Zinedine Zidane has been appointed as the head coach of the France national football team, succeeding Didier Deschamps. The French Football Federation confirmed the 54-year-old's appointment on Tuesday, with Zidane signing a four-year contract. The former Real Madrid manager, who led the club to three consecutive Champions League titles, called the role 'the only job I wanted.' Zidane, a World Cup winner as a player in 1998 and a captain during France's 2000 European Championship triumph, has been out of coaching since leaving Real Madrid in 2021. He will be officially unveiled on July 28. Zidane steps into a team that reached the World Cup final in 2022 but fell short of a second title. His appointment ends months of speculation about Deschamps' successor, with many fans and pundits seeing Zidane as the natural choice to lead the national side. The former midfielder is widely regarded as one of France's greatest ever players and has already proven his coaching pedigree at club level. His return to the dugout marks a new chapter for French football as Les Bleus aim for glory at the 2026 World Cup.