Didier Deschamps will make a decision on his France future in the new year after overseeing Les Bleus’ dramatic penalty shoot-out loss to Argentina in the World Cup final.
Kylian Mbappe’s hat-trick โ just the second to be scored in a men’s World Cup final โ saw France twice come from behind in a thrilling 3-3 draw after extra time at Lusail Stadium.
However, it was Mbappe’s Paris Saint-Germain team-mate Lionel Messi who got his hands on the famous trophy, with Kingsley Coman and Aurelien Tchouameni failing to convert in the shoot-out.
The defeat will likely revive speculation regarding Deschamps’ future, with France great Zinedine Zidane having long been touted as a potential successor.
Deschamps, however, will take his time to weigh up whether to extend his 10-year stay with the two-time world champions.
“You’re not first to ask. Even if we had won, I would not be able to answer that tonight,” Deschamps said at his post-match press conference.
“Of course, I am very sad for the players and staff, but I’ll have a meeting with the [French Football Federation] president at the start of next year and then you’ll find out.”
Messi scored Argentina’s opening goal in the final after Angel Di Maria went down under Ousmane Dembele’s challenge, provoking an angry reaction from several France players.
Deschamps made his own frustration with the performance of referee Szymon Marciniak clear after the game, though he also offered his congratulations to Argentina.
“I need to be careful what I say. You saw as well as I did. It could have been worse, could have been better,” he said when asked about the officials’ display.
“There were some decisions that gave rise to discussion but that’s the case in every game. I said before the game that Argentina had been lucky, not that they were helped by decisions.
“I don’t want to take anything away from them, they fully deserve the title. It’s not because of decisions that they came out victorious, and I just discussed this with the referee.
“I don’t want to get into what was said, I just want to congratulate Argentina.”
French president Emmanuel Macron was seen speaking to Deschamps in the aftermath of Sunday’s defeat and he told RMC Sport he had encouraged the 54-year-old to remain in post.
“Of course, I asked Didier Deschamps to continue, I want him to continue! I told him he had to digest,” Macron said.
