Today, on Tuesday the 28th of July 2026, it has been officially confirmed that Real Madrid legend Zinedine Zidane has landed a new job in management.
Back in January of 2016, Real Madrid turned to club legend Zinedine Zidane to take over from the sacked Rafa Benitez, with the club in a difficult situation.
From there, Zidane was able to narrow the gap to the top of La Liga from ten points to one, and win the UEFA Champions League, beating rivals Atletico Madrid on penalties at San Siro.
The following season, his first full campaign at the club, 'Zizou' managed a La Liga and Champions League double, winning the latter by hammering his former club Juventus 4-1 at the Principality Stadium.
Then, the next season, whilst La Liga was not able to be retained, Real Madrid won a third straight Champions League title, beating Liverpool 3-1 in Kyiv. After the game, Zidane left his position at the club.
However, two failed managerial appointments later, he returned to the club the following March. In the first full season of his second stint, Los Blancos won La Liga for the first time since 2017. After a trophyless and completely injury hit 20/21 season, he left for a second time.
Since then, Zidane has not actually been in management. There was a suggestion from fans and commentators that he was waiting for the France national team job to become vacant.
Well, that has turned out to be exactly the case. Indeed so, as the French Football Federation this morning (Tuesday, the 28th of July) announced Zidane as their new manager, replacing the outgoing Didier Deschamps, who was in his post for 14 years.
In truth, he probably didn't expect to have to wait this long, with it being expected that Deschamps would depart his post a little earlier - particularly after their disappointing Euro 2024 campaign - but he ended up staying all the way until the end of the 2026 World Cup just gone.
Still, a very exciting era for France. Assuming they qualifying, which they surely will, Zidane's first major tournament will be Euro 2028 in the UK. With him in charge, they will be in the top two favourites alongside Spain, you would have thought.
It is hard to know exactly how good - or otherwise - Zidane is as a manager. He has only ever managed one team, and had some very good players. But he did show traits that are very hard to come by in management - being able to manage a dressing room full of egos and create a coherent structure on and off the pitch. That is something he did very well in the Spanish capital.
Good luck, Zizou.
