Fabien Barthez Joins Zidane's Coaching Staff for France

Fabien Barthez is back with France – and this time, alongside Zinedine Zidane.

The French Football Federation (FFF) confirmed on Thursday that the 1998 World Cup-winning goalkeeper will join Zidane’s new backroom staff and take charge of the national team’s goalkeepers.

Barthez, 55, reunites with his former teammate from France’s golden summer on home soil, when Zidane orchestrated the midfield and Barthez guarded the posts as Les Bleus lifted their first World Cup. Two decades and more have passed, but the connection between the pair now anchors a new era for the national side.

The former Toulouse, Monaco, Marseille and Manchester United keeper is no stranger to the France setup. He previously worked as a consultant with the national team under Raymond Domenech and Laurent Blanc, but he had no role during Didier Deschamps’ long 14-year spell in charge. His only recent touchline experience came at club level, with a short stint on the Toulouse coaching staff between 2020 and 2021.

Now he steps back into the spotlight with a clearly defined mission: oversee and shape the goalkeeping department for Zidane’s France.

Zidane surrounds himself with trusted lieutenants

Barthez is one of several appointments as Zidane assembles a staff built on loyalty and familiarity.

Assistant coaches David Bettoni and Hamidou Msaidie, both long-time allies of Zidane, come in after working closely with him during his two spells in charge of Real Madrid. They were at his side for Champions League nights, title runs and dressing-room battles, and now follow him into international football.

The FFF also confirmed the arrival of Gregory Dupont as “Strategy and Performance Advisor.” Dupont, another figure from Zidane’s Madrid years, adds a specialised role focused on preparation and optimisation, reflecting the detailed structure around the new head coach.

A new chapter after Deschamps

Zidane, 54, was appointed on July 28 to succeed his former teammate Deschamps, who left the job after France’s World Cup semi-final exit. The change marks the end of one of the longest and most successful reigns in France’s history and the beginning of a project built on a core of 1998 icons and trusted modern technicians.

The countdown is already on. Zidane will lead his first France training camp in September, the first real glimpse of how his ideas translate from club to country, from Real Madrid to Clairefontaine.

The debut test will not be a gentle introduction. France’s first match under Zidane’s command is a Nations League fixture away to Turkey on September 25.

A new coach, a new staff, familiar faces. The question now is simple: can Zidane and Barthez script another defining chapter for Les Bleus?