And what if the elimination of Kylian Mbappé’s teammates in the Euro semi-finals after a very lackluster performance against the Spanish (1-2) signaled the end of Didier Deschamps’ adventure at the head of the French team? If Philippe Diallo, the president of the FFF, wants the 1998 world champion to “continue his mission” until 2026, football fans are not of the same opinion.
According to the latest Odoxa poll published this Saturday, 51% of football fans want Deschamps to leave his post. A real drop in popularity for a coach who until now has been used to plebiscites: 83% of French people said they had a good opinion of Didier Deschamps in July 2020.
Football fans surveyed in the poll directly blame Didier Deschamps for mistakes, particularly regarding the fate of substitutes. Nearly three out of four people think he should have played Olivier Giroud more (56 minutes of play at the Euro) and 66% think he should have started Antoine Griezmann against Spain, with the vice-captain of Les Bleus only coming on in the 62nd minute of the game. And more broadly, 71% of football fans think he should have made more changes during matches.
With this elimination, the idea of seeing Zinédine Zidane at the head of the Blues is gaining ground among supporters. Since May 2021 and his departure from Real Madrid, Zidane has stayed away from the benches and always keeps the French team in a corner of his mind. In 2023, the former French international, Robert Pirès confided to the Canal Football Club show that the Madrid coach wanted to be the new coach of the Blues.