{"id":562537,"date":"2025-11-11T01:17:14","date_gmt":"2025-11-11T01:17:14","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/562537\/"},"modified":"2025-11-11T01:17:14","modified_gmt":"2025-11-11T01:17:14","slug":"france-boss-deschamps-could-reportedly-face-cristiano-ronaldo-in-saudi-pro-league-after-2026-world-cup","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/562537\/","title":{"rendered":"France boss Deschamps could reportedly face Cristiano Ronaldo in Saudi Pro League after 2026 World Cup"},"content":{"rendered":"

Didier Deschamps<\/strong><\/a> is entering his final months as head coach of the France national team<\/strong>, with his next move still unclear. With his tenure set to end after the 2026 World Cup<\/strong>, the long-time Les Bleus manager could reportedly end up facing <\/strong>Cristiano Ronaldo<\/strong><\/a> in the Saudi Pro League once the tournament in North America concludes<\/strong>.<\/p>\n

The France<\/strong><\/a> boss has already confirmed that the upcoming World Cup will be his last in charge of Les Bleus, making it clear in an interview with T\u00e9l\u00e9foot that not even winning the trophy would change his plans: \u201cThat\u2019s false, absolutely. From the moment I made my decision, and I\u2019m not going to go back on it, that\u2019s clear<\/strong>, I will be free once the agreed timeframe ends, and I\u2019m not ruling anything out.\u201d<\/p>\n

Deschamps was also asked about the possibility of coaching in Saudi Arabia. \u201cI may have had some contact, not specifically with them<\/strong>. I\u2019m not going to give names, but they know my situation,\u201d he said, while also shutting down rumors linking him to the Brazil national team.<\/p>\n

Deschamps, linked with Al Ittihad<\/p>\n

According to L\u2019\u00c9quipe, Al Ittihad<\/strong><\/a> are targeting Deschamps as their next manager<\/strong>. The Saudi giants are enduring a tough 2025\u201326 campaign, and as they begin planning for next season, the World Cup\u2013winning coach has emerged as their top candidate.<\/p>\n

\"Didier<\/p>\n

Didier Deschamps, Head Coach of France, lines up with coaching staff.<\/p>\n

Al Ittihad have struggled this year after parting ways with Laurent Blanc<\/strong>, who was dismissed after 46 games following a loss to Ronaldo\u2019s Al Nassr in September<\/strong>. The club then took the decision to appoint former AC Milan boss S\u00e9rgio Concei\u00e7\u00e3o, who signed a contract with the Saudi Arabian side until June 2028.<\/p>\n

\"Cristiano<\/p>\n

see also<\/p>\n

Cristiano Ronaldo breaks landmark record no other Al-Nassr player has ever managed in Saudi Pro League: Not even Kingsley Coman, Sadio Mane, or Joao Felix come close<\/p>\n

<\/a><\/p>\n

So far, the Portuguese manager has overseen seven matches, with Al Ittihad failing to regain the form that made them the reigning Saudi Pro League<\/strong><\/a> champions. Concei\u00e7\u00e3o currently records 3 wins, 2 draws, and 2 losses<\/strong> with the team competing in the AFC Champions League Elite and the King\u2019s Cup, but if results do not improve, his tenure could be cut short despite his long-term deal.<\/p>\n

Deschamps has insisted he will decide his next job only after the 2026 World Cup<\/strong><\/a>, as his current focus is to secure France\u2019s qualification during the November international break. Looking ahead to next season, a move to Saudi Arabia could reunite him with French stars Karim Benzema and N\u2019Golo Kant\u00e9, and potentially set up a touchline showdown with Ronaldo, not with Portugal, but with Al Nassr<\/strong>.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Didier Deschamps is entering his final months as head coach of the France national team, with his next…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":562538,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[5309],"tags":[179241,4116,19558,2000,299,36,17706,1514],"class_list":{"0":"post-562537","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-france","8":"tag-al-ittihad","9":"tag-cristiano-ronaldo","10":"tag-didier-deschamps","11":"tag-eu","12":"tag-europe","13":"tag-france","14":"tag-saudi-pro-league","15":"tag-world-cup"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/562537","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=562537"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/562537\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/562538"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=562537"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=562537"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=562537"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}