France coach Didier Deschamps will remain in charge of the national team despite their shock 5-4 defeat to Switzerland on penalties at Euro 2020, sources have told ESPN.
Kylian Mbappe missed the decisive penalty in Monday’s round-of-16 shootout after the 2018 World Cup winners drew 3-3 with Switzerland after extra-time.
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– Laurens: France’s shock Euro loss falls on manager Deschamps
Sources have told ESPN that Deschamps will meet Noel Le Graet, the head of the French FA, next week regarding his future but the desire is that he remains at the helm of the French national team.
Deschamps is under contract until December 2022 and Le Graet was even considering extending his deal to July 2024, but that was before their disappointing exit from Euro 2020.
“We will have a chat together and we will talk about what happened” Le Graet told L’Equipe newspaper on Tuesday. “The objective I gave him was semifinal.
“We fell short but he did so well so many times before. I have not thought about his future. To continue a mission, we have to be on the same page and I have not spoken to him yet so we will see when we do.”
Deschamps, 52, has been in charge of France since 2012. Under him, they reached the 2014 World Cup quarterfinals, the 2016 Euro final and won the 2018 World Cup.
After Monday’s defeat to Switzerland, Deschamps told the players he will see them in September, for the games against Bosnia and Herzegovina, Ukraine and Finland in 2022 World Cup qualifying.
Les Bleus legend Zinedine Zidane has admitted that coaching France “could be a possibility one day” after Le Graet identified him as his preferred successor for Deschamps.
“My relationship with Le Graet is good. We’ve known each other since 1998,” Zidane said earlier this year.
“It could be an objective one day. I’ve said it before, when I started coaching 10 years ago, that it’s something that could be a possibility one day.”
France’s conquerors Switzerland face Spain in the Euro 2020 quarterfinals in Saint Petersburg (noon ET, 6 p.m. CET, LIVE on ESPN) on Friday, July 2.