The bitter exit of France against Spain (0-2) in the semi-final of the 2026 World Cup will not overshadow the amazing career of Didier Deschamps over 14 years at the head of the 'Blues', who will play the third-place match in Miami on Saturday.

The 57-year-old coach will bid farewell to his stint with France with disappointment, but he will forever be associated with France's second World Cup title in 2018, as he succeeded in bringing the team back to the forefront after it had been in the doldrums following the 2010 World Cup disaster and the famous training strike in Knysna.

Since taking charge in 2012, he patiently rebuilt the French structure stone by stone, with continuous progress marked by a promising quarterfinal appearance at the 2014 World Cup in Brazil, then a frustrating loss in the Euro 2016 final on home soil, before the world title in 2018 and reaching another final in 2022, just two penalty kicks away from retaining the trophy.

Also added to this list is the UEFA Nations League title in 2021, and reaching the semi-finals of Euro 2024.

The exit in the round of 16 of Euro 2021 on penalties against Switzerland is considered the most notable failure of the Deschamps era.

He aspired to leave the 'Blues' at the top, but he failed to do so in his fourth appearance at the World Cup finals due to his Spanish complex, the only team against which he could not find a solution to win.

Despite the harshness of Tuesday's exit, he will find solace in the fact that he kept France among the elite of the world's best teams throughout these years.

And reaching the semi-finals, the pre-set objective, will not be enough to satisfy him, especially since this failure came for the third consecutive time in an international tournament against a brilliant Spain led by Luis de la Fuente, which had also beaten France in the semi-final of Euro 2024 (2-1) and in the Nations League last year (5-4).

In the United States, 'DD' lost his way this time by abandoning the principles that made him a 'father of victory', he who was often criticized for his defensive tactical choices.

As he did five years ago, the pragmatic coach, fond of complete control in matches, bet on an unparalleled attacking force consisting of the magic trio Kylian Mbappé, Ousmane Dembélé, and Michael Olise, and gave his attackers unusual freedom.

Deschamps refused to part with his star Mbappé, or Ballon d'Or winner Dembélé, or his talent Olise, after being affected by the criticism that followed France's exit from the Euro 2024 semi-finals in Germany, when the attacking performance seemed very dull (four goals in six matches, including one penalty and two own goals).

The coach of the 'Blues' rethought his team's organization and patiently worked on renewing his squad by integrating six Olympic silver medalists from Paris 2024, led by Olise. This came even at the expense of collective balance, a aspect he rarely gave up during his coaching career, as one of the disciples of Aimé Jacquet, the 1998 world champion coach.

He said on March 25: 'We can play with four attacking players, and if we have the ball, there is no problem. The goal is to create as many problems as possible for the opponent.'

He also stressed during the World Cup that 'the French team is an attacking team. It has the ability to create chances. This is important. We must maintain this ability we have to put the opponent under pressure and be able to score goals.'

Deschamps was a candidate to compete for the world title and nothing else, but he will not add a third star to his record, even though that record remains the most beautiful in the history of French football.

His final campaign seems even sadder because it coincided with the death of his mother the day after France's win over Iraq (3-0) in Philadelphia, a tragedy that forced him to leave the United States to attend the funeral in France. An event that strengthened the group's unity, as Adrien Rabiot stated the day before the semi-final.

Rabiot explained: 'Off the pitch, things are going well, and I think that's a big part of this success. There are also things that brought us closer together, for example the difficulties the coach faced, and he knows that this is his last tournament at the head of the French team.'

With the closing of the Deschamps chapter, all eyes now turn to Zinedine Zidane. The icon of French sports who became a successful coach with Real Madrid (three Champions League titles between 2016 and 2018), is expected to be appointed soon to succeed Deschamps in the position he has long dreamed of.

With the heavy task of preserving the immense legacy left by Deschamps.