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Julien Laurens, Correspondent
Didier Deschamps will leave his role as France head coach at the end of his current contract culminating in the 2026 World Cup cycle, sources have told ESPN.
The 2018 World Cup winner will depart after the World Cup in the United States, Canada and Mexico if Les Bleus qualify, or he will leave after the end of the qualification campaign if they fail to make it.
Zinedine Zidane, 52, the former Real Madrid manager, winner of three Champions Leagues in a row and former Deschamps’ teammate with the France team, is the heavy favourite to replace him.
Deschamps, 56, took over from Laurent Blanc 14 years ago on the French bench in the summer 2012 and brought unprecedented success to the national team. As well as winning the 2018 World Cup and the 2021 Nations League, he reached the 2016 Euros and 2022 World Cup finals and the 2024 Euros semifinal.
He is by far the most successful France head coach ever, with a 64.2% win percentage and reaching at least the semifinals in the last four big tournaments, and is also one of the longest serving and most successful national team coaches in history.
He is only the third person to have won the World Cup both as player (in 1998) and manager, joining Germany’s Franz Beckenbauer and Brazil’s Mario Zagallo.
France will find out their group position for qualifying after finishing Nations League competition, which begins with a quarterfinal match against Croatia in March.
Deschamps is expected to make his announcement on Wednesday.
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