Fabien Barthez Returns to French National Team as Goalkeeper Coach

Fabien Barthez is back in blue.

The World Cup-winning goalkeeper will join Zinedine Zidane’s backroom staff with France, the French Football Federation (FFF) confirmed on Thursday, taking charge of the national team’s goalkeepers as a new era begins.

Zidane calls on an old ally

Barthez, 55, shared the pitch – and the trophy lift – with Zidane when France won the 1998 World Cup on home soil. Two decades later, the pair reunite with very different roles but the same stage: the national team.

The former Toulouse, Monaco, Marseille and Manchester United goalkeeper will oversee all keepers in the France setup, bringing back a familiar face who had been absent for the entire Didier Deschamps cycle.

Barthez previously worked around Les Bleus as a consultant under Raymond Domenech and Laurent Blanc, but he had no involvement during Deschamps’ 14-year reign. His last touchline experience came at club level, as part of the Toulouse coaching staff between 2020 and 2021.

Now he steps into a clearly defined position, right at the heart of Zidane’s technical team.

Zidane surrounds himself with trusted lieutenants

The FFF also confirmed a raft of other appointments as Zidane builds a staff that looks strikingly similar to the one that accompanied him at Real Madrid.

Assistant coaches David Bettoni and Hamidou Msaidie, both long-time confidants of Zidane, join the national setup after working alongside him during his two spells in charge at the Bernabéu. Their presence underlines the new head coach’s desire for continuity with the methods that brought him success in Spain.

Gregory Dupont, named “Strategy and Performance Advisor”, is another familiar figure from Zidane’s Madrid days. He will be tasked with shaping the physical and performance framework around the squad as France reset after their World Cup disappointment.

A new cycle starts in September

Zidane, 54, was appointed on July 28 to succeed his former teammate Deschamps after France fell in the World Cup semi-finals. His first France training camp is scheduled for September, the true starting point of his tenure.

The opening match under his command will come quickly: a Nations League trip to Turkey on September 25.

By then, Barthez will be back on the training pitch in French colours, this time not to guard the goal, but to shape the next generation who will.