'It has to stop' - Deschamps reveals when he will step down as France boss

The 56-year-old has stated he will step down in charge of Les Bleus following the 2026 World Cup - providing his side qualify.

Deschamps has been in charge of the national team since 2012 - overseeing a golden age of French football.

He has guided France to victories at the 2018 World Cup and the Nations League in 2021.

In addition to that, he has also seen his side be defeated in the Euro 2016 final and the 2022 World Cup final.

Addressing his future with TF1 and LCI, Deschamps said: "I'm not here to make an announcement, but it will be 2026.

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"I've been here since 2012, I'm scheduled until 2026, the next World Cup. It will stop there because it has to stop there at some point. In my head, it's very clear.

"I did my time with the same desire, the same passion to keep the French team at the highest level.

"We never want it to end when it's a beautiful thing. Afterwards, we have to know how to say stop.

"There is life after. I don't know what it will be but it will be very good too. It's going to be 14 years, that's a long time too.

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"I'm not here for the records, especially for the demands. The most important thing is that the French team remains at the top where it has been for many years."

Zidane is the favourite to succeed Deschamps, with the France role being one of two jobs he would return to football for.

Zizou, who won the World Cup as a player alongside Deschamps in 1998, hasn't managed since departing Real Madrid in May 2021.

But it is believed he would jump at the chance to take charge of France, though he knows he would have big boots to fill.

Deschamps - France's longest-serving manager - is just the third man in history after Brazil's Mario Zagallo and Germany's Franz Beckenbauer to win a World Cup both as a player and a manager.

And had it not been for a penalty shootout defeat to Argentine in 2022, France would have become the first country since Brazil in 1962 to defend the World Cup.

Though his time hasn't come without criticism, with fans hitting out at France's conservative style of play at Euro 2024.

France, who scored just four goals from their six matches in Germany, made it to the semi-finals where they were defeated by eventual champions Spain.

Attention for Deschamps now will turn towards scooping a second Nations League title, with France facing Croatia in the quarter-finals in March.

Though it remains to be seen whether Kylian Mbappe will feature having been omitted from France's last two squads.