Didier Deschamps, France footballer: Profile, Career, News & Videos

Didier Deschamps , popularly known as Dédé ([dede]), is a French professional football manager and former player. He played as a defensive midfielder for several clubs in France, Italy, England and Spain, namely Marseille, Juventus, Chelsea and Valencia, as well as Nantes and Bordeaux. Nicknamed \"The Water-Carrier\" (French: le porteur d'eau), Deschamps was an intelligent, hard-working defensive midfielder who excelled at winning back possession and subsequently starting attacking plays, and also stood out for his leadership throughout his career. As a French international, he was capped on 103 occasions and took part in three UEFA European Championships and one FIFA World Cup, captaining his nation to victories in the 1998 World Cup and Euro 2000.

In addition to winning two Division 1 titles in 1990 and 1992, Deschamps was part of the Marseille squad that became the first French club to win the UEFA Champions League, a feat the team achieved in 1993; with the Champions League victory, Deschamps became the youngest captain ever to lead his team to win the title. With Juventus he played in three Champions League finals in a row from 1996 to 1998, winning the title in 1996. With the Turin side, he also won the UEFA Super Cup and the Intercontinental Cup, as well as three Serie A titles, among other trophies. With Chelsea, he won the 1999–2000 FA Cup, and also reached another Champions League final with Valencia in 2001, before retiring later that season. After Franz Beckenbauer and followed by Iker Casillas, he was only the second captain in the history of football to have lifted the Champions League trophy, the World Cup trophy, and the European Championship trophy.

As a manager, Deschamps began his career with Monaco, and helped the club win the Coupe de la Ligue in 2003, and reached the 2004 UEFA Champions League final, being named Ligue 1 Manager of the Year in 2004. In 2004, Deschamps became the youngest manager to reach a UEFA Champions League final, aged 35, after leading Monaco to the 2004 final. Monaco were defeated 3–0 by Porto in the final. During the 2006–07 season, he helped his former club Juventus win the Serie B title and return to Serie A following their relegation due to their involvement in the Calciopoli scandal the previous season. He subsequently managed another one of his former clubs, Marseille, where he won the Ligue 1 title during the 2009–10 season, as well as three consecutive Coupe de la Ligue titles between 2010 and 2012, and consecutive Trophée des Champions titles in 2010 and 2011.

On 8 July 2012, Deschamps was named manager of the France national team. He led the team to the quarter-finals of the 2014 FIFA World Cup, the final of UEFA Euro 2016, victory in the 2018 FIFA World Cup, victory in the 2020-21 UEFA Nations League, a back-to-back final appearance in the 2022 FIFA World Cup, and to the semi-finals of UEFA Euro 2024, third place at the 2024-25 UEFA Nations League, and fourth place at the 2026 FIFA World Cup. Upon winning the World Cup in 2018, Deschamps became the third man to win the World Cup as both a player and a manager, alongside Mário Zagallo and Franz Beckenbauer—both of whom died in 2024, leaving Deschamps the only living man to have reached the milestone. Deschamps follows Beckenbauer as only the second to do so as captain.