Zidane's first signing for France is a chef, and the story behind it is 30 years in the making

Before tactics, before squads, before anything else, Zinedine Zidane's new era with France begins in the kitchen.

Details: Zidane has brought Roberto Falvo back as the French national team's chef. The two have known each other for 30 years, since Zidane's playing days at Juventus, and Falvo already cooked for Les Bleus from 1998 to 2004, a period that included the 1998 World Cup triumph on home soil.

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It is one of the most heartwarming loyalty stories in football. In the late nineties, a young Zidane, then the star of Juventus, was a regular at Falvo's restaurant in Turin and fell so in love with his cooking that he recommended the Italian to the French federation. Falvo joined Les Bleus in 1998 and fed the golden generation through its greatest years, the World Cup at the Stade de France, Euro 2000, before departing in 2004. Fast forward to September 2026: Zidane, 54, has finally taken the France job, succeeding Didier Deschamps after his 14-year reign ended with the World Cup in the summer, and among his very first staff decisions was a phone call to an old friend. Falvo returns to the national kitchen more than two decades later, a small piece of Turin inside the new Bleus project. In a sport obsessed with marginal gains, Zidane's message is unmistakable: trust, comfort and a perfectly cooked meal are the real foundations of a winning camp.

It's worth noting that Zidane officially took charge of France on September 1, and the Nations League fixtures this month will be his first matches on the Bleus bench.

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