Zinedine Zidane quietly building his France staff as federation prepares contracts
zinedine zidane is quietly assembling a backroom team while the French Football Federation has prepared contracts that it will activate when appropriate, Philippe Diallo, president of the FFF, said on Sunday. The 53-year-old former France captain has spent recent weeks away from the media building a staff that draws on long-standing Real Madrid collaborators and figures from France 1998. The stakes are the handover of the national team after Didier Deschamps departs following the 2026 World Cup.
Zinedine Zidane’s core staff emerging
At the centre of zinedine zidane’s projected technical team are David Bettoni and Hamidou Msaidie, two trusted aides who have worked with him for years. Bettoni, 54, whose friendship with zinedine zidane dates back to their youth in Cannes, is expected to be the architect of training sessions and the man who builds the on-field daily work. Bettoni has experience as a head coach with FC Sion and Club Africain; sources in the dossier describe him as a technician who runs intense trainings and debates tactical orientation with zinedine zidane while ultimately deferring selection decisions to the former No. 10.
Hamidou Msaidie, 50, combines a background in physiotherapy and fasciatherapy with broader performance and motivational work. At Real Madrid he moved beyond pure medical duties to run training drills, monitor injured players and prepare motivational video material. His wide spectrum of skills makes him a multifunctional deputy inside zinedine zidane’s circle.
Institutional limits and internal jockeying
The federation has already drafted contracts for the next era and will activate them at the moment it deems fit, Philippe Diallo said, while stressing that the name of the future coach is known within the FFF leadership. That prepares a framework but also highlights a key constraint: zinedine zidane will have to draw, at least in part, on the federation’s internal resources. Several FFF staff members who currently work with Didier Deschamps have tried to position themselves for the incoming era and want clarity on who will remain. Even the outgoing coach has sought information through his established relays inside the FFF.
Questions remain on how many of zinedine zidane’s faithful can join him straightaway and where the federation will insist on using its staff. Nothing is final or contractually fixed, but the balance between external confidants and internal staff will be one of the leading themes of the coming months.
Voices and immediate reactions
Philippe Diallo, president of the FFF, said simply on Sunday: “Yes, I know the name. ” That remark fueled public expectation while also underlining the federation’s role in timing any announcement. Henri Emile, the long-serving former France team official, described his relationship with zinedine zidane as close and primarily friendly: “We are very close, we did not talk about what comes next. When we speak, it is mostly friendship and trust. ” Alain Boghossian, a former France 1998 teammate often mentioned as a possible staff member, declined to comment on his availability for the project.
Inside the camp of zinedine zidane there is a premium on discretion. He has long said the job is a dream and has worked away from cameras to construct a group that he trusts and that does the work without leaks or distractions.
Quick context: Didier Deschamps will leave the France job after the 2026 World Cup, and the federation has already begun internal preparations for the succession. The incoming coach will inherit a setup built over 14 years under Deschamps and will have to balance continuity with new appointments.
What’s next: Expect the federation to time a formal activation of contracts and a public announcement once internal details are settled. In the short term, zinedine zidane will continue to refine his staff choices and negotiate the mix of trusted aides and FFF personnel. The coming weeks should reveal whether his preferred collaborators can join him in full or whether compromises with the federation’s existing resources will limit the scope of his immediate appointments.
For now, the portrait is clear: zinedine zidane has sketched a staff rooted in long friendships and Real Madrid loyalties, and the FFF is preparing the paperwork to make that sketch a reality.
