The French Football Federation will hold a press conference next Tuesday to present the 'next coach of the French national team' to the media, the sports body announced Thursday in a statement.

Zinedine Zidane, whose name was not mentioned in the French Federation statement, is the favorite to succeed Didier Deschamps at the helm of the French national team.

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The Federation's statement said: 'The President of the French Football Federation, Philippe Diallo, will hold a press conference on Tuesday, July 28, 2026, from 11:00 (9:00 GMT) at the headquarters of the French Federation. At the end of the extraordinary meeting of the Executive Committee, which will be held in the morning of the same day, Philippe Diallo will present the next coach of the French national team to the media.'

Zidane (54 years old) has been waiting to take charge of the French national team for several years, and he is in a prime position to succeed Deschamps, whose tenure began in 2012, saw the team win the World Cup in 2018, and ended on Saturday in the United States after France finished fourth in the 2026 World Cup.

Since leaving Real Madrid after his second stint with the Spanish club (2019-2021), Zidane has not hidden his ambition to one day oversee the French national team, following in the footsteps of his two prominent former teammates with the national team, Laurent Blanc (2010-2012) and Deschamps (2012-2026).

Zidane has only coached one club in his career: Real Madrid. The former French national team midfielder, who won the World Cup in 1998 and the European Championship in 2000, led the Royal Club to win the UEFA Champions League three times in a row (2016, 2017, and 2018), the highest European club competition.