Zidane’s First France Squad Marks a New Era
Zinedine Zidane walked into FFF headquarters in Paris and made it unmistakably clear: France are turning a page.
The new head coach, successor to Didier Deschamps after a 12-year reign, unveiled his first 23-man squad and stamped it with a generational reset. Five players received their first senior call-ups: Liverpool centre-back Jeremy Jacquet, Inter Milan midfielder Andy Diouf, Como’s Lucas Da Cunha, goalkeeper Guillaume Restes, and Esteban Lepaul.
No extended list. No half-measures. Just 23 players, tightly chosen.
Zidane wants a compact group for this first international window, a squad where every player feels involved and no place is symbolic. The debutants will report directly to Clairefontaine on Monday, thrown straight into the heart of the national setup rather than eased in from the fringes.
At his press conference, Zidane did not hide behind vague notions of “potential.” He broke down his choices, line by line, role by role, leaning hard on current form and long-term upside.
He lingered on Jacquet in particular. The Liverpool defender is not just another name on the list; he is someone Zidane has tracked for years.
“I like Jacquet's profile a lot. I've followed him for a long time because he played alongside my son in the youth teams,” Zidane said, underlining both familiarity and trust. The message was simple: this is not an experiment, it is a plan.
Diouf and Da Cunha received similar backing. The Inter midfielder and the Como standout arrive as symbols of the new France Zidane wants to build — energetic, technically sharp, and brave with the ball. He spoke of them as pieces in a broader puzzle, players who can slot into multiple shapes and rhythms as his ideas take hold.
What inspires him, he insisted, is the game itself. The way France play. The way this group can express itself.
“They are players who deserve to be here, players I want to see,” Zidane said. “I want to see these players and this team playing.”
This is where the break with the past becomes stark. Zidane’s squad choices stretch well beyond a few fresh faces.
He leaned heavily on versatility, especially in central midfield and at full-back. Adrien Truffert returns alongside Diouf to reinforce the flanks, a clear nod to dynamic wide play and full-backs who can step into midfield or push high when needed.
The omissions spoke just as loudly. World Cup winners N'Golo Kanté and Karim Benzema did not make the cut. Not because of sentiment, but because of strategy.
“N'Golo is 35 and I have made choices, which are different,” Zidane explained. “I adore Karim, but he's a certain age. I need to see younger players and what we will do together.”
It was a clean, decisive line. Respect for the past, but no obligation to it. Zidane framed it not as a rejection of legends, but as a responsibility to the future — to build a side that can absorb his tactical demands at full intensity over the coming years.
The calendar offers him no gentle introduction. France face four matches in ten days, a brutal stretch for any coach, let alone one trying to install a new identity.
Les Bleus open in Izmir against Turkey on Friday, September 25. Three days later, they head to Brussels to face Belgium on September 28. Then comes a return to Saint-Denis, with back-to-back home fixtures against Italy on October 2 and Belgium again on October 5.
It is a run that will test depth, adaptability, and the mental resilience of those new faces. It will also give Zidane exactly what he wants: a rapid-fire laboratory to see who can live at this level and who fits his blueprint.
Kylian Mbappé remains captain, the bridge between eras. Around him, though, the landscape is shifting. Younger legs, fresher profiles, a coach intent on proactive, attractive football rather than cautious management of results.
Zidane has his first squad. The names are on the sheet, the hierarchy is already being challenged, and the roadmap is clear.
Now the question is not whether France are changing. It is how quickly this new version can start to dominate.
