Karim Benzema's Support for Zidane as France Coach
Karim Benzema did not bother with diplomacy. Asked about Zinedine Zidane potentially taking over France, he went straight to the heart of it.
“He’s a legend, he’s the big brother,” he told Konbini in their “In or Out” segment, the words landing with the weight of a shared history at the very top of the game. “Am I happy about him becoming the manager of Les Bleus? I don't know for sure if it’s him, but if it is him, yes, I am seriously happy.”
The timing of that endorsement is no coincidence. France are standing at the edge of a new era. After a flat, frustrating semifinal exit at the 2026 World Cup, the Didier Deschamps cycle is finally winding down. The French Football Federation has moved into the decisive phase of a historic handover, and all roads now point towards Zidane.
Benzema, Zidane and a bond forged in Madrid
Benzema’s words carry more than nostalgia. They come from a man who knows exactly what it means to play under Zidane when the stakes are highest.
Across Zidane’s two spells in charge at Real Madrid (2016–18 and 2019–21), Benzema became one of his most trusted lieutenants. He scored 108 goals in that period, a figure surpassed only by Cristiano Ronaldo in Zidane’s squads. While Ronaldo grabbed the headlines and Gareth Bale supplied the fireworks, Benzema often did the dirty work between the lines, linking play, sacrificing space, then still finding time to finish.
The “BBC” front line – Bale, Benzema, Cristiano – defined an era, but Zidane’s faith in his French No. 9 gave it structure. That understanding between manager and striker helped power one of the most ruthless attacking machines modern football has seen.
The silverware tells the rest of the story. Under Zidane, Benzema helped Madrid to three consecutive Champions League titles in 2016, 2017 and 2018, a run that rewrote European history. Two LaLiga titles followed across the two stints, along with UEFA Super Cups, Spanish Super Cups and FIFA Club World Cup trophies. When Benzema calls Zidane “big brother”, it is not a throwaway line. It is shorthand for nights in May, pressure at boiling point, and a coach who knew exactly how to squeeze the best from him.
A 38-year-old with unfinished business?
Zidane’s expected arrival on the France bench naturally drags one question back into the spotlight: is the Benzema chapter with Les Bleus really closed?
On paper, the answer should be simple. He is 38. The national team has evolved. Kylian Mbappé leads the line as global superstar, Ousmane Dembélé brings chaos from wide areas, and a new wave is pushing through. Michael Olise and Bradley Barcola are part of a fresher, more dynamic attacking core that reflects where French football is heading.
Yet the numbers refuse to let the conversation die. Benzema, now at Al-Hilal, still scores. Nine goals in 13 appearances this season underline a striker whose penalty-box instincts have not dulled. Before that, he left his mark at Al-Ittihad with 57 goals in 87 games, a return that would be impressive at any age, let alone the late 30s.
Any talk of a comeback remains hypothetical. The decision rests entirely with Zidane and his vision for the squad. Does he lean fully into the next generation, or does he decide that a player he trusts implicitly, even in a reduced role, can still tilt major tournaments?
For now, Benzema keeps his distance from that speculation in public. His comments focus on Zidane, not on himself. But the subtext is impossible to ignore: if the call comes, the door does not feel entirely shut.
A new face for Les Bleus
While the dressing-room dynamics will be Zidane’s problem to solve, the institutional wheels are already turning in Paris.
The French Football Federation has announced a press conference for Tuesday, fronted by FFF president Philippe Diallo. It will follow an extraordinary meeting of the federation’s executive committee earlier the same morning, a schedule that underlines the significance of what is about to be confirmed.
Officially, nothing has been signed off. The FFF has not yet named Deschamps’ successor, and Diallo has only gone as far as promising an announcement before the end of the month. Yet all indications point one way. Barring a late twist, Tuesday is set to be the day Zidane is finally unveiled as France coach, the day a long-courted union becomes reality.
For years, Zidane has hovered on the edge of the national team job, linked, discussed, debated, but never quite installed. Now the stage is clearing. Deschamps, the World Cup winner as player and coach, steps away after a long, often successful reign. Into that space steps another icon, one whose footballing ideas Benzema knows better than almost anyone.
The legend on the touchline, the “big brother” in the stands or perhaps back on the pitch. If Zidane really does walk out as France manager this week, the next chapter of Les Bleus will begin with one compelling question: how much of that old Madrid magic will he dare to recreate in blue?
