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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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Sports

Guardiola Says 'Everybody Wants to Fire Me' after Man City's Loss to Real Madrid

Manchester City's Spanish manager Pep Guardiola reacts on the touchline during the UEFA Champions League, round of 16 second leg football match between Manchester City and Real Madrid at the Etihad Stadium in Manchester, north west England, on March 17, 2026. (Photo by Oli SCARFF / AFP)
Manchester City's Spanish manager Pep Guardiola reacts on the touchline during the UEFA Champions League, round of 16 second leg football match between Manchester City and Real Madrid at the Etihad Stadium in Manchester, north west England, on March 17, 2026. (Photo by Oli SCARFF / AFP)
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Guardiola Says 'Everybody Wants to Fire Me' after Man City's Loss to Real Madrid

Manchester City's Spanish manager Pep Guardiola reacts on the touchline during the UEFA Champions League, round of 16 second leg football match between Manchester City and Real Madrid at the Etihad Stadium in Manchester, north west England, on March 17, 2026. (Photo by Oli SCARFF / AFP)
Manchester City's Spanish manager Pep Guardiola reacts on the touchline during the UEFA Champions League, round of 16 second leg football match between Manchester City and Real Madrid at the Etihad Stadium in Manchester, north west England, on March 17, 2026. (Photo by Oli SCARFF / AFP)

Pep Guardiola wore a lumberjack-style shirt and Real Madrid chopped Manchester City down in the Champions League once again.

Who knows how many more chances Guardiola will get to win European club soccer's greatest prize with just one season remaining on his contract and increasing speculation he could walk away at the end of this campaign.

“Everybody wants to fire me,” Guardiola said when questioned about his future following the 2-1 loss at the Etihad Stadium on Tuesday. “One day I will come out here and say 'bye, bye guys'.”

Guardiola's position is the subject of much debate after 10 years at City, which is already by far the longest he has stayed at any club as a manager.

He has repeatedly referred to the remaining time on his contract when questioned, but doubts remain.

“The future will be bright and next season we will be back,” he said following the 5-1 aggregate loss in the round-of-16 tie.

Was that a clue as to his immediate plans?

“When I've retired in 10 years I will always be City. In the Champions League, I will say I will be back because I am part of them,” The Associated Press quoted him as saying.

It is difficult to second-guess Guardiola. There has often been speculation about him walking away, but he has repeatedly signed new contracts. He never ended a contract early in his time as coach of Barcelona and Bayern Munich.

But that has not quelled rumors that it will be different this time, with City looking likely to go two years without the Premier League title for the first time since he was appointed in 2016.

If this was his final tilt at the Champions League with City, he was giving little away.

At the final whistle he magnanimously shook hands with all the Madrid players after yet another loss at the hands of the record 15-time European champion.

No team has done more to curb his ambitions in this competition than Madrid.

This was the fourth time in five years that the Spanish giant has eliminated City from the Champions League. The one exception over that period coming in 2023 when City went on to win the trophy for the first and only time.

Given City's dominance in England and the billions of dollars spent to assemble one of the most expensive squads in history, one Champions League in 10 years under Guardiola may feel like an underachievement.

If not for Madrid, it could have been a different story. So often it has cursed City's ambitions.

“I should win six Champions Leagues,” Guardiola said mockingly when questioned about his record. He has won the trophy three times in total — twice with Barcelona.

He said it was considered a “failure” if he couldn't match the treble of trophies he won in his first season at Barcelona — the Spanish title, Cup and Champions League.

“We tried, finals, semifinals,” he added. "I would love that (this) club have the feeling that Madrid have... (if) you don't win the Champions League it is failure.

“In time maybe we will get that.”

Madrid's victory came despite being considered the underdog due to injuries to key players like Kylian Mbappe, Jude Bellingham and Rodrygo.

Coach Alvaro Arbeloa is in his first job in elite management yet has led his team to wins over Jose Mourinho and now Guardiola in back-to-back rounds in the Champions League.

Explaining those results — knocking out Porto in the playoffs and now City — he said it proved only “that I have unbelievable players.”

“I wouldn't dare to say that I can beat Pep Guadiola in terms of tactical way,” he said. “He's an elite coach. He's won thousands of trophies in his career—- some of the biggest in Europe. What we've won is a tie.”

Sports

Morocco Declared African Champions, Senegal Seek to Overturn Decision

(FILES) Senegal's forward #10 Sadio Mane holds up the trophy as he celebrates with his teammates after winning the Africa Cup of Nations (CAN) final football match against Morocco at the Prince Moulay Abdellah Stadium in Rabat on January 18, 2026. (Photo by SEBASTIEN BOZON / AFP)
(FILES) Senegal's forward #10 Sadio Mane holds up the trophy as he celebrates with his teammates after winning the Africa Cup of Nations (CAN) final football match against Morocco at the Prince Moulay Abdellah Stadium in Rabat on January 18, 2026. (Photo by SEBASTIEN BOZON / AFP)
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Morocco Declared African Champions, Senegal Seek to Overturn Decision

(FILES) Senegal's forward #10 Sadio Mane holds up the trophy as he celebrates with his teammates after winning the Africa Cup of Nations (CAN) final football match against Morocco at the Prince Moulay Abdellah Stadium in Rabat on January 18, 2026. (Photo by SEBASTIEN BOZON / AFP)
(FILES) Senegal's forward #10 Sadio Mane holds up the trophy as he celebrates with his teammates after winning the Africa Cup of Nations (CAN) final football match against Morocco at the Prince Moulay Abdellah Stadium in Rabat on January 18, 2026. (Photo by SEBASTIEN BOZON / AFP)

Morocco were declared Africa Cup of Nations champions and Senegal were stripped of the title after an appeal over the result of the final was upheld by the Confederation of African Football (CAF) on Tuesday.

Senegal were ruled to have forfeited the game in the Moroccan capital Rabat on January 18 because they walked off the pitch in protest at a potentially decisive penalty awarded against them.

They returned after 14 minutes to win the match 1-0 courtesy of a Pape Gueye goal in extra time. CAF's Appeal Board on Tuesday replaced that result with a 3-0 victory for Morocco.

The decision adds a further layer of controversy to the final, where the walk-off and fighting between players and spectators had CAF conceding that the image of African football had been severely tarnished.

The Senegalese Football Federation (SFF) said they would now be taking the matter to ⁠the Swiss-based Court ⁠of Arbitration for Sport, seeking to overturn Tuesday's decision.

"This is a travesty; this decision is based on absolutely nothing. It has no legal foundation," Abdoulaye Seydou Sow, the Secretary General of SFF, told state broadcaster RTS1.

"And from what we saw this morning when the hearing began, we already had serious doubts — clearly, the judge did not come to rule on the case, he came to carry out orders.

"The president of the federation will get in touch with the lawyers; we will engage with the appropriate authorities, and then we will go to the Court of Arbitration for ⁠Sport, which will issue the final decision.

"We will not back down. Senegalese people should have no doubt. The truth is on Senegal's side, the law is on Senegal's side."

Tuesday’s decision means Morocco are crowned African champions for a second time, 50 years after they won the Cup of Nations for the first time.

The Royal Moroccan Football Federation acknowledged the decision and reiterated that the appeal was aimed solely at having the competition regulations properly applied.

"The Federation reaffirms its commitment to respecting the rules, the clarity of the competitive framework, and the stability of African competitions," Reuters quoted it as saying in a statement.

The Appeal Board found the conduct of the Senegal team fell "within the scope of Articles 82 and 84 of the Regulations of the Africa Cup of Nations".

They state that "if, for any reason whatsoever, a team refuses to play or leaves the ground before the regular end of the ⁠match without the authorization of ⁠the referee, it shall be considered the loser".

In the final, the Senegal players stormed off the field in protest at a penalty awarded against them by Congolese referee Jean-Jacques Ndala following a VAR check deep in stoppage time at the end of the regulation 90 minutes.

Officials and players jostled with each other while the referee consulted the touchline screen and when he made his decision, Senegal coach Pape Bouna Thiaw, who was later fined $100,000 and suspended, ordered his players off the pitch.

They were cajoled back onto the pitch by winger Sadio Mane only to watch Morocco's Brahim Diaz chip the ball tamely into the arms of Senegal goalkeeper Edouard Mendy from the penalty spot, sending the match into extra time.

CAF on Tuesday also announced the setting aside of a $100,000 fine handed to Morocco striker Ismael Saibari and a reduction of his suspension from three matches to one for his role in the chaotic scenes.

A $100,000 fine imposed on Morocco for their players and officials attempting to interfere in the VAR process will stand, however.

Sports

Newcastle Must Grow Under Camp Nou Pressure, Urges Howe

Newcastle's head coach Eddie Howe attends a press conference in Barcelona, Spain, 17 March 2026. (EPA)
Newcastle's head coach Eddie Howe attends a press conference in Barcelona, Spain, 17 March 2026. (EPA)
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Newcastle Must Grow Under Camp Nou Pressure, Urges Howe

Newcastle's head coach Eddie Howe attends a press conference in Barcelona, Spain, 17 March 2026. (EPA)
Newcastle's head coach Eddie Howe attends a press conference in Barcelona, Spain, 17 March 2026. (EPA)

Newcastle coach Eddie Howe on Tuesday called on his players to grow rather than shrink under the lights at Camp Nou when they face Barcelona in the Champions League last 16.

The Premier League club outplayed the Spanish champions in the last 16 first leg, but a late Lamine Yamal penalty to snatch a 1-1 draw last week on Tyneside.

Newcastle, aiming to reach the Champions League quarter-finals for the first time in the club's history, know the challenge will be different on Wednesday at the home of the five-time winners.

"I don't think they will (be overawed), we've got an experienced group, we've got many players who have played in so many big games now we've become accustomed to it," Howe said.

"You almost want that size of the game to lift the players and to make us grow -- certainly we can't shrink -- but with many, many internationals within the squad I don't see that as an issue.

"It's just making sure from my side that we get the plan right, they've got a lot of dangerous players that we need to deal with."

Newcastle are ninth in the Premier League in a frustrating campaign, but Howe said the club are in their best moment of the season.

"(The players) are the happiest they have been throughout the season, it's been one of a lot of change... early season we struggled to find our rhythm, our relationships in the team were new," continued Howe.

"Their confidence was affected slightly. We worked really hard to try and bring some stability to the team."

"In the last few weeks we've returned to a really good flow. It's been a much better feel, better individual performances in return, better collective performances."

Newcastle beat Chelsea 1-0 on Saturday with a strong defensive display, which Howe said the team would have to draw from against the likes of Raphinha and teenage star Yamal.

"You have to be optimistic and you have to be positive, and that's why the Chelsea result and performance was so important," explained Howe.

"We proved to ourselves that we can defend our goal really well... I think we're as good a place as we've been at any stage this season, both on and off the pitch.

"We had to be in this position to give ourselves the best chance, and now we're just putting it over the line."

Barcelona beat Newcastle 2-1 in the league phase at St James' Park before last week's draw, but Newcastle defender Kieran Trippier said his team were on a high heading into the clash against the La Liga leaders.

"Yeah, we feel really confident, (although) I think we've had a mixed season," Trippier told reporters.

"There's a really good feeling around the place, so we come here calm and relaxed, looking forward to the game tomorrow, it's a big opportunity, and we know the rewards are going to be there if we put in a good performance."

Howe said the game at Camp Nou was "probably" the biggest of his career and Trippier defended his coach against some criticism he has received this term.

"I have great respect for what he's done for this football club, he's remarkable," added the defender.