Newly-announced France manager and Real Madrid legend Zinedine Zidane has revealed that he turned down every job offer over the last five years whilst waiting for the call to coach the French national team.
Long-lasting coach Didier Deschamps departed from his role as France’s manager at the end of the 2026 FIFA World Cup, with his last match being the 10-goal thriller against England.
Since 2018, France have won one World Cup and played in two finals, with this year’s tournament being their worst finish in that period.
Now, the recent announcement of Zidane’s appointment marks the first job for the Frenchman in five years.
Holding out for France
In a press conference on Monday, July 27, Zidane explained how he had said no to any job title that wasn’t manager of France.
He said: “In the last four or five years, I had offers to join a club and I refused them all for the France national team,
“This job is the only job I wanted to do after my career with Real Madrid.
“I’ve always seen the France national team in the view of a fan – but also as a future manager.
“That’s the reason why I didn’t take on a new club team.
“I told myself that the only thing I wanted to do after Real Madrid was the French national team.
“I kept myself away from those teams. I had great projects, and could have done them for two or three years.
“But since Deschamps’ decision at the start of 2025 to step down after the next World Cup, the next day I was very animated to say I wanted to be his successor.”
“So I met the president in February 2025 and it’s led us to here.”
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‘I know how to win’
The appointment of Zidane surely aims to follow the previous success and dominance of the French side.
Speaking about this, French FA president Phillippe Diallo said: “I told him it’s a huge honour and a big responsibility because the last few years have been stunning.
“We needed to find the person to give us confidence to drive us down the same path for what I hope is the years ahead.
“When I met with Zinedine in February 2025, after the announcement of Didier, he told me: ‘Mr President, I know how to win’.
“When he said that, I knew he had the desire and the confidence to take charge of the team.”
Zidane spoke about moving forward from Deschamps’ tactics, saying: “The team’s run and style of play were magnificent.
“I was there in person and had a great time, just like the other fans. There are no complaints about how things went.
“Honestly, we’re going to do things differently.
“Didier Deschamps is Didier Deschamps. Laurent Blanc was Laurent Blanc. Zizou is Zizou. I’m going to try to do what I know how to do.
“It’s not a clean break, either. I want to maintain continuity so that the French team keeps winning.”
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Busy five years
Addressing his five-year hiatus from managing, Zidane said how he wasn’t just sitting idle and had been extremely proactive from a footballing perspective.
The new France boss said: “There’s no worry.
“It’s a completely different job from club coaching. It doesn’t scare me.
“I’ll have a balance between my personal life and the French national team. It suits me perfectly.
“It’s a different kind of job, and I have no issues with that.
“I didn’t sit around twiddling my thumbs for five years.
“I watched more matches than when I was coaching Real Madrid. I saw a huge number of them.
“I watched the French national team a lot, and there is great potential.”
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