Zidane's first big call: France's most beloved warrior is not part of the new era
Every new era needs a symbolic break with the old one, and Zinedine Zidane has chosen the most painful cut available: N'Golo Kanté.
Details: Zinedine Zidane will not select N'Golo Kanté for his new managerial era with France, reports indicate. The 35-year-old midfielder, now at Fenerbahçe, will miss the first squad of the Zidane era, which is set to be unveiled tomorrow at 18:00 ahead of Nations League matches against Türkiye and Belgium.
The writing had been on the wall since the summer. Kanté travelled to the 2026 World Cup but did not play a single minute as France fell short, eventually losing a wild third-place playoff to England. Before that, his move to Saudi Arabia had already cost him over a year of call-ups under Deschamps, and a January transfer to Fenerbahçe was meant to relaunch him. Instead, Zidane, who officially took charge on September 1 with a contract until 2030, is building midfield around the next generation, with Camavinga and company first in line. For Kanté, the quiet hero of the 2018 World Cup triumph, the man opponents joked was actually two players, this likely closes an international career spanning more than 50 caps and a decade of selfless brilliance. Zidane's era begins in Istanbul on September 25 against Türkiye, followed by a trip to Belgium, and the absence of the most universally loved player of the Deschamps years will be the story hovering over both.
It's worth noting that Kanté won the Premier League in consecutive seasons with two different clubs, Leicester in 2016 and Chelsea in 2017, a feat no other player has managed.
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Miguel Solomons
Dailysports's expert
