Zidane's First France Squad Marks a New Era
Zinedine Zidane walked into FFF headquarters in Paris and made it clear with one sheet of paper: France are turning a page.
His first 23-man squad as national team coach is compact, youthful and pointedly different. The long reign of Didier Deschamps is over; the generational reset has begun.
New faces, new tone
Jeremy Jacquet, Andy Diouf, Lucas Da Cunha, Guillaume Restes and Esteban Lepaul – five uncapped players, five clear signals. All will report straight to Clairefontaine on Monday, stepping into a dressing room that suddenly looks far less anchored to the past.
Zidane has deliberately kept the group tight at 23. No bloated list, no passengers. He wants every player involved, every training session sharp, every minute of this international window used to imprint his ideas.
At the press conference, he did not hide behind vague notions of “potential.” He drilled into tactics, roles, profiles. Form and future, not reputation, drove his calls.
“These are players who deserve to be here, players I want to see,” he said. “What inspires me is the game. I want to see these players and this team playing.”
Jacquet, now at Liverpool, is a case in point. Zidane has tracked him for years.
“I like Jacquet’s profile a lot. I’ve followed him for a long time because he played alongside my son in the youth teams,” he admitted, underlining that this is not a whim but a long-running conviction.
Inter Milan midfielder Diouf and Como’s Da Cunha also earned specific praise, framed as pieces of a more proactive, expressive France.
Edging out legends to build tomorrow
The boldness of the new is sharpened by the absence of the old. There is no N’Golo Kanté. No Karim Benzema. Two World Cup winners, two totems of the previous cycle, left out as Zidane draws his line.
The reasoning is ruthless but clear: age, intensity, and a tactical project geared toward the next wave.
“Choosing Andy Diouf and Truffert is a strong choice. They are capable of playing in this position,” Zidane explained, as he recalled Adrien Truffert to reinforce the flanks and add flexibility on the outside.
Then came the hard truths.
“N’Golo is 35 and I have made choices, which are different. I adore Karim, but he’s a certain age. I need to see younger players and what we will do together.”
No ambiguity. Zidane is not managing nostalgia; he is building a side that can run, press and create on his terms.
Versatility sits at the heart of it. Across central midfield and full-back, he wants players who can shift, rotate and adapt. The squad reflects that idea more than any sentimental attachment to the past decade.
Brutal schedule, immediate test
There is no soft launch for this new France.
Les Bleus face four matches in ten days, a punishing stretch that will expose both the freshness of the squad and the clarity of Zidane’s plan.
It starts in Izmir against Turkey on Friday, September 25. Three days later, they head to Brussels to face Belgium on September 28. Then the focus turns home: two games at Saint-Denis, first Italy on October 2, then a second meeting with Belgium on October 5.
Across that run, Zidane must balance experimentation with results, rotation with rhythm. The compact squad means almost everyone will be asked to contribute. There is nowhere to hide.
Mbappé stays at the helm
One major thread of continuity remains. Kylian Mbappé keeps the armband.
In a squad reshaped around youth and energy, the captaincy of France’s superstar forward becomes the bridge between eras. Zidane wants Mbappé as the on-pitch reference point while he lays down the tactical foundations of his tenure.
New coach, new blood, same ambition. The Deschamps chapter is closed. Zidane’s France, lean and hungry, now has ten days and four games to show what this new story might look like.
