FIFA World Cup 2026: France’s Deschamps guards against overconfidence

France coach Didier Deschamps warned against getting too confident ahead of his side’s bid to win a second World Cup in three editions.

Deschamps’ team reached the final of the last two tournaments and lifted the trophy in 2018 before losing to Argentina on penalties four years ago.

Led by star player Kylian Mbappe, the French are one of the favorites to win in North America for the World Cup from June 11 to July 19.

«It is an important event. Some people think we are already on July 19, I don’t like that, in fact, not at all,» Deschamps told reporters on Friday at France’s Clairefontaine base near Paris.

“Yes, we are one of the best teams, but I know all too well that some important steps need to be taken before we can think of reaching those heights.

“We will do everything we can to get there.”

To begin with, France must come through a group that also includes Senegal, Iraq and Norway.

In 2002, when France was defending champions for the first time, they lost to former colony Senegal, crashing out at the first hurdle after finishing bottom of the group.

Deschamps, 57, wants to say goodbye in style after fourteen years at the helm of France.

He guided France to the quarter-finals of the World Cup in his first tournament as head coach, and two years later the country reached the final of the European Championship on home soil.

Since then, France has reached two World Cup finals and a European Championship semi-final, making Deschamps one of the most successful coaches in the national team’s history.

He was without eight members of his World Cup squad for training on Friday, as six players will feature in Saturday’s Champions League final between Paris Saint-Germain and Arsenal, while two more line up for Crystal Palace in Wednesday’s Europa Conference League success.

France will play two friendly matches before the World Cup: against Ivory Coast in Nantes on June 4 and at home against Northern Ireland in Lille four days later.

The country starts its Group I campaign against Senegal on June 16 in East Rutherford.

Published on May 29, 2026