Free after fourteen years with France, Deschamps favourite to land Saudi Arabia job

Didier Deschamps stepped down as France head coach after fourteen years in charge, replaced by Zinedine Zidane in the aftermath of the 2026 World Cup. The former manager was clear about his intentions: he is not retiring.

“I will miss the France team… but I’m not retiring,” he said shortly after his departure. The question now is where the Bayonne-born coach, who previously managed AS Monaco, Olympique de Marseille and Juventus Turin before taking over the French national team, will resume his career.

According to British bookmakers, the Saudi Arabia option is the most likely, with odds of 3.50. Paris Saint-Germain comes in second place (odds of 5), although Luis Enrique is on the verge of extending his contract with the Parisian club, two-time European champions, until 2030.

Olympique de Marseille, which he managed from 2009 to 2012, is the third option (odds of 7). Two other former clubs, Juventus Turin and AS Monaco, share fourth place (10), ahead of Real Madrid (11), where his name had circulated this summer before José Mourinho’s appointment to the Madrid bench.

Three national teams complete the picture: Brazil (16), Portugal (20) and Argentina (25). These projections remain purely speculative. Deschamps himself had indicated, after France’s elimination in the World Cup semi-finals, that he wanted first to “focus on himself and recover” before considering a new project.