France assistant coach Guy Stephan has confirmed that Didier Deschamps will be back for their training session on Saturday. The head coach returned home midway through this week after his mother, Ginette, died, with Stephan taking charge in his absence.
The French Football Federation (FFF) had hoped FIFA would permit their players to wear black armbands during Friday’s match against Norway at Boston Stadium as a tribute. FIFA rejected the request outright.
To compound matters, the FFF initially told journalists that the pre-match minute’s silence was being held in honour of Ginette Deschamps. However, they swiftly backtracked and clarified that it was, in fact, dedicated to the more than 900 victims of the devastating earthquakes in Venezuela.
Deschamps’ long-serving assistant Guy Stephan oversaw a commanding 4-1 victory against Norway that was lit up by a stunning first-half World Cup hat-trick from Ousmane Dembele. Stephan declined to address questions surrounding the armband controversy.
However, he did open up about how the squad had responded to the death of Ginette Deschamps, revealing that the players had heard the news directly from their manager before his departure, and confirming that the former World Cup winner would return the following day.
“The players did what they had to do [against Norway,” Stephan said through a FIFA translator, describing the win as a gift. “They were very affected by this loss. They heard Didier talk and tell them that he had to leave. They did hear that from Didier directly.”
View 2 ImagesGuy Stephan spoke openly about the situation with Didier Deschamps(Image: Daniela Porcelli, Getty Images)
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“They are very close to Didier and wanted to do something special on the pitch… I did congratulate them at the end of the match and said Didier will be back for the training session tomorrow and [before] the Round of 32.”
Dembele’s hat-trick came from just 0.29 xG, the fewest for any hat-trick World Cup scorer in the modern era. All three of his goals were left-footed efforts.
Stephan was spared from facing Norwegian talisman Erling Haaland, who had already bagged four goals across his first two matches at the 2026 World Cup. The striker was named amongst the substitutes with Norway’s place in the Round of 32 already guaranteed, and coach Stale Solbakken made clear he had no intention of bowing to public pressure by fielding his star man.
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“I feel [the fans in this] situation,” he said at his post-match press conference (via a FIFA translator). “But we have given them a couple of victories. We have given them an opportunity to win more games.
“We don’t need to be the naive country that plays for fun….Of course, it is something that I really feel, but it was a no-brainer [to leave Haaland and Martin Odegaard on the bench].”
Norway’s 10 alterations were only the fourth instance in World Cup history of a side making so many between matches.
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