The Albany Gazette - France coach Deschamps to step down after 2026 World Cup

"It will be 2026," Deschamps told French broadcaster TF1. "I have been there since 2012, it is planned that I will be there until 2026... the next World Cup.

"It will end there because it has to end at some point. It's clear in my mind.

"I have done my time, with the same desire, the same passion to keep the France team at the highest level, but 2026 is good."

Deschamps, 56, led France to World Cup glory in Russia in 2018 and guided them to the final of the 2022 World Cup in Qatar where they lost to Lionel Messi's Argentina on penalties.

Following that heartbreaking loss in Doha, the French Football Federation rewarded Deschamps with a contract extension through to 2026.

That decision was not universally welcomed and criticism grew following last year's European Championship when France never fully convinced and were beaten in the semi-finals by eventual tournament winners Spain.

Deschamps also experienced a difficult end to 2024 with debate raging over the omission from the squad of captain Kylian Mbappe, who had a tough start to his time at Real Madrid and was, according to unconfirmed reports in Sweden, the focus of a rape allegation after a visit to Stockholm. The investigation has since been dropped.

"All good things come to an end, and you also need to know when to stop," Deschamps added as he spoke to reporters at an event in the south-western city of Bordeaux on Wednesday.

"It has been 12 years, and it will have been 14, which is fine. I have done my time, and I still have time left."

Now that Deschamps has resolved the question surrounding his future, he can focus on France's objectives on the pitch over the next 18 months.

- Zidane waiting in wings? -

Zinedine Zidane, who won the 1998 World Cup as a player alongside Deschamps, has long been tipped as the favourite to eventually replace him in the dugout.

Now 52, Zidane has been lying in wait since ending his second spell as coach of Real Madrid in 2021. One of France's greatest ever players, he won the Champions League three times with Madrid but has not managed any other club.

"Nobody is irreplaceable," admitted Deschamps. "I have tried to be as indispensable as possible with the results that you know, but that is behind us now."

Zidane's shadow will continue to hang over the France team in the coming months, as they prepare for their next matches, beginning with a two-legged Nations League quarter-final in March against Croatia.

Should Les Bleus beat the team they defeated in the 2018 World Cup final, they will advance to the final four of the Nations League in June.

Once that competition is out of the way, they will begin the qualifying campaign for the World Cup, which will take place in the United States, Canada and Mexico in June and July next year.

Assuming France qualify, that will be their seventh major tournament finals under Deschamps, who took over a team at a low ebb in 2012 from Laurent Blanc.

He led them to the quarter-finals of the 2014 World Cup, his first tournament in charge.

They then reached the Euro 2016 final as hosts before their fine performances at the last two World Cups.

France also won the Nations League in 2021 and their only truly below-par showing at a recent major tournament came at Euro 2020, when they lost on penalties to Switzerland in the last 16.

As a player, midfielder Deschamps captained France when they won the 1998 World Cup at home, defeating Brazil in the final.

He also captained France to the Euro 2000 title and skippered the great Marseille side that remains the only French team to have won the Champions League, when they beat AC Milan in the 1993 final.

Deschamps is one of only three men to have won the World Cup both as a player and as a coach -- the other two, Mario Zagallo of Brazil and Germany's Franz Beckenbauer, both died last year.

He also played for and coached Juventus, and led Monaco to the Champions League final in 2004.

(O.Robinson--TAG)