Kylian Mbappé's Mission to Secure Didier Deschamps' Future

Kylian Mbappé doesn’t just want to win the World Cup for Didier Deschamps. He wants to keep him out of someone else’s dugout.

With Deschamps set to leave the France job after the 2026 World Cup, the long-time coach has stayed deliberately vague about what comes next. He has left every door open: a return to club football, another national team, a fresh challenge altogether. He has been careful not to commit, careful not to close off options.

Mbappé is trying to slam at least one of those doors shut.

The France captain admitted he has been outspoken inside the camp about Deschamps’ future, determined to influence the man who gave him the keys to Les Bleus. For Mbappé, the perfect tribute is simple and ruthless.

“The best way to pay tribute to him is to win because he loves to win,” he told M6. “We're going to make sure he has the best of the recent World Cups. Hopefully, it will be his last because I hope he doesn't play for another team.”

Then he stripped away any pretence.

“I'm putting pressure on him,” he said.

Those words land with extra weight given where the speculation has been pointing. Deschamps has long been linked with Italy, a job that seems to fit his profile almost too neatly. His history with the country runs deep: a former Juventus midfielder, a former Juventus coach, a serial winner who understands the culture and the demands that come with the Azzurri shirt.

Italy, still trying to rebuild after missing multiple World Cups and lurching through a period of instability, are an obvious suitor for a coach with a World Cup and a European Championship final on his CV. On paper, it looks like a marriage of convenience and ambition.

Mbappé wants no part of it.

“They said Italy, that would be awful,” he said bluntly when asked about those rumours.

It was a rare moment where the usually polished captain let the fan inside him speak. The idea of Deschamps, the architect of France’s modern era, turning up in rival colours clearly jars with him. Mentor versus protégé on opposite sides of a World Cup touchline? For Mbappé, that is a nightmare scenario, not a romantic subplot.

For now, though, the conversation about Deschamps’ next step has to wait. Both men have one last World Cup to chase together, one more shot at adding another star to the France shirt and closing an era on their own terms.

France came agonisingly close in 2022, losing a chaotic, unforgettable final. That defeat still hangs over this group, a wound and a motivator. Deschamps’ long reign will end in 2026; the question is whether it ends with a trophy in his hands or a sense of what might have been.

World Cup Schedule

The path is already mapped out. Les Bleus open their World Cup campaign against Senegal on June 16 in Group I. Then comes Iraq on June 22. Four days later, Norway await in the final group game.

It is a straightforward schedule on paper, but World Cups rarely respect reputations or planning. Deschamps knows that better than most. So does Mbappé.

One last tournament. One last run together. And, if Mbappé gets his way, one last job for Deschamps in blue – with no Italian twist to the story.