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France Coach Didier Deschamps Says He’ll Leave after 2026 World Cup

France's coach Didier Deschamps celebrates as they do a lap of honor during a ceremony to celebrate the victory of the 2018 World Cup at the end of the UEFA Nations League football match between France and Netherlands at the Stade de France stadium, in Saint-Denis, northern of Paris, on September 9, 2018. (AFP)
France's coach Didier Deschamps celebrates as they do a lap of honor during a ceremony to celebrate the victory of the 2018 World Cup at the end of the UEFA Nations League football match between France and Netherlands at the Stade de France stadium, in Saint-Denis, northern of Paris, on September 9, 2018. (AFP)
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France Coach Didier Deschamps Says He’ll Leave after 2026 World Cup

France's coach Didier Deschamps celebrates as they do a lap of honor during a ceremony to celebrate the victory of the 2018 World Cup at the end of the UEFA Nations League football match between France and Netherlands at the Stade de France stadium, in Saint-Denis, northern of Paris, on September 9, 2018. (AFP)
France's coach Didier Deschamps celebrates as they do a lap of honor during a ceremony to celebrate the victory of the 2018 World Cup at the end of the UEFA Nations League football match between France and Netherlands at the Stade de France stadium, in Saint-Denis, northern of Paris, on September 9, 2018. (AFP)

Didier Deschamps announced Wednesday that he won’t continue as France coach after the next World Cup.

The 56-year-old Deschamps said in an interview with broadcaster TF1 that he will leave when his contract expires in the summer of 2026.

“I’ve been here since 2012, I’m scheduled to be here until 2026, the next World Cup, but that’s where it’s going to end because it has to end at some point,” Deschamps said in excerpts of the interview to be aired later Wednesday.

“I did my time, with the same desire and the same passion to keep the French team at the highest level, but 2026 is all very well.”

Deschamps started in his role as a successor to Laurent Blanc and led France to victory at the 2018 World Cup, also reaching the final in 2022 and at the 2016 European Championship.

At the 2022 World Cup in Qatar, France reached the final and lost an epic title match to Argentina.

“I’m not here for the records,” Deschamps added. “The most important thing is that the France team remains at the top as it has been for many years.”

Europe will send 16 teams to the first 48-team World Cup, being co-hosted by the United States, Canada and Mexico in the summer of 2026.

Deschamps did not elaborate on his future beyond the World Cup.

“There is a life afterwards,” he said. “I don’t know what it will be.”

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Football Returns to War-torn Sudan as Elite Clubs Go Back Home

A Sudanese protester waves the national flag near the military headquarters in the capital Khartoum. (AFP)
A Sudanese protester waves the national flag near the military headquarters in the capital Khartoum. (AFP)
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Football Returns to War-torn Sudan as Elite Clubs Go Back Home

A Sudanese protester waves the national flag near the military headquarters in the capital Khartoum. (AFP)
A Sudanese protester waves the national flag near the military headquarters in the capital Khartoum. (AFP)

League football has returned to war-torn Sudan for the first time in more than two years with a one-month competition being organized for eight clubs to determine the country’s champions.

Sudan has been in the grip of conflict between the army and the Rapid Support Forces since April 2023, with more than 150,000 people killed and about 12 million uprooted, creating the largest displacement crisis in the world.

Among them have been the country’s biggest clubs Al Hilal and Al Merrikh, who between them have won all but four of the championships since the league was created in 1965, according to Reuters.

Last season, the pair were invited to play in the league in Mauritania, on the other side of the continent, where they could remain active and moved their club structures to the West African country, where Al Hilal emerged as champions.

But they are both back in Sudan to take part in a tournament to decide which clubs will compete in continental club competition for the 2025/26 season.

Al Hilal were quarter-finalists in this year’s African Champions League despite having to host their home games on neutral territory.

They were also weekend winners against Al Merghani Kassala in the first round of the Sudanese Elite Championship, which is being played at Ad-Damer, some 430km from the capital Khartoum, which has been badly damaged by the civil war.

Matches in the tournament are also being hosted in Atbara, which is 320km north of Khartoum.

There will be seven rounds of fixtures, and Al Merrikh also got off to a winning start over the weekend by beating Ahly Madani 1-0. Their derby against Al Hilal is set for the last day of competition on 22 July.

The other clubs competing are Zamalek, Umm Rawaba, Al Amal Atbara, Hay Al Wadi Nyala and Merrikh Al Abyad, who will all each play each other once.

Sudan’s national team, who will compete in the Africa Cup of Nations finals in Morocco at the end of the year and are also chasing a first-ever World Cup appearance next year, have not played a home match since March 2023.