Karim Benzema's Thoughts on Zidane Taking Over France
Karim Benzema did not bother to play it cool.
Asked about the prospect of Zinedine Zidane taking over France in Konbini’s “In or Out” segment, the veteran striker lit up. The question was barely finished before he launched into the kind of praise that comes from years of shared battles at the very top.
“He’s a legend, he’s the big brother,” Benzema said, drawing a straight line back to the bond they forged at Real Madrid, where they stacked Champions League trophies at the Santiago Bernabeu. “Am I happy about him becoming the manager of Les Bleus? I don't know for sure if it’s him, but if it is him, yes, I am seriously happy.”
The timing is no coincidence. France are on the brink of a seismic change.
Deschamps era fades, Zidane steps up
After a flat, frustrating semifinal exit at the 2026 World Cup, the long Didier Deschamps cycle is grinding to a halt. The French Football Federation has moved into the final stretch of what looks set to be a historic handover.
A press conference has been scheduled for Tuesday, led by FFF president Philippe Diallo, following an extraordinary meeting of the federation’s executive committee that same morning. The FFF has not yet stamped Zidane’s name on the job in black and white, but Diallo has already promised an announcement before the end of the month. All roads point to Tuesday as the day that promise is cashed in.
Barring a late twist, Zidane will walk into the room as Deschamps’ successor and the new face of Les Bleus.
Benzema and Zidane: a partnership built on trophies
No one understands the magnitude of that shift better than Benzema. Under Zidane at Madrid, across two spells between 2016-18 and 2019-21, he became one of the coach’s most trusted weapons.
The numbers tell part of the story. Benzema scored 108 goals during Zidane’s time in charge, a figure beaten only by Cristiano Ronaldo in that era. The rest is about nuance: the way Benzema drifted, linked, sacrificed, and still delivered, often operating in the shadows of Ronaldo and Gareth Bale in the fabled “BBC” front line, yet constantly at the heart of Zidane’s attacking structure.
That understanding fuelled one of the most dominant runs modern European football has seen. Together they lifted three consecutive Champions League titles in 2016, 2017 and 2018, two LaLiga crowns, a string of UEFA and Spanish Super Cups, and FIFA Club World Cup trophies. Zidane’s reign at the Bernabeu did not just win; it imposed itself on an era. Benzema shared every step of that climb.
So when he calls Zidane “big brother,” it is not a throwaway line. It is lived history.
A door opening for Benzema – or closing?
Zidane’s impending arrival on the France bench inevitably reopens a question many thought settled: is there another chapter left for Benzema with the national team?
At 38, he should be winding down. Instead, he is still scoring like a man who refuses to accept the calendar. Now at Al-Hilal, he has nine goals in 13 appearances this season, form that follows a prolific spell at Al-Ittihad, where he hit 57 goals in 87 games. The finishing touch, the timing in the box, the cold calm in front of goal – none of it has deserted him.
A Zidane-led France changes the equation. The bond is proven, the trust established. Yet this is no simple reunion story.
The French attack has shifted shape. A new wave has arrived, with Michael Olise and Bradley Barcola pushing into the frame alongside established stars like Kylian Mbappe and Ousmane Dembele. The front line is younger, faster, more fluid, built for the next cycle rather than the last.
Any Benzema comeback would hinge entirely on Zidane’s blueprint. Does he want the security of a veteran he knows inside out, a striker who has already executed his ideas at the highest level? Or does he clear the lane for Mbappe and the next generation, keeping the future uncluttered?
Zidane’s answer to that question will say a lot about how ruthless, or nostalgic, his France will be.
A new era, familiar figure
For now, the spotlight sits on the coach rather than the centre-forward. Zidane’s long-awaited unveiling as France boss is finally within touching distance. The FFF has set the stage, the president will take the microphone, and a nation accustomed to Deschamps’ stoic presence is preparing for a different kind of leader.
Zidane returns to the heart of French football not as the player who lifted the World Cup in 1998, nor as the club coach who dominated Europe from Madrid, but as the man tasked with reshaping Les Bleus after a near-miss on the biggest stage.
Benzema has already made his position clear. He wants that story to be written – and if the call comes, he will be ready to help write it.
