France boss Deschamps signs contract extension through to 2022

France boss Didier Deschamps has signed a new contract that will keep him in charge of Les Bleus until 2022.

Deschamps’ previous deal was due to expire following the conclusion of Euro 2020, but following a successful spell in charge of the national team, he has been given the security of being able to work through until the end of their World Cup defence in Qatar.

The former Marseille coach, who is in an exclusive club of men to win the World Cup as both a player and a coach, was first appointed to the role following the disappointing showing at Euro 2012 under the guidance of Laurent Blanc.

He has since overseen a record 100 games with France, of which he has picked up an impressive 65 victories, scoring 196 goals in the process.

His greatest triumph came in 2018, when he guided Les Bleus to their second World Cup and first since 1998.

Playing with a shrewd tactical approach, which was dovetailed with devastating pace on the counterattack, France were able to dispatch the likes of Argentina and Belgium en route to the final, where they proved much too strong for Croatia in a 4-2 victory.

Two years earlier, Deschamps suffered the disappointment of defeat in the final of Euro 2016, which his nation hosted, going down to a 1-0 loss against a Portugal side that showed the type of pragmatism that he learned from for two years later in Russia.

France, therefore, approach Euro 2020 in the coming summer as one of the favourites, though their qualification process was marred with difficulty, despite finishing top of Group H. They turned in a series of uninspiring displays and took only one point from a possible six against a Turkey side that finished second in the group. 

As a consequence, they were seeded second for the finals draw, in which they have been placed in a pool with defending champions Portugal and Germany, a side desperate to regain face after they were eliminated in the group stages in Russia. It has already been branded the competition’s ‘Group of Death’.

Deschamps is hoping to make France just the second team to follow up World Cup success with a victory at the Euros. Les Bleus did it in 2000, while Spain did likewise in 2012.