Didier Deschamps has described winning the World Cup as the highest possible honour for a player or coach, as he prepares for a fourth tournament as France boss.
The France manager, who lifted the trophy as a player in 1998 and as head coach in 2018, said those memories mattered but his focus is firmly on the challenges ahead at the 2026 finals.
Deschamps said the next World Cup will also carry extra weight because it will be his final tournament on the France bench. If France go all the way, he would become the first person to reach three consecutive World Cup finals and to win the trophy once as a player and twice as a coach.
He also backed France as one of the leading contenders for the title, saying recent results have raised expectations. Deschamps added that several other strong teams are in the mix and suggested the race for the trophy will be tightly contested.