Deschamps to return for France training Saturday after mother's death disrupted World Cup campaign

Didier Deschamps will return to lead France’s training session on Saturday at the 2026 World Cup, assistant coach Guy Stephan confirmed after the 2022 finalists beat Norway 4-1 at Boston Stadium on Friday. Deschamps had flown home earlier in the week following the death of his mother, Ginette, leaving Stephan in charge for the group-stage finale.

Stephan revealed that Deschamps had personally told the squad he needed to leave before his departure. “The players did what they had to do,” Stephan said through a FIFA translator, describing the victory as a gift to their manager. “They were very affected by this loss. They heard Didier talk and tell them that he had to leave. They did hear that from Didier directly.”

The assistant coach added that the players had been motivated to do something special on the pitch, and confirmed Deschamps would be back in time for France’s Round of 32 fixture. “I did congratulate them at the end of the match and said Didier will be back for the training session tomorrow and [before] the Round of 32.”

The win was illuminated by a remarkable hat-trick from Ousmane Dembele, all three goals struck with his left foot. The performance was made even more extraordinary by the underlying numbers: Dembele’s treble came from just 0.29 expected goals, the lowest xG total for any hat-trick scorer in the modern World Cup era.

The build-up to the match was not without controversy. The French Football Federation had requested that FIFA allow players to wear black armbands in tribute to Ginette Deschamps, a request FIFA rejected outright. The FFF then initially told journalists that a pre-match minute’s silence was being held in her honour, before quickly retracting that claim and clarifying it was dedicated to the more than 900 victims of the earthquakes in Venezuela. Stephan declined to address the armband dispute when questioned after the game.

France were also spared a full-strength Norway side. Erling Haaland, who had scored four goals across his first two matches of the tournament, was named among the substitutes with Norway’s place in the Round of 32 already secured. Coach Stale Solbakken made clear he had no intention of fielding his star striker despite public pressure to do so.