviable starting point, but the task is not limited to results. He inherits a dressing room containing some of the game’s biggest names while attention has recently settled on the relationship between Kylian Mbappé and Ousmane Dembélé, competitors in the Ballon d’Or conversation. Dembélé described last year’s award as recognition for his work after saying he had never been treated as a predestined winner, a remark seen in the context of an earlier Mbappé interview. The Real Madrid forward has since said the pair had spoken and that there was no issue between them.
Zidane’s early decisions have centred on access and presentation. His inaugural squad reveal was not opened to television cameras in the way it had been under Deschamps; footage was produced and carried solely by the French Football Federation’s own platforms. The new coach will also avoid one-to-one media interviews during this first international window.
There will, however, be a new opportunity for reporters to speak with the players. France will introduce mixed zones during the camp, allowing journalists access to the squad in a format not used during Deschamps’ time. At Clairefontaine, arrivals will no longer be filmed by the gathered press either, with the federation taking responsibility for distributing its own images of the players reporting for duty.
The sporting examination begins in Turkey, before France travel to Brussels to meet Belgium on 28 September. Zidane’s first home fixtures follow at the Stade de France in Saint-Denis: Italy visit on 2 October, then Belgium return on 5 October. All four matches form part of the Nations League, offering the new coach a swift introduction to the demands of a side accustomed to travelling deep into major tournaments.
