Barthez returns to the Bleus as goalkeeping coach under Zidane

One of them was making saves, the other was lifting the trophy over his head. On that July 12, 1998, Fabien Barthez and Zinedine Zidane shared the same locker room, the same jersey and the same joy at the Stade de France. Nearly three decades later, they're together again, but this time on opposite sides of the line.

The French Football Federation confirmed on Thursday that Barthez will serve as goalkeeping coach for the national team, part of the brand new staff assembled by Zidane, the new head coach. The FFF explained in a statement that the setup was proposed by Zidane himself and will be fully finalized in early September, when a security liaison officer sent by the Ministry of the Interior joins the group.

It's no small name arriving to oversee the Bleus' goalkeepers. Barthez, now 55 years old, was the goalkeeper for that France side that won the World Cup in 1998 and also for the team that won Euro 2000. He even reached another World Cup final, in 2006, the one remembered for Zidane's headbutt on Materazzi. In total, he defended the national team's goal in 87 matches.

Outside the national team, his career also left its mark: a Champions League title with Olympique de Marseille in 1993, two French league titles with Monaco (1997 and 2000) and two more in England with Manchester United, in 2001 and 2003. Few French goalkeepers can boast a trophy case like that.

The rest of the coaching staff that will accompany Zidane is rounded out by David Bettoni as assistant coach, Hamidou Msaidie as an assistant, Grégory Dupont as strategy advisor, Stéphane Plancque as a scout, and Farid Tabet alongside Clément Ybert handling data and video analysis.

The end of one era, the start of another

Zidane takes over from Didier Deschamps, who stepped down from the national team after fourteen years in charge following the third place match at the 2026 World Cup, which France lost 4-6 to England on July 18. That closes out an extremely long cycle, one that included a World Cup title and another final along the way, opening the door to a completely different chapter, with Zidane in charge of a national team bench for the first time.

Zidane's official debut as head coach will come on the road: France will visit Turkey on September 25, on the opening matchday of the UEFA Nations League. That's where we'll get our first practical look at the work of this new coaching staff, one that brings together old locker room teammates in roles quite different from the ones they held as players.